USA Today writer: Arians and Palmer NFL’s 7th-best coach/QB duo
Jun 27, 2016, 4:43 PM
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2015, file photo, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer and coach Bruce Arians talk prior to an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings in Glendale, Ariz. The unbeaten Carolina Panthers are understandably hogging the attention in the NFC, but the Cardinals have been just as successful over the past two months and the Seattle Seahawks are making their trademark late-season surge. Green Bay plas at Arziona on Sunday, Dec. 27. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Opinions of Carson Palmer have varied greatly from year-to-year and from team-to-team.
In Cincinnati he was a top draft pick who was brilliant at times but never quite lived up to the hype.
In Oakland, he was an expensive veteran who was unable to lift the struggling franchise to better heights.
The Arizona Cardinals version of Palmer, however, is different. Since being acquired prior to the 2013 season, Palmer has elevated his game to the point where he is generally considered to be among the game’s better passers.
Last season, he earned an MVP vote after completing 63.7 percent of his passes for 4,671 yards with 35 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Why the late-career surge? The answer to that question is probably very complicated, but one of the biggest factors has to be his union with head coach Bruce Arians. Known for playing a role in the development of start QBs Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck, among others, Arians’ style — both as a coach and as a play caller — seem to have meshed beautifully with Palmer’s skills.
Perhaps it should not be all that surprising, given that the Cardinals went out and acquired Palmer after Arians had been hired. A veteran QB with a big-time arm being paired up with a coach who liked to challenge defenses down the field seemed like a match made in heaven, and according to ForTheWin’s Steven Ruiz, Palmer and Arians form the seventh-best coach and QB duo in the NFL.
Give Bruce Arians any quarterback and he’ll find himself high on this list. Palmer has his flaws as a passer — which were on full display during a brutal NFC title game performance — but he fits perfectly into Arians field-stretching passing scheme.
Since 2013, the Cardinals are 29-9 in games Palmer started, with them boasting a 26-5 mark since the midway point of that initial season. Palmer’s touchdown percentage and QB rating have risen steadily over that time as he has grown more comfortable in the offense.
Ahead of the Cardinals’ combo are the Panthers (Ron Rivera/Cam Newton), Steelers (Mike Tomlin/Roethlisberger), Seahawks (Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson), Saints (Sean Payton/Drew Brees, Packers (Mike McCarthy/Aaron Rodgers) and Patriots (Bill Belichick/Tom Brady).
