A look at Derek Carr’s not-so-pristine record vs. the Chiefs

Some opponents rouse a sense of respect, bordering on fear. Other opponents are led by Derek Carr.

Well, that was something, huh? The Kansas City Chiefs went from one of their most humble offensive performance in arguably the last five seasons against the Colts to absolutely beating the tires off of Tom Brady and the mighty Bucs in Tampa Bay. The third game on the road in their first four appearances of the year capped off with an exclamation point in a primetime performance.

It can’t be understated how impactful a bounce-back performance like that is for Kansas City’s offensive identity moving forward. The criticism and scrutiny from armchair GMs across the Kingdom were rampant following an extremely meager showing against Indy, and it appears that might not be a blind spot for the Chiefs. The offense looks dialed in just in time for a showdown with their oldest, most hated rival: the Las Vegas Raiders.

It’s not so often that an opponent pops up on the schedule and as a fan, you think “glad these guys are coming to town”, but it’s becoming that way with the Raiders. Sure, there have been a couple of slip-ups here and there against the Raiders—the 2020 victory lap game comes to mind—but for the most part, they’ve been about as automatic of a win for the Chiefs as the Broncos. Slightly different levels of oppositional futility for two very different reasons. While the Broncos have had an atrociously below-average QB carousel in play since Peyton Manning’s retirement, the Raiders have actually had “stability” at the position. (We’ll get to the air quotes surrounding stability in a second.)

Let’s not get carried away. Each week is its own little mini-season, and you can’t really count on historical results telling you what’s going to happen in the present or the future. While Las Vegas was beyond a pushover for the Chiefs last year, they do bring some new, uniquely challenging matchups to the table in 2022. While Chandler Jones has yet to do a ton in silver and black, his presence opposite Maxx Crosby could certainly pose some challenges to the Chiefs’ offensive tackles, who through four weeks have been (without question) the weak link on the offensive side of the ball for Kansas City. If Crosby and Jones are able to put some pressure on Patrick Mahomes, it could be another perplexing day at the office for an on-again, off-again 2022 Chiefs offense.

The Raiders also will bring a shiny new offensive weapon to Kansas City for their Monday Night showdown with the Chiefs in perennial All-Pro wideout Davante Adams. Adams has looked both spectacular and pedestrian in 4 games thus far with the Raiders, putting up 290 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 receptions. Adams has been targeted 47 times in 4 games, which is nearly double that of the Raiders’ second most targeted receiver – Mack Hollins – has seen all season. Chalk that up to Adams’s incredible ability to get open, but also to bad habits. By who, you may ask? We’ll get to that.

The Raiders and Chiefs rivalry is one of the longest-standing, most heated rivalries in NFL history. This one dates back to

We all remember who the Raiders quarterback is, right?

There are some players who strike fear in the hearts of opponents just by their names being mentioned. For years, anytime someone would say the words “Peyton Manning”, my stomach would drop. Whether it was in Indianapolis or Denver, Manning had the Chiefs number going 12-2 against KC losing once in 2004, and once in 2015. Tom Brady’s name can be traumatizing, specifically when thinking back on past Chiefs’ playoff failures. I’m sure Chicago Bears fans cringe when they hear the name Aaron Rodgers. Falcons fans probably wince when someone mentions Drew Brees. But some players give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside – even opponents. Sure, we all love hearing about Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. But you know what name really gives the fine folks in Chiefs Kingdom a good smile and most of the time a hearty laugh? The thought of playing against Derek Carr.

Don’t get me wrong, Derek Carr has had a perfectly fine career. Average, without question, but perfectly fine. He’s led the Raiders to the playoffs twice, although they’ve never won a playoff game with him under center. He’s been to the Pro Bowl a few times, won AFC offensive player of the week a couple of times, and even won AFC Offensive Player of the Month last September. He’s been good enough to get contract extensions, but not quite good enough to make the Raiders a contender. But when Carr faces the Chiefs, it’s almost like he transforms internally from “Derek Carr: Professional Quarterback” to a real-life NFL version of George Castanza.

Carr is the longest-tenured quarterback in the AFC West, having been the Raiders’ starter since 2014. He’s actually fared pretty well against the Broncos (10-6) and has fought hard against the Chargers (8-9) in his career, but when it comes to the Chiefs? Carr has been historically atrocious in a fairly large sample set. Carr’s 3-13 mark against the Chiefs is tied for the worst in the league among active quarterbacks against a single team. Andy Dalton’s 3-13 mark against the Steelers keeps pace with Carr, which somehow makes Carr’s ineptitude against the Chiefs sadder when you consider that Dalton has been a backup for the past 3 seasons.

As you’ll come to find out, this is going to be an extended exercise in sad comparisons when it comes to Derek Carr’s lack of performance against the Chiefs. His .187 winning percentage against KC, extrapolated out over the course of a career, would leave him parallel with the legendary Mike Glennon. It’s not just about his record against KC, though. Statistically, he has been atrocious. This next comparison might cause some of you to lose sleep with the horrendous memories it might conjure up. Carr’s 81.7 passer rating against Kansas City is bad. How bad? Well, if played as poorly against the rest of the league as he does against the Chiefs and finished with a career 81.7 passer rating, he’d rank slightly above Blaine Gabbert and Josh Freeman, slightly below Mark Sanchez, and right in line with Chiefs legend Matt Cassel.

This is not all his fault, of course. In his career, the Chiefs have outscored the Raiders 510 to 292. That’s nearly 32 points per game, and in the Patrick Mahomes era, the number creeps north of 37 points per game. Last year, the Chiefs whomped the Raiders by a combined score of 89 to 23. Does Derek Carr play defense? No. Does anyone on the Raiders play defense? Debatable. But while the Chiefs offense puts on clinic after clinic against Vegas, Carr and the Raiders’ (at times) high-powered offense seems to shrink when the spotlight shines the brightest. Since 2018, the Raiders have averaged just over 20 points per game against Chiefs defenses that have been nowhere near dominant. For his career, the Raiders have averaged just over 18 per game against Kansas City.

While we’re on the topic of Derek Carr’s historically bad track record against the Chiefs, let’s not forget that his teammates and coaches have not done him any favors in taking the heat off of him. There was of course last season when the Raiders decided it would be a good idea to have a little pow-wow on the Chiefs logo in the heart of Arrowhead Stadium.

That worked out well. The Chiefs got out to a 35-0 lead before letting off the gas in a 48-9 victory – the most lopsided in the history of the rivalry. They’ve played 126 times. There were also the Jon Gruden-led antics in 2020 following the Raiders’ 40-32 win over the Chiefs in Kansas City.

While others have fueled the fire for the Raiders in this rivalry recently, Carr has done little to back up the smack talk. During last year’s Week 10 matchup in Las Vegas, Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill was mic’d up. His observations on Carr’s demeanor while facing the Chiefs? See for yourself.

If the game on Monday night somehow comes down to which quarterback has the opportunity to win the game late for his team, count on sleeping soundly and being very well rested come Tuesday morning if you’re a Chiefs fan. The talent gap between these two teams is narrow in some areas, but the gap between these two signal callers is miles wide and is not closing any time soon. Especially in primetime at Arrowhead Stadium.