Don’t let Chiefs comeback distract you from how great Derek Carr played

Any other night, we’d be talking about Derek Carr instead of Patrick Mahomes. 

Patrick Mahomes woke up Monday morning as the biggest name in the NFL. With less than two minutes, the Super Bowl MVP instigated a seven-play drive to set up a game-winning 22-yard touchdown to Travis Kelce.

A 35-31 victory in Las Vegas likely cements the Chiefs as winners of the AFC West. However, on any other night, Derek Carr would be the hero everyone would be gushing over. The Raiders quarterback played well enough to keep the team hanging around late and certainly deserves the praise.

Carr started the night going a perfect 11-of-11 and helped Las Vegas score 17 points. A pair of drops from Alec Ingold and a deep ball just out of reach from Nelson Agholor ended the fourth drive with a punt. However, it was the team’s penultimate drive which was worth remembering.

Thanks to several costly penalties by Kansas City’s defense, Carr was given ample opportunities to set the team up in the red zone. Going 4-of-7, Carr bounced around trying to connect with targets and move the ball downfield. However, it was his one-yard touchdown to Jason Witten that gave Las Vegas a 31-28 lead with just under two minutes left on the clock.

Don’t forget how well Derek Carr played

Carr finished 23-of-31 for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Five passes went for more than 20 yards while his average pass per play was 8.9 yards. Carr also finished with a 119.7 passer rating and avoided the pressure to make sure he didn’t take a sack.

Simply put, Carr was near-flawless, but so was Mahomes.

Both quarterbacks threw a costly interception that played in the opposing team’s favor. Mahomes’ pick before halftime to Trayvon Mullen ended a promising drive to keep Las Vegas ahead. Carr’s interception to Daniel Sorenson sealed a loss for the Raiders in the closing seconds.

With zero timeouts and 19 seconds on the clock, what else could Carr do but go for it all?

Las Vegas took the defending Super Bowl champions down to the wire despite having 10 defenders miss practice due to COVID-19 protocols. A few big gains had the defense bend but never break. And thanks to Carr’s late heroics, the Raiders have earned the respect from many entering the final month of play.

There are no moral victories in football, but Carr should be proud of his outing. The defense allowed Mahomes to chew down the clock, leaving Carr simply out of time for any magic of his own.