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Derek Carr’s name-dropping at the line of scrimmage Sunday kept things interesting but it couldn’t prevent a Chiefs onslaught in a 28-10 loss.
Carr spiced things up early during their battle at the Coliseum by calling out Richard Nixon, Clayton Kershaw and even Raiders owner Mark Davis while audibilizing to a different play.
Those fluent in the parlance of quarterback speak are used to hearing unique catch words from signal-callers — such as Peyton Manning’s “Omaha” and former Cal star Jared Goff’s “Halle Berry” call for the Rams.
Still, one might argue Carr was only inviting trouble by evoking the names of a disgraced former president, an L.A. Dodger and the controversial man who’s taking the Raiders from the East Bay.
Carr, though, couldn’t blame anyone but himself for two ill-advised throws that were intercepted and contributed to Sunday’s loss.
Carr wasted little time in switching things up when he used the second play of the game to remind us of our 37th president. Faced with a second-and-3 play, Carr changed the play after surveying the Chiefs’ defensive alignment, shouting “Richard Nixon!”
The play resulted in Carr’s pass bouncing off tight end Derek Carrier’s hands for an incompletion. As if we should have expected anything other than for something to go wrong on that play.
Carr later rattled off “Mark Davis! Clayton Kershaw!” before handing off to Josh Jacobs for a 4-yard run.
Derek Carr audibles using “MARK DAVIS CLAYTON KERSHAW!” – run off tackle left to Josh Jacobs. Kershaw is a lefty… pic.twitter.com/TyMLUZJ4qg
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 15, 2019
There was another mention of Kershaw and Nixon prior to a snap, providing Raiders fans at home with something else to discuss other than how the Chiefs were dismantling their team.
Derek Carr calling out Clayton Kershaw. I think that means he's about to throw a slider.#KCvsOAK #RaiderNation #Raiders
— David Salituro (@DavidSalituro) September 15, 2019
This wasn’t the first time Carr used celebrities in order to try to switch to a better play. Last year, the Raiders quarterback used Kershaw, Nolan Ryan and Rihanna all in the same game.
#Raiders Derek Carr channels @Rihanna, Nolan Ryan and @ClaytonKersh22 on this play during touchdown drive vs. #Bengals pic.twitter.com/WEIxsOfa1d
— Jon Becker (@JonBecker28) December 16, 2018
Unfortunately for Carr and the Raiders, the common thread in both games was an Oakland loss.
