Derek Carr joins illustrious list on his way to winning AFC Offensive Player of the Month

There may not be a hotter player right now than Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. After his explosive start to the 2021 season, he was rewarded with the AFC offensive player of the month for the first time in his career. Carr joins Rich Gannon (November, 2001) and Jay Schroeder (December, 1990) as the only Raiders quarterbacks to earn the honor.

Carr has led the Raiders to its first 3-0 start since 2002. After three games, he's averaging better than 400 yards per outing, having thrown for 1,203 yards and six touchdowns against just two interceptions. Carr has completed 88 of 136 passes (64.7%) with a 101.4 rating. Carr is the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 1200 yards in three games. The others include Ryan Fitzpatrick (2018), Kurt Warner (2000) and Tom Brady (2011). If Carr throws for 350 yards and 2 touchdowns this coming Monday, he’d be the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 350 and 2tds in the first four games of the season.

Beyond the stats Carr has been clutch in two overtime games which resulted in Raiders wins. Carr joins more illustrious history as he became just the fifth quarterback since the merger to win the first three games of a season, while passing for at least 300 yards and two TDs, joining Josh Allen (2020), Patrick Mahomes (2019), Peyton Manning (2013) and Steve Young (1998).Carr has done a masterful job in taking care of the ball while also averaging a career-high in yards per attempt and air yards per attempt by almost a full yard. Carr is the maestro behind a Raiders offensive that’s also the first team in league history to have four players Henry Ruggs III, Darren Waller, Bryan Edwards and Hunter Renfrow with at least 200 receiving yards in the first three games.

It's been an award driven month for the Raiders as their defensive end Maxx Crosby won defensive player of the week after his dominant week 1 performance. Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson won special teams special teams player of the week after his week 2 performance. Derek Carr’s award is the cherry on top of a special September for the Raiders. Carr’s hot hand will be on full display on Monday Night Football against division rival Los Angeles Chargers.