Derek Carr ended his night as the most criticized NFL player from Thursday Night Football, despite a strong second half showing that saw him lead the Saints back to nearly force the game into overtime with just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
How much criticism did Carr receive for his first-half performance versus the Jacksonville Jaguars? Not only was his name trending for the wrong reasons, but even a national chips company joined in on piling on the first-year New Orleans Saints quarterback.
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Which Company Ripped Derek Carr?
While Carr has moved on from the Las Vegas Raiders, a Kansas City representative dug into the old rivalry to pile on the former member of the Silver and Black.
Guy’s Snacks, the national barbecue potato chips chain based out of K.C., helped rip Carr for his struggles against the Jags at the Superdome on X).
Anyone who ever called Alex Smith “Captain Checkdown” must apologize.
Derek Carr exists.
— Guy’s Snacks (@GuysSnacks) October 20, 2023
Alex Smith, during his time with the Chiefs, was widely criticized in league circles for being more of a short-area passer. But, it turns out the former Chief has a backer with the potato chip franchise.
Guy’s Snacks wasn’t through with bombarding the former Chiefs’ rival passer, adding more jabs when they said, “Derek Carr is going to need to hit Applebees for a bunch of those Dollaritas after this one” and “You can take the Derek Carr out of Las Vegas, but…”
Saints Fan Point Out Who ‘Saves Us’ From Watching Carr
Guy’s Snacks helped represent a critic from a past rival city of Carr’s. But even Saints fans and others across the NFL world were blasting their new passer.
New Orleans managed to cut the lead to 24-16 early in the fourth quarter through versatile backup quarterback Taysom Hill. But as noted by one viewer, the Hill QB keeper “saves us from having to watch Derek Carr.”
Taysom Hill saves us all from having to watch Derek Carr #Saints
— PlayerProfiler NFL (@Profiler_NFL) October 20, 2023
When Carr was asked by a member of the media what he thought of the Saints fans who were in attendance showing their disapproval of the offense, he talked about blocking it all out.
“I played in Kansas City when I was a Raider, and I’ve heard some pretty crazy things. I can block out things really easily,” Carr said. “I’ve never played this game for a man’s approval, and I’ve never lived my life that way. I come off the sideline, and I have the same routine, whether everyone’s cheering or everyone’s mad.
“If they’re mad at me, mad at the offense, mad at the defense, mad at the special teams. For me, if I care too much about that, this thing would have been 60-9. We just would’ve gave it to them. But we’ve got too many professionals. You understand their frustration, but at the same time, they’re the same guys, the same friends, same fans, they’re going to cheer for you when you make a good play. That to me, has never been a problem to me.”
How frustrating of a night was it for Carr and the Saints’ offense? There was this heated moment that captured involving the four-time Pro Bowler and his offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael.
Derek Carr and Pete Carmichael having a conversation after the last drive stalled. pic.twitter.com/6vOIyEImgr
— Boot Krewe Media (@BootKreweMedia) October 20, 2023
Carr also lost his composure on a third-down scenario with New Orleans backed near their own end zone and Carr going deep — only to overthrow the football but chastise his intended target, Chris Olave.
That got sports betting director for nola.com Thomas Casale to be amused by Carr’s actions.
“Derek Carr is yelling at a WR for not going after a ball thrown 15 yards out of bounds,” Casale posted.
However, Carr said in his postgame press conference, “I wasn’t talking to Chris [Olave]. Like the past two weeks, I’ve just been talking in general. There were some things that happened today that led to some pretty big negative plays that should never happen, and I think that’s where my frustration is coming from.”
Carr managed to get the Saints to tie the game by hitting Michael Thomas down the sidelines. He then hit Alvin Kamara on the two-point conversion to tie things up with under eight minutes left.
Michael Thomas has 11 receptions in the 4th quarter this season — tied for 6th-most among NFL WRs.pic.twitter.com/77nsnJ5qs5
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 20, 2023
However, his and the Saints’ resilience wasn’t enough, as a 44-yard Christian Kirk touchdown put the Jaguars ahead.
Carr ended his evening watching Foster Moreau drop a wide-open end zone grab and then watching his last attempt fall incomplete. Carr went 33 of 55 for 301 yards, one touchdown pass, and a pick-six.
“I thought we as a whole team did a great job of fighting back in the second half,” Carr said. “But we’re all going to look at that tape and be like, ‘We can all play better.’ Anyone can go tomorrow and stop the tape on a bad performance or on a good performance and say, ‘he should’ve done this, or he should’ve done that.’
“There’s been games where I’ve thrown for 400 yards, and I’m like, ‘Dude, I didn’t really play that good,’ and then there’s times where you’ve thrown for 180 and then I played really good, and vice-versa. There’s so many things that go into that besides just on a Monday and stopping the clicker saying it was this guy or that guy.”