With the score tied and a little less than one minute remaining in overtime, a nightmare scenario emerged for the NFL. With the loss by the Indianapolis Colts and victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers in their respective regular season finales, the Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders could both enter the postseason if their game ended in a tie. They could’ve just taken consecutive knees to end the game if they wanted to.
But when push came to shove, a tie was still very much in play, until Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley called a timeout to stop the Raiders from burning what was left of the clock in overtime.
In reality, Derek Carr was not actually dead set on ending this game with a tie and he has Aaron Rodgers to thank for that. Carr said after the game that his team didn’t want the tie and revealed that he received a message for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers before the game.
“We knew no matter what we didn’t want to tie. We wanted to win the football game,” Carr said. “My mindset all day, I was even texting with Aaron Rodgers this morning, my mindset was to make sure we were the only team moving on after this.
“Aaron’s always been good to me since I came into the league. We became friends, so we talk. Aaron, I appreciate your encouragement today.”
The Raiders quarterback said previously that he talks to Rodgers more than any other quarterback.
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“From the beginning of my career to still to this day, me and Aaron talk,” Carr said on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast last year. “I probably talk to him the most out of all the quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s always been someone that I could always lean on, kind of like a mentor in the game.”
Carr is set to play in the playoffs for the first time ever. If you can remember, he led the team to the postseason in 2016, but was unable to play due to an injury. He is healthy now and ready to show up and show off as the team gets set to face the Bengals.
