Getty Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Whenever Derek Carr plays well, people point to the fact that he’s playing like he did in 2016, a season that saw him receive MVP votes at the end of the year. However, that’s downplaying just how well he’s playing this season. The Las Vegas Raiders quarterback is playing the best he ever has.
He’s currently second in the NFL with 2,269 passing yards and may have just put together the most impressive performance of his career. Against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Carr was nearly perfect outside of one interception on the first drive of the game. After that pass, he didn’t make a bad throw the rest of the way. In fact, he put together a historically efficient performance. Carr completed 91.2% of his passes. It was only the third time in NFL history that a quarterback completed over 90% of his passes with at least 30 attempts.
Carr already did it once against the Denver Broncos in 2018 and the only other time was done by former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in 2019 he completed 96.7% of his passes against the Indianapolis Colts. Brees only did it once but Carr has now done it twice and is the only player to ever pull that off.
Raiders QB Derek Carr completed 31-of-34 passes yesterday, good for a 91.2% completion percentage.
He now has two games in his career with at least 30 attempts and a 90% completion percentage.
Every other player in NFL history has combined for one.
Carr now finds himself in historic territory with how he’s playing this season.
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Kenyan Drake Has Highest Praise for Carr
GettyLas Vegas Raiders RB Kenyan Drake.
One underrated aspect of Carr’s game is his arm talent. He’s got a big arm and can make plenty of throws. Running back Kenyan Drake has only been with Carr for a short time but has been really impressed with the quarterback.
“I just feel like there’s not a throw that he can’t make, whether it’s downfield or checking the ball down when he needs,” Drake said after Sunday’s game. “When you have a quarterback that’s that cerebral in terms of dissecting the defense, understanding pre-snap looks and getting us to the exact play whether it’s we need to get to a pass or we need to get to a run, it just makes the game flow just so much easier. It’s almost like having a coach out there on the field.”
Carr’s always had great talent but hasn’t had the best weapons to work with. He’s now got really good targets to throw to and he’s utilizing them at a high level.
Rich Bisaccia Talks Carr’s Command of Offense
It hasn’t always been easy for Carr. There have been questions about his status with the Raiders for years. Now it’s clear that he should be the team’s quarterback of the future. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has been in awe with how Carr has been operating this season.
“He’s in concert with Greg [Olson],” Bisaccia said. “He’s got tremendous accuracy. He’s got tremendous command of the offense. He knows where everyone’s supposed to be. He’s the first one in the building; he’s the last one to leave. I’ve been around a lot of good quarterbacks, but his preparation is really second to none and I think he plays like he prepares.”
Olson calls the plays but Carr runs the offense. He’s doing an excellent job with the amount of power he has so far.
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