Del Rio: Derek Carr Doesn’t Like to Play in Cold Weather

By now you’ve heard the trendy narrative about Derek Carr and cold weather. The story is, he doesn’t like it.

Adding to the talk this week was Carr’s former head coach, Jack Del Rio, who agreed that Carr doesn’t like to play in cold weather. But the detail that many have glossed over, maybe including Del Rio, is who the Raiders have played in Carr’s four games at 40 degrees or under.

trey wingo on Twitter

So @coachdelrio knows what he speaks of. Said Derek Carr does’t like cold weather games. In games where temp is under 40 at kickoff.. here are his numbers: 0-4 152 Pass YPG 51% Comp pct TD-Int (3-4) 9 Total QBR Temps at Arrowhead will be in the 30’s Sunday

In his career, the four games Carr has played at or under 40 degrees at kickoff are the 2014 Broncos, the 2015 Chiefs, the 2016 Chiefs, and the 2017 Eagles.

In 2014, Carr’s rookie season, the Peyton Manning-led Broncos went 12-4 and went on to win the Super Bowl the following year behind one of the league’s best defenses. In 2015 and 2016, the Chiefs won a combined 23 regular season games (of course they didn’t win the Super Bowl either year). The 2017 Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl, but narrowly pulled off a 19-10 win against the Raiders in one of the coldest games of the 2017 season.

All told, Carr’s four career games in 40 degrees or less have come against teams with a combined 48-16 record. While it’s true that Carr struggled in those games, the cold weather narrative might not be the least common denominator that some are making it out to be. The more accurate story might be that he struggled against a few very good teams, two of which had elite defenses.

Whatever the case, Carr and the Raiders face another elite team on Sunday and this time the winner will have the inside track on winning the AFC West. With temperatures forecast to be in the mid 30’s and winds expected to blow up to 30 MPH, the best bet might be to try to roll through the Kansas City on the ground.

After Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Jets, everyone seems to be discounting the Raiders in Kansas City week. And how can you blame them? But maybe the elusive statistic to figure out after this week will be how well does Derek Carr play when everyone seems to count him out?

twitter: @raidersbeat