.@amanihooker37 is a PROBLEM!
Buy Saints Tickets📺: Watch #TENvsNO on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/pUK9NCLgBR
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 10, 2023
Derek Carr knows he didn’t post a perfect passing line in Week 1’s win over the Tennessee Titans. And the New Orleans Saints quarterback knows exactly where he needs to improve. Exercising better judgment in scoring position is a great place to start after he threw an interception deep in Titans territory.
Carr was targeting Juwan Johnson near the Tennessee 10-yard line but placed the ball too far behind him, where the big tight end couldn’t work back to it — but in dangerous position for safety Amani Hooker to step in and take it away.
“I forced it, I was dumb,” Carr shrugged, “I was way too excited, I’ll just be honest with you. I’m making every throw now, I was pissed off, I walked off to the sideline like ‘What are you doing?'”
That blunt explanation led to some laughter in the media room, but Carr acknowledged the gravity of his mistake: “I know it’s funny right now, because we won, it wasn’t funny at the moment, and I took it very seriously. That was just me being stupid.”
Fortunately, the Saints have a defense that can hold its own. Carr threw that interception with 37 seconds left in the first half and the defense responded by sacking Ryan Tannehill to go into halftime. Rookie defensive tackle Bryan Bresee met blitzing linebacker Pete Werner at the quarterback for a stop, and ultimately Carr’s turnover didn’t matter much. But that isn’t something he can take for granted. He’s an experienced passer in this league and he’ll need to protect the ball more carefully moving forwards.
