Carr suddenly is king of audibles
A byproduct of the NFL playing its games in front of few, if any, fans because of the novel coronavirus is that viewers can hear loud and clear all the quarterbacks hollering out their calls, cadences and credos.
Along with all those audibles wrapped in supersecret code.
And Derek Carr has been the biggest star of this pandemic phenomenon.
Carr came up short in his matchup with Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night at empty Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where the Raiders lost a 3531 thriller to Kansas City.
But the Raiders’ QB was the socialmedia darling for his audacious audibles, especially when he hollered out “James Harden!” before handing off for a 6yard gain.
Oh, the delicious coincidence of Carr not passing the ball on that play, something even the Raiders’ official Twitter account noted. Other audibles included: “Chris Mullin!” “Pistol Pete!”
And, still scratching our heads over this one: “Purple Walrus!” Without crowds roaring, some salty language occasionally gets broadcast, like it did in the Dolphins-Broncos game Sunday.
With the play clock about to expire, Denver had to call timeout just 37 seconds into its first drive, and left guard Dalton Risner threw his hands up in frustration and dropped a fbomb for all to hear.
Yes, even over the din of 5,351 fans, the last crowd that will be allowed into Empower Field at Mile High this season because of a surge in virus cases in Colorado.
But the most entertaining phrases are coming from the mouths of quarterbacks, and Carr is king.
In the first Raiders-Chiefs matchup of the season, Carr hollered out “Bruce Springsteen!” and “Joe Montana!”
In Las Vegas’ opener, he yelled out, “Tiger Woods!” and “Cindy Gruden!”, the wife of his his head coach.
That prompted Jon Gruden to joke, “I don’t know what he’s been up to at the line of scrimmage, but better keep my wife out of it from now on.”
First Saturday games: The NFL has set its pairings for the league’s first Saturday doubleheader this season, in Week 15.
The Bills will visit Denver at 1: 30 p. m. PST on Dec. 19 . That will be followed by the Panthers at Green Bay kicking off at 5: 15 p. m.
The NFL had five games to choose from for the first Saturday doubleheader with teams told only that they would play either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20 when the league announced schedules this year.
Normally, the NFL has that Saturday to itself. The league will have some competition that day with the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC championship games scheduled for that Saturday, and the Pac12 is scheduled to have five games that day. The SEC might have other games postponed by the coronavirus pandemic being played that day.
Briefly: Tennessee placed two starters on injured reserve in linebacker Jayon Brown ( elbow, out for season) and left tackle Ty Sambrailo ( undisclosed). Brown is the Titans’ leading tackler with 76. ... Cleveland starting cornerback Denzel Ward, who leads the NFL in passes defensed, will miss time with a strained calf. Defensive end Myles Garrett will miss his second straight game this week at Jacksonville as he recovers from COVID19. ... The Jaguars placed defensive end Josh Allen ( knee), cornerback D. J. Hayden ( hamstring) and safety Daniel Thomas ( arm) on injured reserve.