Getty Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
The Oakland Raiders may only be 4-4 and not have a playoff spot currently, but they just finished up one of the most brutal stretches for any NFL team this season. After beating the Detroit Lions, the schedule eases up significantly and there is a massive opportunity to go on a run. Quarterback Derek Carr will need to continue his hot play if the team is going to have a chance at the playoffs.
While opinions on the quarterback have varied over the years, he’s starting to win over more and more people. Retired quarterback Micahel Vick was a guest on The Herd With Colin Cowherd and heaped big praise upon Carr.
“I just think that Derek Carr… has always been efficient and one of the best to me,” said Vick. “He gets it done. You put players around him, you build a gameplan, you know, that he can understand and execute and he’ll do it. I like his game.”
Carr’s career hasn’t been the most consistent and he’s coming off a couple of disappointing seasons. Much of that is due to the fact that he’s had a different offensive coordinator in almost every season he’s played. He also hasn’t had an impressive set of wide receivers since 2017. Vick is right, if Carr is put into the right situation, he can thrive. He’s been playing some his best football in 2019 and it wouldn’t be impossible for him to enter the MVP discussions if the Raiders make it the playoffs and he puts up good numbers.
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Michael Vick Praises Jon Gruden
Jon Gruden’s homecoming to Oakland last season didn’t necessarily go as planned. The team started off the season poorly and finished it poorly. Michael Vick thought that would be the case, so he reserved judgment on the coach.
“[Gruden] knows quarterbacks and I thought he would be a guy who needed time to adjust to the game – being away for 10 years – and I knew last year would be a trial and era period for him, so I didn’t judge him on that, but this year, this team looks totally different.”
Vick is right, the team does look completely different. Last year was marred with controversy and poor play. Holdovers from the Jack Del Rio regime weren’t all happy and it led to a lot of popular players getting shipped out before this season. There was also a change of general manager, which is looking like it was the right call considering how poorly Reggie McKenzie drafted after the 2014 draft.
Now that the team is made in Gruden’s image, they are starting to have an identity. The roster is filled with high character, high effort players. For a team that’s so young, there isn’t a lot of drama that becomes known to the media. Since Antonio Brown was released, there haven’t been many negative headlines. Gruden is clearly trying to build a culture with the team heading into Las Vegas next season. It looks like it’s starting to pay off.
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