Carson Palmer played poorly but the bus shouldn’t be empty

Carson Palmer played terrible.

There is no silver lining. Quarterback is the number one position in all of sports. The quarterback played poorly in his first Cardinals postseason start and was awful in his second. It’s almost impossible to win a playoff game when there’s a meltdown at the quarterback position.

I’ll be glad to lead the frustration train that is angry at Palmer for playing so poorly. The Cardinals are 13-0 when Palmer has an 85 or better QB rating and are 1-4 when he finishes a game below 85. Palmer has been the key all year.  Arizona can’t win when they get a performance at quarterback like what was on display in Carolina.

Before you can get on the train and blast Palmer, however, look at the rest of the players that are expected to shoulder a large amount of the responsibility. Larry Fitzgerald had his worst game of the year. Patrick Peterson had his worst game of the year. Calais Campbell, Michael Floyd, John Brown and Rashad Johnson had their worst games of the year. Jared Veldheer had one of his worst games. Bobby Massie had one of his worst games. It’s fair to blame Palmer because the quarterback always gets blamed, but a good game from Palmer wouldn’t have overcome the franchise-wide beat down that Carolina put on Arizona.

There are no excuses. There are facts. Before Palmer hurt his finger, his season QB rating stood at 106. After that incomplete pass to Floyd against Philadelphia until the end of the NFC Championship game, Palmer’s QB rating was 78.2. He went from a 31/9 touchdown-to-interception ratio to an 8/8. The finger isn’t an excuse because Palmer didn’t adjust.  Palmer needed to learn sooner what his body could do and what throws he couldn’t make. I refuse to believe, however, his finger was irrelevant to how Palmer finished the season.

After the way the 2015 season ended, it’s easy to bury Palmer. You can declare, “Palmer will never win the big game,” because he hasn’t proven you wrong. Let me be the only person in Arizona who will step up and sit in the driver’s seat of the Palmer bandwagon. I want Palmer back as the Cardinals’ quarterback in 2016. Not just because he’s a better option than “what’s out there,” but also because you can win a Super Bowl with Palmer. Yes, I said that.

I don’t know if Arizona will win, but a healthy Palmer won’t be the reason they lose. I won’t dismiss the third-highest 2015 passer rating in the league due to what I saw Sunday. There’s a long list of quarterbacks with a history of playoff failure. Some of them got out from under the “can’t win the big one” tag to end up winning the big one. There’s no reason why Palmer can’t add to the list.

Palmer is relentless in his preparation but most of that preparation is done through drawing on past experiences.  He’s always learned through failure. We’re talking about a man who will finish second in the MVP voting. He will learn from this year and be more prepared for the emotions of the postseason next year. The players and coaches believe in Palmer, and so do I.

Be angry. Don’t panic. Bet against Palmer now and I’ll bet you’ll get run over by the bus later.

Follow @doug987FM