It’s fair to say the New Orleans Saints have not gotten a great return on their investment in Derek Carr. The veteran quarterback’s $150 million contract resulted in just two touchdown passes through the month of November — a three-game stretch interrupted by their bye week.
As noted by ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, Carr’s last touchdown pass was a 2-yard strike to Taysom Hill in the second quarter of their Nov. 5 game with the Chicago Bears. Both teams traded field goals before Hill threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson late in regulation.
Carr’s struggles to end drives with touchdowns have only grown more pronounced as the season continues. The offense managed just three points in two and a half quarters when he left the Minnesota Vikings game with an injury. When Carr returned after the bye week for a road game with the Atlanta Falcons, the Saints went 0-for-5 on drives reaching the red zone.
Those five possessions ended with three field goals, Carr’s ugly interception to Falcons safety Jessie Bates III (which was returned 92 yards for a backbreaking defensive touchdown), and a fumble by Hill that set up a nine-play, 95-yard scoring drive for Atlanta. It’s been a disaster.
And really that’s the only way to look at Carr’s turn as the starting quarterback for New Orleans. He’s managed just 10 touchdown passes in 11 games while throwing 5 interceptions and fumbling 5 times (twice losing possession). His performances with the Las Vegas Raiders the last two years were the lowest of his career, but he’s playing even worse now that he’s exchanged his silver helmet for a gold one.
Carr deserves plenty of blame for the Saints’ problems this season. So does his play caller Pete Carmichael. But ultimately the buck stops with the head coach who empowered (or settled for) both of them: Dennis Allen. Carr was Allen’s handpicked quarterback, and Carmichael was who he stuck with after failing to recruit an offensive coordinator in each of his two years in charge. Drastic changes are needed for the Saints to live up to the standards they’ve set for themselves.
