A quick observation of quarterback Derek Carr and how he played in the Oakland Raiders' 24-20 win in Week 12:

Much was made of the poise shown by Carr when he engineered the winning drive in the fourth quarter of last Thursday's win against Kansas City.

A closer look at the stats reveals that the rookie QB was pretty poised throughout the game. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Carr completed 7 of 14 pass attempts on third down against the Chiefs, converting six into first downs. He was a perfect 4-for-4 on third down when throwing to wide receiver James Jones, who has emerged as Carr's favorite target. That bodes well for a team that is 28th overall on third-down conversions (35.3 percent).

Oakland should be able to improve on that this week at St. Louis when the Raiders go for consecutive wins for the first time since October 2012. The Rams are 23rd in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 42.1 percent of the time.