The past 17 years have not been kind to the Las Vegas Raiders in terms of wins and losses.
Aside from a flash in the pan of what was a 12-4 season in 2016 that fizzled out after Derek Carr broke his leg, the Raiders haven’t finished better than 8-8. They achieved the .500 mark in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011. Jason Campbell, Bruce Gradkowski, and Carson Palmer called the majority of shots in that span.
During the brief Jason Campbell era of the Silver and Black, the team seemed to be in a great position for sustained success. That came to a crashing halt when Campbell broke his collar bone in a 24-17 win over the Browns in 2011. The injury brought an end to Campbell’s time as the Raiders signal-caller. Now, with the team still longing for a winning record, nostalgia is kicking in for some. As one fan said, “Campbell was a legit quarterback. I’d take him over Carr any day.”
Raiders: What Do the Numbers Say?
In 2010, Campbell finished with a 7-5 record and his 84.5 QB rating was 18th overall in the league. A year later, Campbell had the team positioned for success. With an impressive 4-2 record to start the 2011 season, Campbell’s six touchdowns to four interceptions were nothing to brag about. To me, Campbell was just enough to get the job done but wasn’t going to put you over the top. Also, he wasn’t going to kill the team by making routine bonehead mistakes either. In my opinion, Campbell hit his ceiling with the Raiders.
This all stems from a Tweet by Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. He pointed out Campbell was 5-3 against playoff teams while all other Raiders quarterbacks have a combined 10-88 record over the last 17 seasons. This tweet along with other discussions that happen on a daily basis serves as fuel on a fiery discussion that fans and media continually have. They either are done with Carr as the quarterback or simply don’t believe he will get the job done.
Statistically speaking, there’s not really a debate, Carr is clearly the superior quarterback. Although, as former NFL head coach Herm Edwards famously said, “You play to win the game” and to that effect, Al Davis coined the phrase “Just Win Baby”, which is what Campbell did…sort of. The 5-3 record against playoff teams and his 11-7 overall record with the Raiders is a microcosm of “what could have been”.
As far as Carr is concerned, that’s a discussion for another day. Whether you like it or not, he’s the starter entering the 2020 season.
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Top Photo: Jeb Jacobsohn/Getty Images
