The NFL’s two Valley native quarterbacks shared the first day of the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.
Five years after sending the then-Oakland Raiders to the playoffs and missing them from an injury, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr finally made his playoff debut in a date with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Early offense from Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase helped the Bengals jump out to a 20-6 lead late in the second quarter before Carr led a trademark two-minute drill to bring the deficit to a single touchdown.
While touchdowns were in short supply for the Silver and Black, the former Fresno State Bulldog would ultimately catch fire in the fourth quarter to drive down field in the fourth quarter to set-up scoring plays.
But a last-minute drive in the hopes of delivering a tie and forcing overtime collapsed on a 4th and Goal interception from Carr to wide receiver Zay Jones just in front of the goal line.
Carr closed down the day with 310 yards.
“Talking about the red zone and all that, everything is just pretty frustrating right now,” said Carr after the game. “I didn’t expect it to go this way. I didn’t feel like it was going to go this way at all during the game at any point. All the way up until the last couple seconds. Everything is just pretty frustrating.”
In Buffalo, Firebaugh native and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen managed an incredible feat: throwing more touchdowns than incomplete passes.
Allen, who quarterbacked at Wyoming before being drafted by the Bills, was 21-for-25 with 308 yards of passing and five touchdowns in a crushing blowout of their AFC East rival New England Patriots.
“At the end of the day, it’s a playoff game that we won and advanced on,” said Allen. “Doesn’t matter what we did this week, last week or the week before. What matters is what we do going forward.”
With the win and a corresponding victory on Sunday, Allen and the Bills are hitting the road for Kansas City next week.
