SAN DIEGO – Derek Carr’s first completion of Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers, an eight-yard completion to Michael Crabtree, placed him alongside Rich Gannon as one of just two Raiders quarterbacks in team history to achieve back-to-back seasons with at least 3,500 yards passing.
With his 8-yard completion, @RAIDERS @derekcarrqb is just the 2nd QB in franchise history with multiple 3,500-yard seasons through the air. pic.twitter.com/nwKtjyFleb
— Evert Geerlings (@E_Geerlings) December 18, 2016
Carr finished last season with 3,987 yards passing and entered Sunday’s game on pace to end 2016 with 4,298 yards. That would be good for the third-best single season performance in team history behind Carson Palmer in 2012 and the second of Gannon’s back-to-back 3,500+ yard seasons in 2002, when he threw for a franchise record 4,689 yards.
Coincidentally, 2002 was the last time the Raiders made the playoffs before this season.
It took Carr only three NFL seasons to join Gannon in this elite group, while Gannon didn’t achieve the feat until his sixteenth season and fourth team in the league.
By no means did Carr play exceptionally well in San Diego as the Raiders clinched their first playoff berth in 14 NFL seasons, managing only 19 completions on 30 attempts for 213 yards and throwing his sixth interception on the year. It was also the third straight game in which he failed to throw for 300 yards.
However, Carr’s below-average play was of little concern to the Raiders who entered today with an anxiety leading up to it that only football in December can bring to an NFL game. And let’s be honest, there’s little doubt his still-healing pinkie finger on his throwing hand is still affecting him after injuring it agains the Panthers more than three weeks ago.
One can assume the majority of the Raiders discussions after this win won’t be centered around Carr’s overall performance, but rather the entire team’s offensive performance in the red zone, which nearly cost the Raiders’ their 11th victory of the season. Their two turnovers in the red zone ended an impressive streak of 62 straight straight trips without a turnover. Latavius Murray officially ended the streak by fumbling in the second quarter and to make matters worse, Carr threw an interception on the very next drive, also from within the Chargers’ 20-yard line.