Has David Carr Lost His Mojo?

I can’t believe the David Carr I’ve been watching the past couple games is the same David Carr that was a #1 overall draft pick and five year NFL starter. I know some Houston bloggers might disagree but I think somewhere along the line he lost his mojo.

Outside of being a few inches taller, David Carr has all the physical tools to succeed with the Panthers. He has put up nice games of 300+ yards and multiple TD’s prior to coming to Charlotte. Unlike Matt Moore, we know Carr has the ability to put up big numbers at the NFL level. Maybe he has struggled learning the playbook, though no one has mentioned that (unlike Dwayne Jarrett).

No, David Carr displays all the signs that he has lost confidence in his own ability. His best drives with the Panthers have come when the game was out of reach in the 4th quarter. In the 1st quarter he is plagued with 3 and outs. I also think there is some credence to the notion he has taken too many sacks. He looks skittish in the pocket and doesn’t react well to pressure. Two of the sacks against the Titans were from Carr being tripped, a sign he’s reacting too slowly to the rush. He also doesn’t have a feel for the pocket and creating passing lanes. His INT against the Titans was from a batted pass, not the first one for sure. He runs into the rush sometimes rather than away from it. One last point, he didn’t throw the deep ball with any look of concentration or confidence. He just seems to be chucking it. Once he loses confidence the rest of the team won’t be far behind (if they aren’t there already).

I’m not questioning Carr’s toughness or manhood. I wouldn’t last past one hit from Albert Haynesworth. He has proven to be a team player and has put his body on the line many times this season. Every time he gets hit he bounces back up (or he tries anyway). When scrambling he has dove head first for first downs on several occasions. Kind of crazy what he does sometimes. If there was some way to extract a little of Vinny’s QB mojo (ala...as Fat Bastard did to Austin Powers) and inject it into Carr...waa-laa!  Ha!

Maybe he needs a sports Shrink, like the guy John Smoltz used back in 1995 when the Braves won the World Series. We could reserve the Shrink a seat behind both the goal posts and rotate him as the teams switch ends of the field.

The good news is Carr could snap out of his funk any day now. It would be a great story if he did and it would excite Panther fans like he has never seen. I know the guy wants to be a leader and star player, he just has to believe he can do it and stop thinking about it. Yeah baby Yeah!