Despite a 2-7 start to the season, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr remains confident that this team can still find its way. With a few days under his belt since his emotional presser, No. 4 remains steadfast in his belief that the Silver and Black are still capable of turning things around.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Carr was asked about drawing comparisons between last year’s squad that made the playoffs and the 2-7 team he’s currently leading. Carr elaborated on the changes that have occurred since that playoff trip. Namely, a sweeping change at the top with Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler coming in. In spite of all the changes, Carr isn’t making excuses; rather, he’s cognizant of the fact that this isn’t the same team, saying as much in fact. At the same time, he sang the power duo’s praises, pointing to their track record of winning. You could certainly say Carr was much more optimistic than Sunday’s postgame tone.
“There’s no denying their [McDaniels and Ziegler] success. There’s no denying what they’ve been able to do. He’s not in here beating us over the head every day, or anything like that. He’s super positive, he’s encouraging, but he corrects us, and he’s disciplined and all the things that you would love in a coach. And so, we feel good about it going forward, but I think it’s just two different teams if that makes sense.”
Has time run out for Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders?
The Raiders were able to sneak into the postseason after going 10-7 despite a litany of issues. That included the tragedy surrounding Henry Ruggs III. However, the team looked decidedly better before the Jon Gruden fiasco. Despite a looming fear that his team was going to collapse late in the season again, Gruden wasn’t going to be around for it. Instead, Rich Bisaccia rallied the Raiders, and the team rode on the back of Josh Jacobs and made it to Cincinnati. That type of will and fight can’t be seen on this team at the moment. Jacobs and others, such as Maxx Crosby, are doing what they can, but something’s missing. Perhaps too much change ended up catching up to this team. Carr himself acknowledged that he, more than anyone, has experienced change on a consistent basis during his tenure.
“For me, I’ve done it. I’m not saying this to offend anybody, but I’ve done it so many times that it’s different every time. There’s carryover, and sometimes a coach is like, ‘Oh, yeah, that works,’ or ‘Hey, we’ll see you next year.’ Different pieces, all that kind of stuff, and all that. But for the time being right now, our expectation was so high because of what we went through. Because we’re humans, we’ve experienced that. They’ve experienced so much more success than just that. And so, our expectations will never change. And so, as a human, yeah, there’s frustration. Yeah, there’s that. But there’s no belief that we can’t do it, get it right, or do things like that.”
In order for the Raiders to have a chance, they’d have to win out. That’s highly unlikely given what we’ve seen. The team has been unable to give a complete 60-minute effort thus far. Collapse after collapse has plagued this team; Carr himself couldn’t hold back his tears of frustration. There’s plenty of blame to go around, whether it’s the defense or McDaniels’ offense. At this point, let’s see if this Derek Carr-led team can just win a game.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images