Derek Carr didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard in his first game with the New Orleans Saints, but he did enough to beat the Tennessee Titans 16-15. And he has a lot to thank his defense for in that Week 1 win. The Saints defense is already doing more for Carr than the Las Vegas Raiders ever did.
The Raiders allowed 15 or more points in 130 of Carr’s 143 starts at quarterback, or 91% of his games in silver and black (including the playoffs). Carr’s teams went 10-2 in those dozen games while holding opponents to fewer than 15 points, losing 13-6 to the Chargers in his 2014 rookie year and falling 13-10 to the Steelers in 2022, his very last game with the team. It’s no wonder he left Las Vegas with a career record of 63-80 with such sorry defensive play.
Buy Saints TicketsThat strong Saints defense was a major selling-point in their recruitment of Carr, so it’s great to see them living up to expectations. They left Week 1 tied for the league lead with 3 interceptions as a team (the New York Jets picked off Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen thrice on Monday night). They also generated 3 sacks and two dozen quarterback pressures, doing their part to help New Orleans end the game with the ball in Carr’s hands. Let’s see if they can keep it up, and if Carr can muster some higher-scoring outputs in his own right.
