Derek Carr threw for 513 yards and four touchdowns Sunday, and now hes one of the hottest stories of the NFL season. Detroit Red Wings Store . Carr has helped lead the Oakland Raiders?to a 6-2 record -- tied for first in the AFC West through eight games. Hes also garnering legitimate MVP hype?and has emerged as the far-and-away star of the 2014 quarterback draft class.How has he done it? The numbers provide some insight into Carrs development, as well as the Raiders strong work in creating a winning environment around him. Lets take a closer look, with help from ESPN Stats & Information senior statistics analyst Jacob Nitzberg.Carr was a polarizing draft prospect three years ago, in part because of the spread system he played in at Fresno State and also because of an alarming dip in production when pressured. He was incredibly accurate when in a clean pocket during his college career, completing 72 percent of those passes. But when under duress, his completion percentage dropped to 29 percent.If Carr reacted that poorly to pressure in college, some wondered how he could possibly succeed in the NFL. Check out the chart:Derek Carr under pressure, since 2014As you can see, Carr struggled under pressure -- defined as dropbacks in which a quarterback is sacked, hit or put under duress -- in his first two seasons. This season, however, he has improved his Total Quarterback Rating (QBR) in those situations to 51.3, sixth best in the NFL. For context, the league average when under pressure is 30.6.Carr appears to have made an adjustment in those situations, mostly throwing shorter passes when facing a heavy rush. From 2014-15, 25 percent of his passes under pressure traveled at least 15 yards downfield, and 13.4 percent went 20 or more yards downfield. This season, those percentages have dropped to 18.9 and 5.7, respectively.That increase in higher-efficiency throws has spurred a significant reduction in off-target throws while under pressure, as illustrated in the chart below:Derek Carr percentage of off-target throws under pressureWhile its clear that Carr has engineered improvement in an area that vexed him both in college and in his first two NFL seasons, heres a dirty little secret: The Raiders have minimized the pressure he has faced far better than most NFL franchises.Carr has been sacked only nine times this season, fewest in the NFL for quarterbacks who have played eight games. Overall, he has been pressured on only 20.3 percent of his dropbacks, the third-lowest rate in the league.The following gives you a sense of the disparity in sack rates between Carr and the NFL average. The takeaway: There are quarterbacks who are being sacked at a rate more than three times that of Carr.2016 NFL quarterback sack rateYou might be wondering whether Carr is getting great protection, or if hes using his compact release to throw before the pass rush gets to him. Well, its more the former than the latter. His average time before throwing this season is 2.47 seconds, slower than 20 other quarterbacks.Heres the truth: The Raiders have made a big commitment to building their offensive line. They made Rodney Hudson the NFLs highest-paid center in 2015, then made free agent Kelechi Osemele the leagues highest-paid guard in the spring. And the Raiders re-signed Donald Penn to play left tackle, allowing Osemele to remain at his natural position.The Raiders have committed more salary-cap space to their offensive line than any other team in the NFL, and nearly?65 percent more than the league average.2016 salary-cap commitment to O-lineAdd it all up, and Carr has become one of the leagues most efficient and productive quarterbacks. In his final season at Fresno State, Carr threw 50 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions. But would you believe he actually has a better touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL this season?Thats right; Carr has thrown 17 touchdowns against three interceptions, and his ratio of 5.67 is second only to Sam Bradford (eight touchdowns and one interception) as the best among QBs with at least five starts. Neither Tom Brady (12:0) nor Brian Hoyer (6:0) has enough starts to qualify.Best TD/INT rate, 2016 (min. five starts)Carr has had plenty of help this season. In addition to a well-fortified offensive line, his wide receivers have added an NFL-high 244 yards after first contact. The Raiders also have an accomplished offensive coaching staff, starting with coordinator Bill Musgrave, offensive line coach Mike Tice and quarterbacks coach Todd Downing.Still, there have been missed opportunities to produce at an even greater rate. As a team, the Raiders have the NFLs seventh-worst drop rate at 5.3 percent. But no matter how you look at it, or whatever qualifiers you find, Derek Carr is having a breakout season. Red Wings Jerseys 2021 . