Smed1065
10-20-2007, 12:35 AM
Chris Carr was in unemployment's way. It was the last day of August, 53-man rosters were due and a rookie draft pick was angling for his return jobs.
Carr should have been pacing the floor in a chilled sweat, wondering if there would be a Year 3 with the Raiders. Instead, he plopped on the living room couch with his bride and caught a short-film matinee.
"We watched 'New York Stories,' " Carr said. 'That's my thing now. I'm watching Woody Allen movies. I went on a cruise and watched two of them in my room and thought, 'This is pretty good.' Ever since then, I've watched 10 of them.
"I wasn't stressed out at all."
Carr made the team, kept his kick-returner job and remained a backup defensive back. This week, he has his punt-returner job back from rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins for Sunday's sold-out game against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum.
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin made the move hoping to inspire a pulse in the NFL's least productive punt-return unit. Higgins had seven returns for 16 yards, and Kiffin pointed to half-second delays that created missed opportunities in recent games.
Even if Carr simply falls forward after the catch, it won't be much worse than their current 2.1 yard average.
"Change of pace," Kiffin said. "We threw Chris back there as a changeup, as we do with a lot of positions, to try to spark something. "We'll continue to evaluate the position."
Kick returner Tim Dwight worked out Wednesday but was not offered a contract, though Kiffin left open the possibility of signing him.
In the end, maybe it doesn't matter who fields punts or kicks for the Raiders. Their special teams coverage and return teams are among the league's worst, a trend that has stretched through three seasons under three different special teams coaches.
The creases are slivery at best. The holes are fleeting. On kicks, Carr often has to slow down in the middle of a return because the hole he initially saw is not there for long. That's all the time defenders need to nab him.
Just consider Carr's kick returns this season. He averages 20.6 yards per kick return, only a fraction better than taking a knee in the end zone. That's a 5-yard drop from last season, and it's not because Carr suddenly lost a step.
This is just his third season, and already, he has more kick returns (164) and kick return yards (3,967)than anyone in franchise history.
His 73 kick returns for 1,752 yards as an undrafted rookie in 2005 were team season records. Last year, he topped that with another 1,762 yards on 69 returns.
Now, the Raiders need him to aid their punt-return average, something Carr couldn't manage in his first two seasons. His 6.2 yards per punt return was last in the NFL last season, and his 5.5 yard average in 2005 was second-lowest.
Those punt-return averages are two of the six lowest in team history.
"If I can get the space, I think I can make some things happen," Carr said. "The plays are there."
Especially against the Chiefs, or at least the Raiders hope.
Teams have returned a league-high 23 punts against Kansas City this season, averaging 11.0 yards per return with one touchdown. Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt booms it downfield. Carr will catch the ball with room to run.
That spells opportunity for Carr, who survived cut day three years in a row.
"This is a team we should get some shots at," Kiffin said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SPB1SSBJF.DTL&type=sports
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Shots or stabs?
:)
Carr should have been pacing the floor in a chilled sweat, wondering if there would be a Year 3 with the Raiders. Instead, he plopped on the living room couch with his bride and caught a short-film matinee.
"We watched 'New York Stories,' " Carr said. 'That's my thing now. I'm watching Woody Allen movies. I went on a cruise and watched two of them in my room and thought, 'This is pretty good.' Ever since then, I've watched 10 of them.
"I wasn't stressed out at all."
Carr made the team, kept his kick-returner job and remained a backup defensive back. This week, he has his punt-returner job back from rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins for Sunday's sold-out game against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum.
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin made the move hoping to inspire a pulse in the NFL's least productive punt-return unit. Higgins had seven returns for 16 yards, and Kiffin pointed to half-second delays that created missed opportunities in recent games.
Even if Carr simply falls forward after the catch, it won't be much worse than their current 2.1 yard average.
"Change of pace," Kiffin said. "We threw Chris back there as a changeup, as we do with a lot of positions, to try to spark something. "We'll continue to evaluate the position."
Kick returner Tim Dwight worked out Wednesday but was not offered a contract, though Kiffin left open the possibility of signing him.
In the end, maybe it doesn't matter who fields punts or kicks for the Raiders. Their special teams coverage and return teams are among the league's worst, a trend that has stretched through three seasons under three different special teams coaches.
The creases are slivery at best. The holes are fleeting. On kicks, Carr often has to slow down in the middle of a return because the hole he initially saw is not there for long. That's all the time defenders need to nab him.
Just consider Carr's kick returns this season. He averages 20.6 yards per kick return, only a fraction better than taking a knee in the end zone. That's a 5-yard drop from last season, and it's not because Carr suddenly lost a step.
This is just his third season, and already, he has more kick returns (164) and kick return yards (3,967)than anyone in franchise history.
His 73 kick returns for 1,752 yards as an undrafted rookie in 2005 were team season records. Last year, he topped that with another 1,762 yards on 69 returns.
Now, the Raiders need him to aid their punt-return average, something Carr couldn't manage in his first two seasons. His 6.2 yards per punt return was last in the NFL last season, and his 5.5 yard average in 2005 was second-lowest.
Those punt-return averages are two of the six lowest in team history.
"If I can get the space, I think I can make some things happen," Carr said. "The plays are there."
Especially against the Chiefs, or at least the Raiders hope.
Teams have returned a league-high 23 punts against Kansas City this season, averaging 11.0 yards per return with one touchdown. Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt booms it downfield. Carr will catch the ball with room to run.
That spells opportunity for Carr, who survived cut day three years in a row.
"This is a team we should get some shots at," Kiffin said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SPB1SSBJF.DTL&type=sports
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shots or stabs?
:)