Saints QB Derek Carr must break critical trend against Chiefs to get New Orleans back on track

   

Derek Carr knows the Kansas City Chiefs well. The former Las Vegas Raiders QB will now play against his former divisional foe for the first time with the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.

Derek Carr is 3-14 in his career against Chiefs

Carr has not seen much success against his former division rival. 

Carr's teams have lost nine of the last ten games against Kansas City.  

The past two matchups between Carr and the Chiefs could not be more different. His most recent game against them as the Raiders QB came in late 2022. KC won that game by a score of 30-29. 

His clash with them just before that in late 2021 was a 48-9 victory for the Chiefs over Carr's Raiders. A massive difference, both of which were losses for the veteran quarterback.

Patrick Mahomes is 8-1 against Carr in their matchups against one another. 

Of course, Carr's showdowns with KC all came with the Raiders. His supporting cast was consistently weak, and you can argue that this Saints team is more talented than many of those teams he had around him prior.

More specifically, Carr is 1-7 against a Steve Spagnuolo-led Chiefs defense in his pro career. 

The Chiefs defensive coordinator has simply had his number. 

Carr's struggles this season have come mostly against the blitz. Spags loves to send unique pressure at quarterbacks, so he must overcome that weakness in Week 5 for the Saints to beat Kansas City in KC. 

The Saints offensive line must improve upon their Week 4 performance, too. The right side had a lot of issues in both the run and pass game against ATL. 

Klint Kubiak will also have his plate full against a well-coached unit for the Chiefs. He could also be without Taysom Hill, who left in the first half against the Atlanta Falcons and did not return in Week 4.