Palmer’s picks

Carson Palmer’s interceptions are cause for concern but not panic. After all, the Cards are 3-2 on the season and that will always be the bottom line for a team in transition. Are you winning games?

The Cardinals never promised Carson Palmer they were going to build their franchise around him for years to come. And nobody knows that better than Palmer. But making a move at QB because your Q is throwing picks while winning more games than losing is a non sequitur, especially when he’s five games into a new system. If Palmer is still throwing picks at his current clip and they start turning games into losing propositions, nothing will keep Bruce Arians from calling on Drew Stanton.

But that time is not now and may never materialize.

Why Palmer is throwing picks is not a mystery: He’s under considerable pressure and is taking chances he knows he shouldn’t. That’s the simple answer but not the reason. Palmer needs a clean pocket in order to be efficient; although he’s not alone in that department, his age and lack of mobility make the problem more acute.

And like all quarterbacks, his internal clock is ticking. Unfortunately, that’s one of the problems. Palmer has been conditioned by the pressure that he’s facing on five and seven-step drops. He knows he’s probably not going to have the time to go through his progression; so he’s got into a bad habit of locking onto his primary receiver, taking chances, forcing the ball, instead of reading coverage, looking off receivers and sticking to his progression.

And defenses have caught on.

This is unacceptable to Carson Palmer and his coaches. As I have written previously, it’s understandable but never acceptable and Carson is going to have to figure it out.

As long as they are winning games while their QB finds his way, and continues to make throws like he did to Larry Fitzgerald against Darrelle Revis, making a change at that position will not happen. But over the next two weeks, against division rivals San Francisco and Seattle, if those picks start piling up losses, Drew Stanton will finally get his chance to start a regular season game in almost three seasons.

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