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End of the road for Carr
Cold, Hard Football Facts for March 22, 2007
David Carr: Record setter, job seeker
 By Jonathan ComeyCold, Hard Football Facts contributor
In 2006, David Carr produced one of the 10 most accurate passing seasons in NFL history.
His reward?
Most likely, losing his job.
Carr showed improvement over five years in Houston, lifting his passer rating from under 70 his first two years to 83.5, 77.2 and 82.1 over his last three. Eli Manning got a contract extention for less (passer ratings of 55.4, 75.9 and 77.0 in his first three years).
In 2006, Carr completed 68.27 percent of his passes, a number that stood out for both its surprising place in history and its total lack of impact on Houston's success.
Of the other nine members of the top 10, four are in the Hall of Fame, five took their team to the NFL championship game during the year they set their mark, and three ended the season hoisting Lombardi Trophies.
1. Ken Anderson, 1982 Cincinnati Bengals (70.55 percent)
2. HOFer Sammy Baugh, 1945 Washington Redskins (70.33) – lost NFL title game
3. HOFer Steve Young, 1994 San Francisco 49ers (70.28) – won SB XXIX
4. HOFer Joe Montana, 1989 San Francisco 49ers (70.21) – won SB XXIV
5. Brian Griese, 2004 Tampa Bay Bucs (69.35)
6. Daunte Culpepper, 2004 Minnesota Vikings (69.16)
7. HOFer Troy Aikman, 1993 Dallas Cowboys (69.13) – won SB XXVIII
8. Chad Pennington, 2002 New York Jets (68.92)
9. Kurt Warner, 2001 St. Louis Rams (68.68) – lost SB XXXVI
10. David Carr, 2006 Houston Texans (68.27)
Unlike most of the teams on this list, Carr’s Texans had limited success. Houston finished with a 6-10 record and ranked 28th in scoring offense in the NFL.
If you’re wondering how Carr could have succeeded so well at a quarterback’s most basic job - finding the open man - yet failed so miserably pretty much everywhere else, here’s how:
1. He couldn’t get the Texans in the end zone.
Carr threw just 11 touchdowns in his 483 dropbacks, a measly 2.28 percent (30th among NFL starters last year). Over his last 10 games, Carr threw only two touchdowns.
2. He couldn’t (or wouldn’t) throw deep.
Despite his high completion percent, Carr was tied for 26th in the stat that matters, yards per attempt (6.26). Of the other nine players on that top-10 accuracy list, Griese had the worst YPA number – 7.8, over a yard-and-a-half higher than Carr. (Not so coincidentally, Griese's Bucs and Carr's Texans are the only two teams on the above top 10 list that failed to make the playoffs. Both teams had losing records ... proving once again that YPA is more important than other passing indicators, such as completion percentage.)
Houston receivers averaged 9.2 yards per catch, easily last in the NFL (Tampa was next to last, 10.1 YPC). The Texans were also 31st in completions of 20 yards or more, with 29 all season long.
3. He took sacks at a ridiculous clip.
Considering the fact that Carr worked in a quick-hit, throw-it-short offense, his sack number (41 in 482 dropbacks, an 8.5-percent sack rate) was quite high. But it was low for Carr’s career – he got dropped 68 times in 2005 and 49 times in 2004. This after taking 76 sacks as a rookie. Numbers like that are usually reserved for athletic types like Michael Vick, who get tripped up trying to buy time, or statue-types like Drew Bledsoe. Carr fits neither mold, yet couldn’t stay upright.
End result: David Carr is looking for a job.
But at least he’s got one good stat to use for the old resume.
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