Ken Stabler’s record falls, but Derek Carr’s bottom line on Raiders: ‘I’m sick of losing’
Derek Carr is the Raiders’ career passing touchdown leader after his 98th start.
The recipient of his 151st TD pass was Nelson Agholor, a fourth-quarter connection that pushed Carr past Ken Stabler for most in franchise history in a 30-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
First, the good part of the day.
“The first time I thought about it was when I was driving to the facility yesterday,” Carr said. “You get so much in groundhog mode where you’re just playing football and doing your process, you’re like dang. I took a moment and just thought about it. The Snake ... his greatness. He’s the best.
“I just tip my hat to his family. They’ve been so gracious to me and so loving to me. I wish I could’ve met ... I wish I could’ve talked to him and I wish I could’ve learned from him. I didn’t have that opportunity, obviously. I’m thankful. You can’t take it away.”
Carr tied Stabler’s record with 13 seconds remaining in the first half when he found Jason Witten for a 3-yard touchdown.
Just last week, Carr became No. 1 in franchise history with 97 career starts, passing Stabler in that category.
Carr promised before the season began that when he broke Stabler’s record, he would do it with “respect and honor.”
“That is going to be insane,” Carr said at the time. “That’s all I have been hearing about from my dad growing up, hearing only about Stabler. It was surreal for him and for me. The one thing I regret is never meeting him. With that being said, it is something I’m trying to do with respect and honor. I know of his greatness as a football player.”
Last season, Carr catapulted past Stabler for the most passing yards in team history in the first half of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Oakland.
Stabler played 10 seasons with the Raiders after getting picked in the second round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft.
With the Raiders, Stabler finished with 19,078 yards and 150 touchdowns. He helped the Raiders to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Super Bowl XI in 1977. He was named the MVP in 1974 and won Player of the Year honors (Bert Bell Award) in 1976.
Stabler died in 2015 and was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Carr is in his seventh season with the Raiders after getting selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft.
Carr: ‘I’m sick of losing.’
And then there was the bad part of Sunday’s game.
While he was answering the question about setting the record, Carr took a minute to share his feelings about the end result.
“I’m not going to sit up here and be depressed about something that is a good thing, but at the same time, if we could’ve won, that feels better,” Carr said.
“I’m sick of losing. Working as I do and we do and going out there and losing ... it sucks. Enough is enough. I think that’s my message. I’m excited, obviously for that. I dreamed of that when I got drafted here. I looked all those stats up and was like I want to break all these as a competitor. I’m sick of losing. Enough is enough. I’m tired of it.”
The Raiders fell to 2-2 and will face AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead next Sunday.
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 6:39 PM.
