I have had the misfortune of watching just about every down of New Orleans Saints football in the year 2023. Let me tell you: It's been nothing to write home about.
Or, viewed another way, maybe it's been everything to write home about, but for all the wrong reasons. The terrible, terrible reasons.
And Derek Carr just made it even worse.
Derek Carr's answer to question on red zone woes is concerning for Saints
I'm genuinely surprised to find the Saints are only 20th in touchdowns scored per game, though their 42.5% touchdown rate on red zone trips that ranks 30th fits my expectations much better. This team has, since essentially Week 1, stormed down the field on offensive drives only to have to rely on Blake Grupe to kick in a field goal rather than crossing the end zone line.
Just last week, the Saints played a key game, one that could very well decide the NFC South for the year. It was a winnable game that the Saints lost 24-15, all of their points coming on field goals. With it, the winning Atlanta Falcons regained the lead in the NFC South.
Had New Orleans converted even just two of its red zone trips, they win the game. It's a huge deal and may wind up being the difference between making the postseason and not.
So Derek Carr's response to the question on the matter this week deserves some attention...
"I don't know man, you gotta ask Coach Pete [Carmichael] and [Dennis Allen], myself, when you ask us, we're not going to be able to give you all the answers that everyone wants to hear... You're gonna keep asking the same question, and I'm going to keep giving a lot of words and no answer because I'm not gonna tell you."
This is, no disrespect at all to Nick Underhill, a cupcake question for a quarterback. You get these as a starting QB from your rookie season until you're done in the league if you're not converting on red zone trips. The answers are usually largely window dressing, shelled and scripted answers of something generic that talks about things at a basic level.
So for Carr to just come out and say, "I'm going to just say a bunch of nonsense words and not actually provide a meaningful answer," raises some alarms. It's not just the fact that his answer wasn't compelling -- rarely are answers to a question like this earth-shaking -- it's that he basically looks as though he's indifferent to the issue entirely.
Points for honesty, I guess.
