Jon Gruden sees a lot of clutch plays by Raiders’ Derek Carr. What he wants from his QB
Nothing surprises Jon Gruden about Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Impressed?
That’s a different matter.
The Raiders coach has seen Carr lead the Raiders to 10 game-winning drives and seven fourth-quarter comebacks since Gruden returned to the sidelines in 2018.
“I’m really impressed with how he plays,” Gruden said Wednesday. “How he studies and how he prepares. Sometimes the biggest, pressure-packed moments bring out the best in him. We still need him to play better and better and better for us to get into the tournament. He knows that.”
The Raiders (7-5) will host the Indianapolis Colts (8-4) on Sunday in a battle of teams that are fighting for an AFC playoff berth. Las Vegas currently sits in the eighth spot, while Indianapolis holds the seventh and final spot if the season were to end today.
There’s plenty at stake for the Raiders, who had to eke out a 31-28 victory over the New York Jets last week behind Carr’s clutch 46-yard Hail Mary to Henry Ruggs III with five seconds remaining.
That gave Carr 20 fourth-quarter comebacks and 23 game-winning drives since joining the Raiders in the 2014 NFL draft. Carr surpassed the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan for most such comebacks in NFL history through a player’s first seven seasons.
Carr’s first fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive came against the Kansas City Chiefs in his rookie season as the Raiders won 24-20 in a prime-time game.
Naturally, Carr wouldn’t like to be put in that position to lead his team to a comeback win. He would rather have a comfortable lead but, if need be, he’s ready to step in in key moments.
“So many times in my career we’ve been in that position where early on it’s like I don’t know how to act,” Carr said. “You have to calm down, do your job and try to figure it out. The more times you go through it, it’s like anything. It’s just like experience and experience with people you’ve done it with before. Some of these young guys are learning how we do things around here.”
Among quarterbacks who led teams to game-winning drives, Carr is ranked 37th, tied with Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Dan Fouts, Ken Stabler and Y.A. Tittle. Carr is 30th in fourth-quarter comebacks.
The leader in those categories is Peyton Manning, who had 54 game-winning drives and 43 fourth-quarter comebacks.
Rallying without a healthy offensive line
The comebacks and winning drives came this season after numerous changes on the offensive line.
Tackle Trent Brown had been out because of a calf injury and was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list twice. Guard Richie Incognito hasn’t played since Week 2.
There was that one week when the entire starting offensive line didn’t practice leading up to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The good news for Carr is he’ll be getting Brown back in time for Sunday’s game. It will be much-needed protection for Carr, whom Gruden said, “I’m really impressed with the way he’s been able to roll with the punches.”
“We’ve had five different right tackles, we’ve had three different left tackles, a number of different guards and wide receivers, and he’s had to put up with me and that’s, I’m sure, not easy either,” Gruden said. “He’s a key to our team. We need him to be great down the stretch and I promise Raiders fans he’s giving us the best he can.”
There are some wise words from offensive line coach Tom Cable that resonate with Carr during games.
“ ‘Don’t make stuff up. Just do right,’ ” Carr recalled Cable saying. “ ‘Do the right thing and it usually works out.’ ”
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
