Several NFL quarterbacks had games to forget in Week 9.
Here are the five worst quarterback performances from Sunday’s NFL action.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr
It turns out Carr was right. He isn’t New Orleans’ savior.
Even worse, he was its Grim Reaper in a catastrophic 23-22 loss to the Panthers (2-7).
Carr (oblique) returned from a three-game absence and promptly put wide receiver Chris Olave in harm’s way with a throw between two Panthers defenders in the first half.
Olave suffered a concussion — his second this season — because of the hit, and former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas was one of several people to criticize Carr for failing to keep his teammate safe.
“He can’t even get him a decent ball,” wrote Thomas, who also added Carr “need his [expletive] whooped.”
Carr, in his second year with the Saints, was unexceptional in the loss, going 18-of-31 for 236 yards and a touchdown. But his numbers are irrelevant to Carr’s terrible performance.
Quarterbacks should protect their teammates, not expose them to debilitating, potentially career-threatening injuries.
An 11-year veteran like Carr should know better than to line his wide receivers up as sitting ducks for hard-charging defensive backs. If he hasn’t learned that lesson yet, he likely never will.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence had a chance to lead Jacksonville back from a 22-point deficit with a two-minute fourth-quarter drive. But the former No. 1 overall pick threw a game-ending interception to Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean in the end zone to spoil the comeback try.
Lawrence was 16-of-31 for 169 yards and two interceptions in the 28-23 loss. He’s regressed in the past two seasons, but after signing a five-year, $275M extension in June, the Jaguars are stuck with him.
As much as the world changes, Winston stays the same. He’s still the turnover-prone quarterback who couldn’t hold on to a starting job in Tampa Bay or New Orleans.
In Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the Chargers, Winston was 26-of-46 for 235 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
He was inaccurate, forced the ball where it shouldn’t go and was fortunate only to throw the three interceptions.
In other words, it was a quintessential Winston performance.
Love’s turnovers are officially a problem.
The Packers lost 24-14 to the Lions, and Love threw an awful interception late in the second half to give Detroit a 17-3 lead.
Love was pressured and tried to dump the ball off to running back Josh Jacobs but failed to account for Joseph.
The play marked Love’s seventh consecutive start with an interception, the longest by a Packers quarterback since Brett Favre (2006).
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith
Smith threw three interceptions in Seattle’s painful 26-20 overtime loss to the Rams, his most interceptions in a game since he went 2-of-8 for five yards and three interceptions in a 2014 Week 8 loss to the Bills.
Smith wasn’t nearly as bad on Sunday. He finished the game with 363 yards and three touchdowns and led the Seahawks on an eight-play, 73-yard drive with under two minutes left in regulation to tie the game at 20-20. Then again, Seattle wouldn’t have needed the late score had Smith played better throughout the game.
He threw an interception in the Los Angeles end zone with the game tied at 13 early in the fourth, and the Rams’ Kamren Kinchens returned the pick 103 yards for a touchdown.
Afterward, Smith apologized for his performance.
“They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making,” Smith said, adding, “When my teammates play the way they play today and give us a shot to win the game, I gotta make sure we do.” (h/t KREM sports director Andrew Quinn)
“The things I did today, the mistakes I made, they affected us negatively,” Smith continued.
It was one of the few times Smith was on point in Week 9.
