Derek Carr has been the Raiders’ starting quarterback since 2014, and they still haven’t won a playoff game. Carr had never even played in a playoff game until January, when the Raiders lost to the Bengals in the wild card round.
But Carr thinks it’s silly that anyone would doubt whether he’s capable of leading the Raiders to wins in the postseason.
“The question of, Can I win a playoff game? Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Yes. Just because we haven’t, just because we had one chance and we lost in the last series of the game to the AFC champions? Yeah, I think we can,” Carr said. “It just shows you how close we were. But with that said, 55 percent of the teams that make the playoffs, the next year don’t. So the odds are against us. I like that kind of thought process better, so I’m going to keep that underdog mentality, and that chip on the shoulder mindset. But at the same time, I know what I’m capable of, I know what our team’s capable of, and I’m excited to see. I know we have to earn that spot, I think we were a fifth seed something like that, and now we have to earn more than that. That’s the goal. With this division that will be tough, but we’re excited for that challenge.”
Carr surely can win a playoff game, but whether he ever will win a playoff game is a separate question. It won’t be easy in what looks like a very competitive AFC. And if he doesn’t do it soon, the Raiders may decide it’s time to find a new franchise quarterback.