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Detroit Red Wings Gear . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.cheapredwings.com/ . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. BERLIN -- Borussia Dortmund ended 2016 with whistles from its own fans after being held to a 1-1 draw in the Bundesliga by gritty Augsburg on Tuesday.Not even the news of midfielder Julian Weigls contract extension to 2021 could hide the disappointment of Dortmunds third successive league draw.It wasnt for lack of effort -- the home side had 23 attempts on goal but only Ousmane Dembeles equalizer after the interval to show for it.I think the game today reflects the whole opening half of the season, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said of a side that beat Bayern Munich and topped a Champions League group containing Real Madrid.Tuchel had said he was worried by his sides propensity to concede first -- since the 1-0 win over Bayern, Dortmund had been left with an uphill task across six competitive games. And it happened again on Tuesday when Ji Dong-won scored against his former club in the 33rd minute.Marc Bartra lost the ball and Martin Hinteregger surged forward despite the attention of five Dortmund players, slipping a pass to Jan Moravek, who noticed Ji free on the left. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller blocked his first effort but the rebound fell kindly for the South Korean to grab his third league goal of the season.Dortmund was dominating possession but struggling to create chances against Augsburgs compact 5-4-1 formation.Tuchel brought Bartra off for Sven Bender at the break and Dembele equalized two minutes later, sweeping the ball in with his left foot after Shinji Kagawa played him through.Kagawa might have had a penalty shortly afterward when it appeared Paul Verhaegh brought him down.Dortmund pushed hard but couldnt find another breakthrough. The side is fourth in the standings and might be overtaken by Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin on Wednesday, when league leader Bayern Munich hosts promoted Leipzig for a top-of-the-table clash.All of Tuesdays games were preceded with a minutes silence for victims of the truck attack at a Christmas market that left 12 people dead and many injured in Berlin the evening before. The players also wore black armbands.---BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH 1, WOLFSBURG 2Wolfsburgs short revival under Valerien Ismael continued with its second successive victory after four winless games.However, it might not bbe enough to save his coaching job amid reports the club approached David Wagner, the current Huddersfield Town coach, for the position. Wholesale Red Wings Jerseys. Wagner opted to stay with the second-tier English side.`Gladbach counterpart Andre Schubert also faces an uncertain Christmas with just one win now from 11 games.His side got off to a bad start when Daniel Caligiuri opened the scoring on a counterattack in the third minute.Thorgan Hazard equalized early in the second half but `Gladbachs defense was caught napping again when Julian Draxler sent Mario Gomez through for the winner five minutes later.Whistles greeted the final whistle from disgruntled home fans.`Gladbach is just three points above the relegation zone, while Wolfsburg is only ahead on goal difference.---HAMBURGER SV 2, SCHALKE 1Bobby Wood came on a substitute and secured a welcome victory for Hamburg with a brilliant late strike against injury-hit Schalke.Nicolai Mueller made the breakthrough on the hour mark, before Johan Djourou missed the chance to seal it when Ralf Faehrmann saved his weak penalty 15 minutes later.American forward Wood, who had three league goals already, further endeared himself to the home fans when Mueller sent him through on the right. Still faced by Germany defender Benedikt Hoewedes, he turned inside and unleashed an unstoppable shot inside the far post.Donis Avdijaj claimed Schalkes last-minute consolation with a fine volley for the youngsters first Bundesliga goal.Hamburg climbed into the relegation playoff place ahead of Wednesdays games.---EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 3, MAINZ 0Frankfurt completed a fine first half to the season with a victory made easier by Jhon Cordobas sending off for a stamp on David Abraham in a tussle 10 minutes into the second half.Frankfurt captain Abraham had set up Branimir Hrgota for the opener in the 18th minute, and Hrgota set up Aymen Barkok with 15 minutes remaining.Barkok returned the favor for Hrgota to seal it 10 minutes later as Frankfurt climbed to third before the rest of the 16th round.Of course Im satisfied, with the result and the way the season has gone, Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac said. ' ' '