Carson Palmer, Cardinals receivers pass first test

The Arizona Cardinals tallied 390 yards of offense in their loss to the St. Louis Rams Sunday.

In that game, quarterback Carson Palmer completed 26-of-40 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns, connecting on passes with eight different receivers.

Larry Fitzgerald caught eight passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns, Andre Roberts tallied eight receptions for 97 yards, and Michael Floyd hauled in four passes for 82 yards. While the effort may have surprised some — especially after how things went last year — it came as no shock to Palmer.

“Not surprising,” he said Wednesday. “It was definitely good to see them do it in a regular season game, being our first time together, but I am not surprised whatsoever.

“I expect more out of those guys, I’ll always tell them that.”

Palmer said it comes down to the wideouts winning their one-on-one battles, which is something he expects of them and the players expect of themselves.

But having that many weapons in the passing game is certainly a luxury Palmer has rarely had in the NFL, and given head coach Bruce Arians’ propensity for getting the most out of his passing game, it will likely prove to be an advantage for Arizona.

“He’s a smart guy and he reads defenses real well,” Roberts said of his quarterback. “He can see through defenses very well, so we expect him to do that and let all of us eat a little bit.”

Roberts said everyone must be ready to receive the ball on any given play but, like Palmer, was well aware of what this passing offense was capable of all along.

“In the preseason you don’t really get opportunity to play like we did against St. Louis,” he said. “So that was a good first step for us.”

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