Raiders bench Derek Carr for remainder of 2022 NFL season

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Raiders will start Jarrett Stidham the final two games at quarterback in place of Derek Carr, Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels said Wednesday.

McDaniels cited the struggles of the offense over the past month as the reason for the switch.

"I couldn't be more complimentary of (Carr) or the way he handled it," McDaniels said of how the quarterback took the news.

Carr will be inactive the final two games and that Chase Garbers will be the backup QB. McDaniels left the door open for a QB swap after Week 16's narrow loss to the Steelers, and now it's official. 

Carr could be out as Las Vegas' signal-caller for good. While he has said he wants to return to the Raiders next season, Carr hasn't done much the past month to help his case.

He hasn't completed more than 55% of his passes in any of his past four games, and has thrown more interceptions (seven) than touchdown passes (six) over that span.

The Raiders are 2-2 in those games, with last-minute losses at the Los Angeles Rams and at Pittsburgh that have knocked them out of serious playoff contention. Las Vegas is behind four other bubble teams for the postseason with two weeks remaining.

Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said Monday that Carr isn't the only one responsible for making the passing game work, but he acknowledged the offense hasn't performed at an acceptable level.

"For us to be able to win at this time of the year and be productive, offensively you have to throw the ball better than what we've thrown at times here in the last month and a half," McDaniels said. "We've been able to win some in spite of that, overall, but clearly that's not the goal. The goal would be to be more productive than what we've been."

McDaniels also said defensive lineman Chandler Jones (elbow) and linebacker Denzel Perryman (shoulder) were placed on season-ending injured reserve.

The Raiders host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

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