Carr’s Strong Start Fuels Raiders

Due to injuries with Josh Jacobs and a few players on the offensive line, the Las Vegas Raiders became the NFL’s most pass-heavy team through the first two weeks. Currently, Carr and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff lead with ninety-three pass attempts. The Raiders entered 2020 as a balanced, potentially run-leaning team, this approach opened eyes. With the uniqueness of the Raiders’ new approach comes stats regarding Derek Carr.

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Hot Start

For starters, Carr leads the NFL in passing yards (817), distancing himself from second-place Kyler Murray (689) by 128 yards. Carr’s willingness to throw the ball in 2021 may have his yards per game up over 400, but the stats many Raiders fans have instinctively looked for over the years are a bit down. The QBR (or Quarterback Rating) has been a staple in any conversation defending Carr, but in 2021, the QBR conversation may need to be left at home. In previous years, Carr’s QBR would place him around the top-10 quarterbacks in the league. However, in 2021, Carr ranks 15^th, despite keeping his rating close to his average (~62.0).

A Deeper Look

Perhaps fourteen other quarterbacks are outperforming him from an analytical standpoint, or more likely, averaging 46.5 pass attempts per game would increase anyone’s room for error. From a comparison standpoint, Carr actually looks incredible as Goff’s (tied for pass attempts with Carr) QBR sits at 43.5 and Herbert’s (trailing Carr’s pass attempts total by five) QBR sits right below Goff’s at 43.4. With Carr’s success and an absent running game, many would have expected Carr to be in the top tier of passing touchdowns. Interestingly enough, Carr has thrown four touchdowns in the 2021 season, tying the totals of Aaron Rodgers, Teddy Bridgewater, Joe Burrow, and Trevor Lawrence. While this is certainly not the worst company to be in, these quarterbacks trail Tom Brady’s nine touchdown passes by more than double.

Yards By The Truckload

All in all, Carr is still the only quarterback averaging 400+ passing yards per game, and his team still stands undefeated at 2-0. The interesting conundrum statistics lock fans into is that they certainly do not tell the whole story. Touchdowns or not, Carr is doing everything he needs to do for the Raiders to win, and he is operating and an incredible level of efficiency. Since the second half of the game against the Ravens, Carr has done a very nice job of facilitating the ball. Watching Carr force-feed Waller got a bit scary, as it was beginning to feel as though Carr drifted into a dangerously high level of comfort.

Kudos

While it has not been confirmed, one can assume Jon Gruden deserves the credit for getting in Carr’s face at halftime and switching up the gameplan. Carr’s performance so far should not be regarded as “2016-esque Derek Carr” but instead, we will soon be looking back and getting familiar with the phrase “2021-esque Derek Carr”.