Carr: MVP candidate to under fire in less than a year
Derek Carr vowed after signing his $125 million contract last summer that he would keep his same humble, blue-collar personality. The Raiders quarterback reminded reporters of that pledge after a practice last week.
“I gave you guys free permission to go ahead and kick me right in the funny business if I changed as a person after that,” Carr said.
Now, Carr faces a challenge totally different than the one he expected. After another late-game flop Monday night, the Raiders one-time MVP candidate suddenly has to figure out how to face growing backlash.
There are some Raiders fans who might want to kick him in the funny business, all right. But they won’t be laughing.
Carr made another gut-wrenching mistake in crunch time Monday night, this time robbing the Raiders of a legitimate upset bid in Philadelphia. He threw an interception with less than a minute to play, setting up the Eagles’ go-ahead field goal in a 19-10 defeat.
The blunder came a week after Carr fumbled a potential winning touchdown through the back of the end zone in the final seconds against the Dallas Cowboys.
Not exactly Joe Cool material, there. And Twitter let the former golden boy have it.
“Derek Carr being the top paid QB is a joke. Imagine (Aaron) Rodgers or (Peyton) Manning in that situation,” former NFL executive Michael Lombardi wrote Monday night.
“If Derek Carr is worth $25 million per year what is Aaron Rodgers worth,” Pro Football Talk wrote.
It was even worse on the printed page. This week at Ricky’s Sports Theater and Grill — the famed San Leandro, Calif., sports bar for Raiders loyalists — some jokester hung up a fake letter addressed to Carr.
It was a large thank-you note tacked up the entrance telling Carr, “You’re going to take away my title of (worst) quarterback in Raider History. That’s the best Xmas present ever.”
For the punch line, it was signed: “Love, JaMarcus Russell.” Yikes. To be fair, even in a down year Carr remains in elite company. He threw career touchdown pass No. 102 on Monday night. The only NFL quarterbacks with more over their first four seasons are Dan Marino (142), Peyton Manning (111) and Russell Wilson (106).
On this night, he found Amari Cooper for a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
But hindered by offensive coordinator Todd Downing’s struggling offense, Carr threw for only 77 other yards all night. In all, he completed 15 of 29 passes for 140 yards and two interceptions.
And his yips at clutch time this season have a growing faction of Raider Nation on the verge of revolt.
In a winnable game on Monday night, Carr had a 48.1 passer rating with two interceptions. Worst of all, he gift-wrapped the winning score for the Eagles.
With the score tied 10-10, and the insurance policy overtime just 57 seconds away, Carr tried to squeeze a short pass to Amari Cooper despite tight coverage by Ronald Darby.
The Eagles cornerback snatched away the slightly off-target throw and, four plays later, Josh Elliott drilled a 48-yard field goal for the go-ahead score.
And, believe it or not, that wasn’t the worst of it. Carr really unraveled on the final drive, looking lost and overmatched by Philadelphia’s fearsome rush.
Clinging to desperation, they had one last possession at the 36-yard line. There were 17 seconds to play — time enough for a last gasp. With three timeouts in hand, one good throw — one decent chunk play — would get them in range for field goal.
Instead, Carr misfired on first down with an inconsequential 6-yard pass in the direction of Cordarrelle Patterson.
“I don’t know how much good that’s going to do you, Jon,” play-by-play man Sean McDonough said on the ESPN broadcast, all but scratching his head.