Carson Palmer, Cardinals move on from costly interception

TEMPE, Ariz. — Carson Palmer has thrown 30 interceptions as an Arizona Cardinal.

Perhaps none were as frustrating — and confusing — as his most recent one, an ill-fated toss to John Brown that was intercepted by the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Mitchell in the end zone with just more than two minutes remaining in what was at the time a game the Cardinals trailed by an 18-13 margin.

FOX broadcasters Thom Brennaman and Troy Aikman described the situation rather perfectly.

“Palmer threw it right into double coverage and that was an easy interception for Mitchell,” Brennaman said.

“Well it was,” Aikman added. “But Mike Mitchell never leaves the middle of the field. It was a pre-snap look and Carson Palmer, for whatever reason, just never saw him, never located him, and threw the ball as though he had an open middle of the field.

“You see Mike Mitchell, he’s not going to get an easier interception than that.”

Arizona went on to lose 25-13, but if not for that turnover, the game would have had a different ending, perhaps one with the Cardinals on top.

“We just did a play action and I didn’t see the safety,” Palmer told the media after the game. “I never saw him. That can’t happen. You have to see that guy and I didn’t see him standing there in the middle of the field. I thought I had Smokey running down the post. I’m very frustrated with myself for not seeing that because I should have.”

It was the type of mistake the Cardinals and their fans don’t expect from the veteran of 150 NFL games.

For the afternoon, Palmer completed 29-of-45 passes for 421 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. It was his highest yardage total of the season, but also the first time this year he’s thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Just the week before, in a win over the Detroit Lions, he had thrown as many touchdowns (3) as incomplete passes.

By Wednesday, when the team hit the practice field for the first time since the loss in Pittsburgh, there had been plenty of time to digest what happened on that play. There has also been ample time for Cardinals coach Bruce Arians to talk to his quarterback about it, if he felt so inclined.

“Why the hell did you throw it to him,” Arians answered when asked what — if anything — he says to a quarterback in that situation. “I mean, he’s a veteran. He told me why he did it and you move on.”

Moving on is exactly how the 35-year-old Palmer gets over a mistake like that.

“Forgetting about it,” he said of his process, before adding that it is not a difficult thing to do. As of now, Palmer’s focus is squarely on the Baltimore Ravens, not on what happened last Sunday.

That’s probably easier for a player than it is for fans, but it makes sense. While the interception was bad and for the most part put a dagger in any hopes of a comeback the Cardinals had, it will certainly not be the last thrown by Palmer this season. With any luck, his future picks will not come at as inopportune a time as his last one, though to be fair there really isn’t ever a good time for a turnover.

Looking even deeper, the reasons for each individual interception vary to the point that not all can be judged on equal footing. Some are because a quarterback tries to force a pass into coverage, some bounce off a receiver’s hands or are due to the wideout running an incorrect route, some are just plain bad throws and some — like the crushing one in Pittsburgh — are just bad reads.

Arians put Palmer’s fourth-quarter pick in the final category, saying he does not believe his quarterback was so enamored with trying to get the ball to Brown, who was having a big day, because how how many passes went elsewhere throughout the game.

“No, because Larry had nine or 10 targets and close to 100 yards, Smoke had 200 just because they couldn’t cover him,” he said. “But no, he’s thrown it to Michael (Floyd) on third down. We spread it around as much as any team in the league, so no. He just misread a coverage.”

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