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The upcoming Thursday Night Football battle between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Rams will pit Derek Carr versus…Baker Mayfield?
The Rams managed to claim the former No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft and 2020 playoff quarterback off waivers on Tuesday, December 6 nearly 24 hours after his release from the Carolina Panthers. The Rams now become the third team Mayfield has played for since the 2021 season.
Mayfield’s addition comes off the heels of Matthew Stafford nursing a spinal cord contusion ailment and current QB1 John Wolford dealing with neck soreness. After Stafford and Wolford, the Rams are left with Bryce Perkins and practice squad member Case Cookus. Wolford and Perkins are yet to win their games as starters for the 3-9 Rams.
But per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on the day Mayfield was picked up off the waiver system, he added how Mayfield could play against the Raiders at Inglewood.
That sparked a reaction from the Raiders’ quarterback.
What Carr Said
Speaking with the Las Vegas media on Wednesday when the news broke, the veteran quarterback and longtime Raider gave his thoughts on possibly seeing Mayfield out on the field.
“I’m not sure the systems that he’s been in — the terminology and all that kind of stuff,” Carr said when he got asked if it’s possible for a quarterback to play for a new team, despite being on such short notice. “There’s some systems where you could possibly do that…More power to him but I’m focused on their defense because their defense is pretty good.”
Carr opted to divert his attention to the likes of Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner and company and not on the QB he’s never lost to in his NFL career. Carr and the Raiders were 2-0 in games when Mayfield was behind center for the Cleveland Browns: The 45-42 shootout win on September 30, 2018 and the much more defensive oriented battle on November 1, 2020 won by the Silver and Black 16-6.
If Mayfield were to play, he has a chance to finally earn a win against the Raiders. He didn’t face them during his truncated time with the Panthers and was also inactive for their December 20, 2021 game won by Vegas 16-14 as Nick Mullens handled QB1 duties for Cleveland that day.
Carr Versus the Rams
Carr, meanwhile, is not only trying to keep his team alive in the AFC playoff race at 5-7 and on a three-game winning streak, but he’s trying to accomplish this first: Claim a win over the Rams.
The eight-year veteran is 0-2 lifetime against the Rams — and both losses have been in lopsided fashion.
While in his rookie season of 2014 and during a time the Rams were in St. Louis, Carr went 24-of-39 for 173 yards and threw two interceptions in the 52-0 Rams rout of the Raiders. The two teams didn’t square off again until the 2018 season in Oakland. That Monday Night Football season opener saw Carr complete 29-of-40 passes for 303 yards but was intercepted three times in the Rams’ 33-13 road win. Former Ram Marcus Peters took one Carr pass all the way to the end zone.
This meeting will mark the first time Carr will face the Rams with Ramsey and Wagner on the other side. Carr and the Raiders were on the losing end of the 27-3 contest on October 14, 2018 in Wembley Stadium in London for his only other meeting against “B Wagz.” Carr, however, won his only meeting facing a Ramsey-led unit 33-16 on October 23, 2016 at EverBank Field when Ramsey was with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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