Raiders need Carr to be an MVP, exorcise demons at Arrowhead

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Way back in July, when the Raiders outlook was sunny and bright, Derek Carr was asked about lofty expectations and contending for the AFC title. The fourth-year quarterback immediately slammed the brakes.

His retort: Dreaming that big is pointless. We have to get through Kansas City first.

Carr rang true then. He’s dead on right now.

Beating Kansas City has been his primary, yet elusive goal. The Chiefs have owned the Raiders in the Carr era. The Chiefs are 5-2 against him, with two straight AFC West titles to boot.

Carr can exorcise that demon Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Victory would establish pole position in this season’s division race with three games to play.

Carr must be an MVP to do so. That’s been tough to do, especially in a sea of red.

He’s 0-3 at Arrowhead Stadium, completing 50 percent of his passes while averaging 177 yards and 4.1 yards per attempt in those losses. That’s well below his career average on the road, and a trend he simply must buck for the Raiders to succeed Sunday.

Carr’s aware of his track record in Kansas City. Getting a win there ranks high on the football bucket list.

“It’s definitely No. 1 right now, especially this week,” Carr said. “It’s definitely up there (all the time). It’s something that we have not been able to do since I’ve been here. We have to get on that. We have a tough task ahead of us because, although their record is the same as ours, we’re both pretty good football teams. We have to go out there and play hard.”

Stars are aligned for Carr to shine.

Carr has only played Kansas City in December or January, always in frigid temperatures, but Mother Nature should give him a break this year. Clear skies and a high of 54 degrees await this kickoff, which should help the passing game.

So should Kansas City’s 28th-ranked pass defense, a unit playing without top cornerback Marcus Peters and IR-bound safety Eric Berry. Michael Crabtree returns from suspension. Amari Cooper is questionable and pushing to play despite an ankle sprain.

The Raiders offensive line is rounding into excellent form and Marshawn Lynch is surging down the stretch. Those trends should aid the Raiders offense but, as it always does, quarterback play will turn the tide.

Carr must be smart, accurate and clutch, as he often was in 2016. Those traits have proven harder to meld this season, producing some costly hiccups along the way.

Carr embodied all three last time he played K.C. He was near perfect on a Thursday night in Oakland, throwing for 417 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in a 31-30 win in Week 7. That also marks this season’s only fourth-quarter comeback. He had seven last year, but hasn’t had the same magic and the team hasn’t been as competitive.

Carr recalls that Chiefs game fondly, as a time where the Raiders gutted out a vital win.

“I feel like, if we all looked back at that moment, it was where a switch turned on for us,” Carr said. “Now we’ve been growing since then and we’re still growing. We’re always going to be growing. That was a good moment for this team to kind of catapult us forward and get on a run.”

That win stopped a four-game losing streak. The Raiders responded with four wins in their last six, and are now tied with the Chiefs and Chargers atop the division. A victory here and in the regular season finale at Los Angeles would set up the Raiders’ first division crown since 2002.

As Carr said this summer, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sunday’s game is vital to any playoff path. The Chiefs have lost four straight and six of their last seven, and will look to their raucous home crowd for help.

Carr is ready for it, ready for a big moment with so much at stake. He doesn’t consider Arrowhead Stadium a house of horrors.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say I enjoy going to their stadium, but I do,” Carr said. “It’s loud, it’s fun, and I’ve told you guys many times I like playing in the noise because you’re in your own little zone. You cancel everything else out. I do enjoy going there, but it would feel a lot better afterwards if we could win a game.”

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