NFL’s final four this season show Raiders different paths to success

The teams in the AFC and NFC Championship games this year demonstrate that there is no one path to success for the Raiders.

This year the Las Vegas Raiders decided that they had enough of franchise quarterback Derek Carr. After nine years with the team, Carr took his last snap for the Raiders in a Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers which all but ended their playoff hope. Since then, Raiders’ Twitter has been even messier than usual with fans on both sides of the argument getting their potshots in even if Carr’s name is not involved.

The anti-Carr fans point to the fact that you need elite level quarterback play to succeed in the NFL and the leading passer in team history was too inconsistent to do that on a weekly basis. The Carr supporters point to the fact that he has never had organizational stability, or even an above average defense, during his tenure and that held him back all these years.

They argue that if Carr had an elite defense, then he would have been much more successful and that few QBs could have succeeded in his circumstances.

What’s funny about these arguments is that both are right in their own way, and it all depends on situation. The teams that are playing in the conference title games; the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals, and San Francisco 49ers show us that there is validity to both of these arguments and that there is no one path to success in the NFL.