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The New Orleans Saints have arguably been the biggest surprise of the young NFL season so far, as they’re not only 2-0 but they’ve absolutely steamrolled their two opponents, beating the Carolina Panthers by 37 points in Week 1 and the Dallas Cowboys by 25 points on the road.
More specifically than the Saints seeming like a surprisingly elite outfit has been the play of their veteran quarterback Derek Carr, who has put up MVP contender numbers in his first two games.
So far this season, the 33-year-old former Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller has completed an astounding 76.9% of his passes for 443 yards, five touchdowns, and just one interception.
But what’s behind Carr’s sudden uptick in production? The hiring of new offensive quarterback Klint Kubiak (son of former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak) seems to be a reason, sure. One NFL fan, however, has realized there may be something else at play here, and that’s the fact that it’s an election year.
In a video posted to TikTok, user Finesse Wes explained how “Election year Derek Carr is different” by pointing out his stats during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 seasons, and has racked up over 150,000 views so far. The post also went viral over on Twitter, racking up another 1.6 million views.
Nah this is wild 😭 pic.twitter.com/nsGXS1M6BQ
— Shane (@ShanyeWest15) September 17, 2024
2016, his third year in the league, was undoubtedly the best season of Carr’s career as led the then-Oakland Raiders to a 12-3 record and was a legitimate MVP candidate before getting injured. Then, in 2020, he had the highest passer rating of his career at 101.4.
This season, Carr’s passer rating is 142.4 (again, it’s only been two games), and he’s got the highest completion percentage (76.9%) and yards per attempt (11.4) averages of his entire career.
The Saints will look to continue their hot start to the 2023/24 season when they host Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles for a Week 3 matchup on Sunday, September 22 at 1 p.m. EST. The Saints are 3-point favorites over the Birds.