When the Raiders hired Jon Gruden for the second time, there were some questions about how he and Derek Carr would fit together. At first, the fit did feel clunky and it reflected in Carr’s stats. In 2018, Carr threw for just 19 touchdowns and the Raiders went 4-12 with one of the league’s worst offenses.
Since then, Carr has been on fire. In 2019, he set career-highs in completion percentage, passing yards and passer rating. Despite limited weapons, the offense did function well outside and Carr was competent, at the very least.
While we are only two games into the 2020 season, Carr has performed incredibly well in this offense despite two rookie receivers starting on the outside. He’s thrown four touchdowns to no interceptions and has a passer rating of 114.9.
This type of performance isn’t a fluke as Carr now has had a single-game passer rating over 103 in 10 of his last 16 outings. Take a look at Carr’s stats in his last 16 games with the Raiders:
Here are #Raiders QB Derek Carr's stats in his last 16 games:
Not bad!!! pic.twitter.com/4I2BlBISZu
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) September 23, 2020
While Carr will never have the passing volume of a Patrick Mahomes or a Kyler Murray, he remains one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league. And if he continues to play at this level over the course of the 2020 season, there is no reason why the Raiders can’t be in playoff contention.
Carr is playing some of the best football of his career and his confidence is growing in Jon Gruden’s offense. While he’s often critizied for not taking enough chances, Carr is executing Gruden’s offense to a “T”. He’s getting the ball into the hands of his playmakers and isn’t making costly turnovers. That’s allowing the Raiders to hold onto the ball for long periods of time and for their big offensive line to wear on opposing defenses.
Carr is doing exactly what Gruden wants from the quarterback position. Look for him to continue to thrive in this offfense as the coaching staff has put together a great plan to allow the quarterback to have success.
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