The New Orleans Saints came away with a 20-17 road win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, but it was a victory without a lot of passing success. Quarterback Derek Carr finished the night with just 21 completions on 36 attempts (58.3 percent) for 228 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. And after the game, Carr said the passing struggles are on him, and he’ll work to improve:
“That is my fault. It is my fault. I will get it fixed. I will get it corrected. I have had moments where it is a little tougher of a road and I have had moments where we get it back together and we are clicking. This is our second game together. I am glad we won so I can say that. Because it is our second game together and we still won the game.”
“We are going to continue to get better. We are going to continue to find that timing. I learned things about my receivers and everybody today that, ‘Okay, I got it, he sees it that way, and now, okay.’ I was pissed and I moved on. And thankfully our defense kept us in it so when we came back in the second half and we started clicking and started hitting big plays we could pull away and try to win the thing.”
Carr added that the team’s defense, which was also important in their season-opening 16-15 win over the Tennessee Titans, is a big part of why he chose to sign with the Saints in March:
“That is a very big part of the reason why I came here. Any team that I talked to was a team with a defense. I played these guys. I knew Dennis Allen. I know what it is like and how difficult it is. All I want to do is win. So, I was like, shoot, if I can go there and have a day like today. Didn’t play my best in the first half, come back, play good in the second half and win a game? Like I didn’t have to be perfect for four quarters and we won. That is awesome.”
We’ll see how the Saints’ passing offense evolves from here. But Carr’s correct that they’ve managed to start 2-0 despite passing struggles so far, and that the defense has been a big part of that.
