It’s tough to stick to your New Year’s resolutions. For Raiders’ quarterback Derek Carr, he made it clear he wants to make it to the NFL playoffs in 2021.
“That’s it,” Carr said Wednesday, according to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
With their stunning 26-25 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night, the Raiders were eliminated from playoff contention and fell to 7-8 this season.
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"This is a team game,” Carr added. “It doesn’t matter what one side of the ball did and what one side of the ball didn’t. As a team, we did not accomplish anything close to what we wanted to accomplish, so it’s not good enough ...
"Not making the playoffs just can’t be accepted,” Carr said.
Carr has led the Raiders to the playoffs just once, in 2016, and he had to watch the AFC Wild Card Game from the sidelines with a broken leg as the team lost to the Houston Texans.
Coach Jon Gruden also wasn’t happy about missing the playoffs, naturally saying he’s sick for his team and the fans in the team’s first season after the move from Oakland to Las Vegas.
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There is a silver lining, however. Carr’s numbers are on par with his career stats.
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback has thrown for 3,732 passing yards and 25 touchdowns with a career-high 102.2 QB rating.
And then there’s tight end Darren Waller. Oh boy.
When Marcus Mariota had to fill in for Carr when he left with a groin injury in Week 15, Mariota looked at ease, but Waller’s insane skills made him look even better with a beautiful 35-yard touchdown catch against the Los Angeles Chargers:
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Waller has 1,079 yards with a career-best eight touchdowns in 15 games, and earned a Pro Bowl selection this season.
So while Carr, Gruden and Waller got close to the playoffs this season, the quarterback knows everyone must execute better for the Raiders to fulfill that resolution next season.