Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, Derek Carr’s best season as a professional quarterback came to an end when he suffered an ankle injury. Carr was enjoying a Most Valuable Player caliber season and had the Raiders primed for a playoff run.
Without him, backup Connor Cook took over the offense which had the team end the season with a lopsided loss to the Denver Broncos, 24-6. In their only playoff game, the Raiders were eliminated in a Wild Card game against the Houston Texans, 27-14.
On Sunday, the Denver Broncos will face a similar problem in the playoffs when they are forced to go without injured Bo Nix and be led by a quarterback who attempted one pass this season and completed it for a one-yard loss, Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham is a seven-year veteran and is playing for his third National Football League team. Drafted by the New England Patriots in 2019, he thought he might have a shot at being their starting quarterback when Tom Brady moved on to Tampa before the 2020 season. Instead, New England acquired veteran Cam Newton to serve in that role and Stidham’s career as a backup continued during a season in Las Vegas and the past three years with the Broncos.
Now he is asked to lead a Denver team looking for their first Super Bowl appearance since Peyton Manning played the final game of his Hall of Fame career with a win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Manning to Stidham.