Regardless of whether Raiders quarterback Derek Carr garners his due outside of the Las Vegas franchise, he's getting it from his head coach.
On the heels of a pristine performance on Monday night in the Raiders' Allegiant Stadium-opening 34-24 win over the Saints, Carr did it all.
He showcased his trademark accuracy, he was a field general and most importantly he was a winner.
"This guy's a great quarterback," Gruden said after the game. "We're surrounding him with better players. And once our defense I think starts playing to their potential, he can even be better. He does so much with the ball and without the ball and behind the scenes that I think Raiders fans should really be proud of him, and I know I am."
There was ample reason for Gruden to be proud of the Silver and Black signal-caller on Monday.
Opposing the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns Drew Brees, Carr had the better night and quarterbacked the victorious team.
Carr was 28 for 38 for 282 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 120.7 QB rating, while Brees finished with 312 yards, a touchdown, an interception, was 26 of 38 and tallied a 91.1 rating.
While many were wondering why the Saints looked out of sync, Carr's praises were being sung by a coach many have disputed likes his franchise QB.
Gruden pointed out the numbers behind a quietly impressive 2019 campaign for Carr and that more should be in store.
"There's a lot of people that make a lot opinions on Derek and Derek's performance and our relationship," said Gruden of Carr, who connected with 11 receivers on Monday night. "You know he had nine different flankers last year. Nine. When I was here [in my first stint], I was here for four years and we had Tim Brown every week for four years. We've had I don't know how many different combinations on the offensive line. [Last season] he threw for over 4,000 yards and 70%, put us in a position to make the playoffs in Week 15."
Right now the Raiders are 2-0, Carr has four touchdowns, no interceptions and 527 yards and is completing 73% of his passes. It's still early, but at this point Carr and the Raiders might be in position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
