Las Vegas Raiders: Derek Carr wins first AFC Player of the Month honor
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month after a stellar September.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has been lighting it up this season as the Raiders scrapped and clawed their way to a 3-0 record. Carr was the driving force in all three wins against tough AFC opponents and has put up some massive numbers so far this young season.
In three games, including two overtime periods, Carr has racked up 1,203 passing yards, six touchdowns, and has a 64.7% completion percentage. Carr is among the league leaders in quarterback rating at 101.4 and is actually leading the NFL in passing yards.
To be fair to the rest of the quarterbacks in the league, Carr has had almost two extra quarters thanks to the Raiders going deep into overtime against Baltimore and Miami, but the totals are impressive nonetheless. Carr is also still putting up huge numbers in regulation as he threw for 382 yards against the Steelers in four quarters.
Raiders QB Derek Carr could win 2021 NFL MVP
Many believe, including yours truly, that Carr is the front runner for the NFL MVP as he has led his team to three wins against three tough opponents that finished with 10 or more wins last season. Both Pittsburgh and Baltimore were playoff teams last season and Miami was on the bubble.
There are other quarterbacks like Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert who have been lighting it up but even they have not been putting up the numbers that Carr has.
What has made Carr’s season all the more impressive so far is his willingness to take shots downfield and be more aggressive while also limiting his mistakes. He has officially thrown for two interceptions but one came off the hands of Willie Snead at the goal line and the other was a miscommunication with Foster Moreau.
He is taking care of the ball while also averaging a career-high in yards per attempt and air yards per attempt by almost a full yard. We will undoubtedly see these averages decrease as the season goes on and the Raiders start to play games in poor weather, but for now, we are enjoying the elite and aggressive play from the veteran quarterback.
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The last time Carr was in the MVP conversation was in 2016 when he threw for almost 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in 15 games. The Raiders finished the season 12-4 and made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade but Carr has been playing at an even higher level this year. He is hitting his stride as a passer and his encyclopedic knowledge of the Jon Gruden offense is on display every week.
The hope is that he won’t have to throw for 400 yards every week for the Raiders to win but we should just enjoy the show while he works his magic.