National Football League

Derek Carr Named Castrol EDGE Clutch Player of the Year

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:35 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Fansided, Gagan Aujla/FanSided via Just Blog Baby

After an MVP caliber season, Oakland Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr was recognized for his clutch performances at the NFL Honors Awards Show.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had a memorable season in 2016, displaying his “Mamba Mentality” with a barrage of clutch moments and comeback victories. Carr finished the season with 28 TD’s, 6 INT’s, and nearly 4,000 yards passing in 15 games.

Carr set the tone for the season in the opener against the New Orleans Saints, going 24 of 38 for 319 yards, with 1 passing TD. What this stat line does not show, is Carr’s pinpoint perfect pass to Michael Crabtree for the game-winning two-point conversion.

Carr was named the clutch performer of the week just three weeks later, when facing the Ravens. He finished 25 of 35 for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns. Carr found Crabtree late in the 4th quarter for an incredible touchdown connection, which put the Silver and Black up 28-27.

Four weeks later, Carr again was awarded the clutch performer of the week. This time, D.C. had an insane stat line against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 40 of 59 for 513 yards and 4 TD’s — which included this clutch game-winning touchdown in overtime to Seth Roberts.

In Week 12, Carr had another all-time memorable performance, in what became known as “The Pinky Game”. The third-year quarterback dislocated and fractured the pinky on his throwing hand early in the second half.

The Raiders ended up blowing a 24-3 lead, suddenly finding themselves trailing 32-24. But Carr remained composed and showed his growth as a leader and as one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL, leading Oakland to another comeback victory. He finished the game 26 of 38 for 315 yards and 2 touchdowns.

After all of the heart-attacks that Raiders fans suffered, with the game-winning plays being a big contributor to that, Derek Carr was deservedly named the Castrol EDGE Clutch Performer of the Year at the NFL Honors awards show.

This award is just one of many reasons that show how much Carr has grown from year two to year three. He was criticized in his sophomore season for his lack of late-game performance, but he did a complete 180 in 2016.

Year four should be another one for Carr to cement himself as one of the game’s great players, and having the clutch gene will only make him better.

More from Just Blog Baby

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Football League

Las Vegas Raiders