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Some stray thoughts, conclusions and prep work after the Raiders’ get to the midpoint at 6-2… and brace for the big game against Denver on Sunday night…

* The difference in Derek Carr on Sunday vs. Tampa Bay, in my view, is that he went from looking like a quarterback who might be able to pull out that game to a QB you knew would do it.

Now, just having a QB who has a chance to win a road game like that… is better than most teams can say. I want to point that out.

But the leap is that Carr, in his third season, still only 25, totally took control of that game even while the Raiders were committing an NFL-record 23 penalties and missing field goals and all the rest…

From the pressbox, what you can really note is if a QB is seeing the field–you can tell if there are receivers breaking open, if the QB is moving the defense with his eyes, and if he is in rhythm with what his receivers are about to do and are doing.

You can see if the QB seems connected to the flow of the game and is committed to what he’s doing on every throw.

I can tell you that every week sitting in those pressboxes I usually see QBs who aren’t very connected to what’s going on around them and throw a lot of non-confident passes.

And watching Carr on Sunday–on his way to a team-record 513 yards, four TDs and zero INTs–was like watching Drew Brees, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.

These guys don’t win every game or look great every game, but an elite QB just looks assured in every read and steps into every throw with conviction. Every play that’s there, he makes, and there are some plays he makes that aren’t quite there, and he makes them anyway.

That’s what Carr was doing the entire second half and into OT on Sunday.

Obviously, you need arm talent to get the ball where you want… and we’ve always known that Carr has that.

My colleague Jimmy Durkin mentioned that it reminded him of another Carr performance–when he led Fresno State into San Jose on Nov. 13, 2013 and threw for 519 yards and 6 TDs in an epic duel with David Fales (that SJSU won 62-52).

And yep, Carr looked like he was back totally in his element–not that he has been bad at all as the Raiders QB, but on Sunday Carr just seemed settled and wholly comfortable, and there just aren’t many NFL QBs who ever look like that.

That can cover up a lot of errors by everybody else, and it sure did on Sunday. And if everybody plays well around a great QB, you can beat anybody.

This doesn’t guarantee anything about Sunday’s big game at the Coliseum against Denver, of course. Denver’s defense is incredible again and is only allowing 4.7 yards per pass attempt and has only given up 6 TD passes.

Denver No. 1 in opponent yards per play, at 4.5 per, the exact same place and number that Denver recorded last season on its way to the title.

So… it might be a struggle for Carr and the Raiders offense on Sunday. Also, the Raiders haven’t played great at home this season and Carr himself wasn’t good at all in their last one, the loss to Kansas City.

But Carr has taken a leap this season, and you have to believe that some of that will be in evidence against even the Broncos D.

Carr is currently completing 66.3% of his passes, which is a career-best.

He’s also on pace for 34 TDs and only 6 INTs.

On pace for over 4,500 yards, 7.19 yards per attempt, which also would be career-bests.

So when Denver trots out Trevor Siemian at QB and the Raiders counter with Carr… that’s a large Raiders advantage right from the start, and they went years without ever being able to experience that.

* Carr is already ninth on the Raiders’ all-time passing yards list with 9,578 and another 2,000 or so this season would put him right around 5th, 6th or 7th, right in the Marc Wilson-Tom Flores-Jeff Hostetler range.

Above them: 4-Jim Plunkett (12,665), 3-Daryle Lamonica (16,655), 2-Rich Gannon (17,585) and of course 1-Ken Stabler (19,078)

* Speaking of Stabler: Yes, Stabler would be the last Raiders QB who was this good this early in his career, though of course Stabler was 28 when he first got the full-time starting job in 1973 (Stabler’s fourth season) after waiting behind Lamonica.

Stabler was the Raiders’ full-time starter for seven seasons, until he was 34, through a lot of great, great Raiders years.

If the Raiders can sign Carr to an extension–which I’m sure they will make every attempt to do–he can realistically be penciled in for eight or nine more seasons in his prime… which would bring him and the Raiders to 2023 or 2024.

And given that Brees is 37 and Brady is 39, and they’re both still performing at a very high level, you could probably push Carr’s projected prime years all the way to 2028 (when he’ll be 37) or later.

I don’t know where the Raiders will be playing by then, but for them to know that–if he remains healthy–Carr should and could be their QB that entire time… that’s a luxury almost no other team has.

And Carr is definitely the first Raiders QB since Stabler who has put up the numbers to logically be projected to anything close to a Stabler-level career.

* Let’s do some schedule analysis…

The Raiders are 6-2 and also 5-0 on the road.

They have four remaining non-home games:

-Monday Nov. 21 at Mexico City vs. Houston (considered a Raiders’ “home” game);

-Thursday Dec. 8 at Kansas City;

-Sunday Dec. 18 at San Diego;

-Sunday Jan. 1 at Denver.

These are not easy games, FYI. If they go 2-2 in those games, the Raiders will have 8 victories… with 5 remaining home games in play, also.

That means in this scenario they can go 3-2 in the home games and get to 11 wins.

And 4-1 in their remaining home games gets them to 12. Which I think it might take to win the very tough AFC West.

* So far, the Raiders’ wins and losses have been wildly dramatic… but also, if you look at the current records of the teams they’ve played, fairly true to the quality of competition.

* The Raiders have beaten:

Currently 3-4 New Orleans;

Currently 4-4 Tennessee;

Currently 3-4 Baltimore;

Currently 3-5 San Diego;

Currently 2-5 Jacksonville;

Currently 3-4 Tampa Bay.

* And the Raiders lost to:

Currently 5-3 Atlanta;

Currently 5-2 Kansas City.

* If you just project wins and losses based on the current records of their remaining opponents:

Currently 6-2 Denver (projected L based on this scenario);

Currently 5-3 Houston in Mexico City (coin-flip in this scenario);

Currently 2-5 Carolina (projected W in this scenario);

Currently 4-4 Buffalo (coin-flip in this scenario);

Currently 5-2 Kansas City in KC (projected L in this scenario);

Currently 3-5 San Diego in SD (projected W in this scenario);

Currently 3-5 Indianapolis (projected W in this scenario);

Currently 6-2 Denver in Denver (projected L in this scenario).

I am NOT predicting any of these things, but in this general scenario, the Raiders have 3 projected future wins, 3 projected losses and 2 coin-flip games… which ends up as a general formula 10- or 11-win season.

If they win just one of their scenario-projected losses (say, Sunday), they’d be on pace for 11 or 12 wins.

And even if they lose their tough games… if they sweep their two coin-flip games and take care of the games they should win, the Raiders are looking at 11 wins, possibly.

* Yes, the Raiders defense is playing better–in the last two weeks they’ve given up season-low yardage totals to Jacksonville (344) and Tampa Bay (270–the first time the Raiders out-gained an opponent this season)…

But also: Jacksonville (23rd at 5.2 yards per play) and Tampa Bay (27th at 5.1 yards per play) are two of the worst offensive teams in the league.

Better news for the Raiders: Sunday’s opponent, Denver, is currently 25th… at 5.2 yards per play.