Year 2 of the Derek Carr era in New Orleans picked up right where Year 1 left off in January.
The 33-year-old four-time Pro Bowl quarterback completed 19 of 23 passing attempts (82.6% completion percentage) for 200 yards and three first-half touchdowns as he led the Saints to a demolition of the Carolina Panthers, 47-10, on Sunday afternoon. New Orleans led 30-3 at halftime and scored on nine consecutive possessions.
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“I’ve been praying for these days,” Carr said in Sunday’s press conference of his and his team’s success. “This is awesome.”
30-0 Saints
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— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 8, 2024
Carr posted a passer rating of 142.5 in Sunday’s game, the second-highest of his impressive career. His career-high in that category is 145.5, which came just this past January in New Orleans’ Week 18 win against the Atlanta Falcons, when he completed 22 of 28 passes for 264 yards and four touchdowns in the 48-17 win.
Carr has played arguably the two best games of his career in his last two outings, and his team has followed his lead. The Saints also ended last season well, winning four out of their last five games to finish 9-8. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also finished 9-8, and the Bucs advanced to the playoffs ahead of New Orleans due to tiebreakers. Now in 2024-25, it seems as though the Saints have carried their momentum into a new season; their 47 points scored was the most of any team thus far in Week 1.
“This is a team that is super close to one another,” Carr said in the press conference. “The unity that our team has, the cohesiveness, the brotherhood that we have … we’re all in this thing together.”
The unity that Carr saw exhibited on the field in Week 1 was fostered in part this offseason and modeled by the leaders of the team. Carr, the leader of the offense, and linebacker Demario Davis, the leader of the Saints defense, hosted a Night of Worship in June that filled the 2,243-seat Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans. Several teammates were in attendance.
The Night of Worship included prayer and a number of musical performances highlighting faith in Christ from well-known artists like CeCe Winans and Tauren Wells. Carr delivered a brief sermon between performances while Davis concluded the night with words of advice for how to grow in spiritual maturity.
“Are we trying to be as close to the world that is acceptable, or as close to God as possible?” Carr asked the audience, according to the Saints’ team website. “Are we getting as close to the culture as we can get without looking like it but we’re close enough to where we fit in, or are we trying to get as close as humanly possible to God?
“Only you can answer that question for yourself. Only I can answer that question for myself.”
Carr continued later: “God did something in my life. He radically transformed and changed my life and I can’t help but tell people about Jesus.”
Davis echoed Carr’s sentiments.
“Some of us came in with an understanding of who Jesus is or had heard about Him, but don’t know Him for ourselves, but we’ve gotten a chance to know Him tonight,” Davis said. “… We just sang about the King of kings, and you’re here in this moment because there is a way. The Bible says, ‘We walk by faith, and not by sight,’ so you don’t have to see the way out, but He’ll answer.”
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Carr and Davis grew closer as brothers in Christ as well as teammates through the experience of hosting a Night of Worship.
“Our relationship has grown so much, because at first it was just [admiration] from afar, not being teammates,” Carr said. “The one thing that has bonded us from the beginning was our faith. We’ve seen this faith unite us and people on the team and we said, ‘You know what? Why not do this for our city?'”
Carr has been bold in sharing his faith in Christ throughout his 11-year NFL career. He even nearly gave up that career to become a pastor.
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“All the self-glory, that stuff is fleeting. I’ve already been through that,” Carr said after a 2021 win when he was with the Las Vegas Raiders. “God took me to a place that all I want to do is glorify Him, and wherever He’s going, that’s where I want to go. So if it’s a win, awesome. If not, I’m still gonna glorify Him.”
In his introductory Saints press conference in March 2023, Carr spoke openly about how his faith is the foundation of all he does.
“I’m not gonna sit up here and throw Bibles at everybody, but I do have faith and I do believe,” he said. “That’s how [my wife, Heather, and I] raise our [four] children, and that’s what the basis of our marriage is on. I love my wife because of the way that I am loved.”
Carr and Davis will continue to grow as brothers in Christ, excel as leaders, and seek to start 2-0 as the Saints march into Dallas to face the Cowboys (1-0) on Sunday in Week 2. The game is set for 1 p.m. ET.
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