Derek Carr’s Saints debut couldn’t have gone much better.
The quarterback played one offensive series against the Chiefs on Sunday and it saw him go 6-of-8 for 70 yards and a touchdown pass to wide receiver Keith Kirkwood. Carr and the Saints only faced one third down on their 12-play drive down the field and they converted it on a throw to tight end Juwan Johnson.
Carr also connected with wide receiver Michael Thomas for a 16-yard gain that stirred memories of what Thomas can do on offense when he’s healthy and the entire effort drew a positive response from the crowd at the Superdome. After the game, Carr said he hopes to hear a lot more of that in the months to come.
“It felt good,” Carr said, via the team’s website. “It was nice to get a couple of situations in there, third down, get some red zone and all that stuff. They don’t tell us how much we’re going to play and all, so, to be able to get a couple of situations in there and throughout the game talk through things with [offensive coordinator] Pete [Carmichael] in certain situations and things like that, in a game-time scenario, it was good. It was a lot of fun. Love being on this side of things in the Dome. I can get used to this place, it’s a lot of fun.”
There will be rougher sailing to come for Carr and the Saints at points this season, but the first steps for the quarterback with his new team were positive ones and there’s reason to hope that they will be signs of things to come in New Orleans.
