ARIZONA CARDINALS

Rapid Reaction: Rams loss, loss of Palmer moves Cards’ focus to 2018

Oct 22, 2017, 2:02 PM | Updated: 8:33 pm

Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks, from left, Drew Stanton, Carson Palmer and Blaine Gabbert take part...

Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks, from left, Drew Stanton, Carson Palmer and Blaine Gabbert take part in an NFL training session at the London Irish rugby team training ground in the Sunbury-onThames suburb of south west London, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. The Arizona Cardinals are preparing for an NFL regular season game against the Los Angeles Rams at London's Wembley stadium on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

The Arizona Cardinals lost Carson Palmer to a broken arm in their 33-0 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams in London.

The brutal hit to their plans this season now has the team looking at a 3-4 record with their starting quarterback out for an extended period of time.

Here’s some quick reaction to the game from the staff of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station and ArizonaSports.com.

Of course, you can get more reaction Monday starting at 6 a.m. with Doug and Wolf and continuing with The Blitz with Bertrand Berry & Mike Jurecki and Bickley & Marotta — who will both broadcast from the Cardinals practice facility in Tempe. Then, Burns & Gambo will wrap up the day’s analysis on your drive home from 2-6 p.m.


Vince Marotta, Co-host of Bickley & Marotta

We’ve probably just seen Carson Palmer take a snap for the Arizona Cardinals for the last time.

After getting slammed by a blitzing Alec Ogletree in an ugly 33-0 loss Sunday in London, Palmer left the game. Head coach Bruce Arians said Palmer broke his arm, needs surgery and will miss at least eight weeks. The Cardinals have nine games left.

There’s no need for Palmer to play again this year, even if he is healthy enough to go in the season finale. The Cardinals will likely be so far out of contention that his presence won’t matter.

Drew Stanton now gets the keys to the offense. Whether or not you think that should be the answer, it is. Arians vehemently made that clear after the game; they’re not going to third-stringer Blaine Gabbert.

Despite Arians’ proclamation, I think he should go to Gabbert. Stanton is serviceable — when there is a semblance of protection. The Cardinals’ offensive line took a giant step back Sunday, and that doesn’t bode well for the interception-prone Stanton. Gabbert is the closest thing to a future QB on the Arizona roster. No David Johnson, no Carson Palmer, no chance.

Might as well see what you’ve got in Gabbert, even though it’s not going to happen.


John Gambadoro, Co-host of Burns & Gambo

There is nothing good that comes out of this drubbing in London — NOTHING.

Cards were humiliated in every aspect of the game and embarrassed. Patrick Peterson’s frustration seemed to be boiling over on every play. And the Cardinals suffered another major injury in what has been a season full of them. No team can expect to overcome this many injuries, and now with Carson Palmer out for a while, it is time to see what Blaine Gabbert has.

Yes not Drew Stanton, but Blaine Gabbert. I know what Stanton can do — he is an adequate at-best backup with no real future on this roster. Gabbert is a former first-round pick with many unsuccessful starts under his belt, but he played extremely well in the preseason and Arizona needs to find out what they have in him now. Stanton should stay the backup because that’s all he ever will be. Gabbert has a higher ceiling and should know the offense well enough by now to run it. At the very least, find out if Gabbert is a possibility for next season as a starter or backup. It would be a huge mistake to play Stanton — if all is lost and you are not going anywhere anyway, I see no reason why Stanton should start.


Luke Lapinski, host of The Rundown with Luke Lapinski

The Cardinals essentially traveled 5,000 miles to score zero points and lose their starting quarterback. Not exactly a good deal. And now they face the harsh reality of once again being below .500, sitting two games back of the division lead and needing to find answers in a hurry.

There are questions outside the quarterback position, but that might be the only one that really matters if they can’t find a solution. With Carson Palmer likely done for the season, they can either turn to Drew Stanton or see what they have in Blaine Gabbert.

