ESPN’s John Clayton: Carson Palmer didn’t look himself in the playoffs
Jan 29, 2016, 9:01 AM | Updated: Jan 30, 2016, 10:32 am
Arizona Cardinals' Carson Palmer throws during the first half the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
The game is well in the past, but people can’t stop talking about Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer.
Dogged by the “he can’t win the big game” label for most of his pro career, Palmer did nothing to kill that narrative in the Cardinals’ NFC Championship Game loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Palmer committed six turnovers, including four interceptions, in a 49-15 loss last Sunday in Charlotte. Nobody seems to know the reason for the shoddy performance, so it’s easy to go back to that whole “playoff choking” thing.
ESPN’s John Clayton is among those that doesn’t necessarily understand it, noting that Palmer just looked different than he did in the past two regular seasons.
“Maybe it’s the finger,” Clayton told Doug and Wolf Friday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I know there was a nasty bounce-back from (head coach) Bruce Arians when you mentioned the finger, but whatever it is, Carson did not look like Carson.
“Those two games — he didn’t do great in the Green Bay game, but he won and he had a horrible game in the championship game. What you kind of wonder is how much the pressure of the playoffs or whatever that affects him. But that’s the thing, you don’t see the same Carson in the playoffs.”
It’s still a small sample size.
In his first playoff game in 2006, Palmer, then a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, suffered a devastating knee injury on the second snap of a 31-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Four years later, he completed only 50 percent of his passes with a touchdown and an interception in a 24-14 loss to the New York Jets.
That game and two snaps represented all of his postseason experience before this season.
And like most, Clayton realizes Palmer’s play wasn’t the only reason for the Cardinals’ 34-point beatdown at the hands of the Panthers.
“I was stunned,” Clayton said. “I never expected that. I really didn’t. I thought that Arizona would go in there and win. I thought that they were the most complete team that Carolina would face and they would take advantage of that.
“Unfortunately, that did not happen.”
