Derek Carr should be the best quarterback in the mediocre NFC South, so he should play like it. While it has not been all bad for Carr since joining the New Orleans Saints this past offseason, he is coming off perhaps his most frustrating game of the campaign. New Orleans lost a very winnable one to the Houston Texans to fall to 3-3 on the season. They could be in first place, but sit half a game back now.
Lost in the shuffle of the defeat was Carr blowing up on Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. in the latter part of the game. New Orleans fell to Houston 20-13 in a game where the Saints could have found themselves in first place. Every team in the NFC South lost Sunday, but New Orleans has not taken advantage of Carolina being horrible, Tampa in transition and Atlanta's up-and-down nature.
Carr would go on to apologize to Carmichael, and said that he did so to the media after the ballgame.
"Pete [Carmichael] and I know exactly what I was talking about, and why. When the game is on the line, that's when you have to be on every detail of your assignment. I was a little upset at some of those things. It had nothing to do with Pete. He just happened to be the one that walked up when I was a little angry. … Those little details, that if we do those things right you're looking like ... oh my gosh ... we would have 28 points."
This NSFW video encapsulates how the heated exchange between Carr and Carmichael looked on the sidelines in the narrow road loss to Houston in Week 6. Either way, it was not a good look for Carr.
The Saints have a short week to put this behind them, but will host the emerging AFC South juggernaut that is the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.
Derek Carr apologizing about Pete Carmichael Jr. blowup is not the issue
Look. There is a lot more to unpack here than you probably realized. Carmichael may be the Saints' long-time offensive coordinator, but Sean Payton called the plays when he was their head coach. With Payton retiring and then heading to Denver, Carmichael's importance on the Saints' staff has been greatly elevated since former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was promoted from within.
Over the last two years, Allen's side of the ball has held up its end of the bargain, even with Ryan Nielsen defecting to arch rival Atlanta this past offseason to reunite with Terry Fontenot. Defensive prowess was supposed to be a given in New Orleans this season. Atlanta was supposed to be better, while Tampa Bay was supposed to pull back and Carolina was going to have to find itself this season.
Well, the Panthers are festering garbage, Atlanta has been as advertised and Tampa Bay is far better with Baker Mayfield as its quarterback than we probably expected. Not to say the Saints are much worse than expected, but we all thought the Carr addition would make them better. Well, has it? So yes, there are clearly some frustrations being ironed out in The Big Easy, but this is not all on Carr.
To me, you have to wonder if Carmichael has been exposed the last few years. This is a new offense Carr had to learn since coming over from the Silver and Black. He knows Allen from his days in Oakland, as he was his first professional coach. However, the Saints' inability to score a ton of points on anybody other than the dying Evil Empire that is the New England Patriots is a huge red flag, y'all.
Carr getting fired up may not solve these problems, but it is not like Carmichael is solving them either.