They went to Stanton in the middle of the game against the Rams, and the results weren’t good. But the line from the team – for now, at least – is that Stanton is the guy. Maybe he gets better after some time to practice with the first unit, but the calls for Gabbert are already growing. And that’s going to be hard to ignore if Stanton struggles.

Put simply, the Cards can stick with Stanton, but there’s really no upside there. If the team rallies out of the bye and he guides them to a win over the 49ers, then he earns another start. That’s fair. He has experience, he knows the offense and there’s an argument to be made that he gives them the best chance to hover around contention. But this season is once again on the verge of getting away from them. And the second it does, they’re going to need to see what they have in Gabbert. Because they can’t afford to have quarterback be an issue again next season.​


Dave Burns, Co-host of Burns & Gambo

​I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the notion of traveling that far, spending that much time, energy and money only to get annihilated to the tune of a 33-0 final score. How deflating that must feel. The only shutout of the Bruce Arians era. First time they’ve been shutout since that 58-0 embarrassment in Seattle all those years ago. The only B.A. coached loss that was worse was the NFC Championship game.

Nothing went right. Nothing. Offensive line got manhandled. No room to run for Adrian Peterson. Larry Fitzgerald was invisible. The defense looked more interested in sightseeing than getting the Rams off the field on third down. Their collective effort seems to wane especially when their offense appears over-matched. Phil Dawson missed another kick. And now for seemingly the 10th year in a row, the Rams have interrupted Carson Palmer’s season.

If it’s me (and it’s not) I play Stanton vs. the 49ers and the Seahawks after the bye. The Cardinals are 1-4 in the conference so likely their only chance of making the playoffs — and I know how ludicrous that sounds — is winning the division. It’s worth seeing if Stanton can pull out a miracle or two. If not, desperation gives way to experimentation, and it’s time for Blaine Gabbert the rest of the way so you can see what you’ve got. It’s possible that’s the last we’ve seen of Palmer and if so it’s a shame that it ends like this. We all got more than we ever could have bargained for during his time here.


Craig Grialou, reporter

Not good. It’s one thing to lose, it’s another thing to get beat. Or in this case, on a Sunday evening in London, embarrassed. Again. So much for arriving in England ahead of the Rams. That plan, as good as it looked on paper, failed miserably. On top of that, the Cardinals lost quarterback Carson Palmer perhaps for the balance of the season.

So welcome to the Drew Stanton era. Of course, a lot of the talk will be centered on Blaine Gabbert. And maybe he will get his chance but it won’t be right away. For one, head coach Bruce Arians is loyal, almost to a fault, to Stanton; and two, Gabbert is still fairly new to the system. Still, if I were to guess, if Stanton doesn’t show the capability to lead the offense, then Gabbert will find himself under center as early as Week 13 when the Cardinals host the Rams on Dec. 3.


Mike Jurecki, Co-host of The Blitz with B-Train and Jurecki

The Cardinals were outplayed in all three phases.

Give the Rams credit, they had a great game plan and won the chess match against the Cardinals coaching staff.

Normally, every NFL game is decided on the trenches and Los Angeles dominated on both sides of the ball, including special teams.

The Cardinals had only three possessions in the second half, totaling 14 plays after half time. The Rams scored 17 points in the last 5:25 at the end of the half.

Last time the Cardinals were shutout, 58-0, was against the Seahawks in 2012. Sunday marked the first time the Cardinals have been shutout under Bruce Arians.

Drew Stanton struggled to get things going for Arizona, as he completed just 5-of-14 passes for 62 yards and an interception. Arians said Stanton is the backup the rest of the season, but it could be just a matter of time before we see Blaine Gabbert taking over signal-calling duties.

Phil Dawson missed his fifth-field goal of the year with a 32-yarder Sunday. He has been one of the bigger disappointments this year.

As I type this Sunday, the three big offseason priorities are quarterback, offensive line and cornerback.

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Rapid Reaction: Rams loss, loss of Palmer moves Cards’ focus to 2018