Raiders struggles overshadow Derek Carr’s excellence in November
Raiders struggles overshadow Derek Carr’s excellence in November
The excellence of Carr this past month.
By the numbers, Derek Carr has quietly had an impressive November.
Not only does no quarterback in the NFL has more passing touchdowns than the Raiders’ man under center through the month (9), but out of the three QBs who have tossed eight or more touchdowns since Week 9 – Derek Carr, Patrick Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers – Carr has thrown the least amount of interceptions (2).
It isn’t just that defenders aren’t catching balls thrown their way, but rather Carr’s refusal to make poor decisions. Per Pro Football Focus, the nine-year veteran has a turnover-worthy plays percentage of 1.8%; a number that ranks bottom-10 among starting quarterbacks.
Naturally, Carr’s quarterback rating has trended north as a result.
Since the start of November, the 31-year-old is one of 11 quarterbacks who have logged a QB rating of at least 100. Carr and Geno Smith stand alone as the only two players to record a quarterback rating of at least 98.7 in all four of their team’s last four contests.
Beyond these things, Carr has been masterful at getting the ball out before pressure arrives. Per PFF, no quarterback in the league who’s been pressured at least once through November has a lower percentage of pressures they’re partly responsible for (2.0%). This has led Carr to be one-of-two quarterbacks who have been sacked zero times this month while playing four games.
Carr has also excelled on throws at least 20 yards out through November. His quarterback rating of 121.5 when doing so ranks top-10 among starting quarterbacks, and no.2 among starting quarterbacks who have appeared in four contests this month. This is largely due to Carr having the second-most touchdowns on deep passes in this timeframe (4), behind only Aaron Rodgers (5), while tallying zero interceptions on these throws.
The second-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft has had a great month of football, but he hasn’t done it alone.