Can the Raiders win a playoff game with Derek Carr at the helm?
When asked earlier this week about the playoffs, Carr was quick to shoot down his naysayers and acknowledge his own self-belief that winning a game is more than doable in 2022.
"“The question of, ‘Can I win a playoff game?’ Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Just because we haven’t, just because we had one chance and we lost in the last series of a game to the AFC champions? Yeah, I think we can.” –Carr on winning a playoff game"
Carr’s not wrong as the game between the Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals came down to the wire, not to mention the Silver and Black missed several opportunities, and who can forget the costly mental errors throughout the game?
"“I know what I’m capable of, I know what our team’s capable of, and I’m excited to see. Obviously, we have to earn that (playoff) spot. I don’t know what we were, the fifth seed, or something like that. Hopefully we can earn more than that this year. That’s always the goal.”"
However, the 2022 version of the Raiders has to put that behind them. Yes, Las Vegas showed how close they are to becoming a perennial playoff team, but as Carr pointed out himself, 55 percent of the teams that make the playoffs one year will miss them the following season. Thankfully for Carr, the team’s brain trust has loaded up the offense with weapons at every turn, save for the offensive line.