Carson Palmer Injury
Carson Palmer suffered a left knee injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game versus the St. Louis Rams. It is being
Carson Palmerreported that the team believes the quarterback has torn his left ACL, which would end his season pending tests to confirm their prognosis.
Check out my article, Cowboys vs. Cardinals: 5 Keys to Victory for Cowboys.
Palmer tore the ACL and MCL in the same knee during the playoffs in 2006. His surgeon deemed the damage a "four" on a "scale of one to three."
To add salt to the injury for the Arizona Cardinals, Palmer has just signed a three-year, $50 million contract extension, with $20 million guaranteed on Friday.
What's so crazy is that the last time Palmer suffered a similar knee injury, he signed a six-year, $118 million contract on December 29, 2005 -- just 10 days before tearing his ACL and MCL.
Palmer was putting together a very good season in the 5 games he played this year winning all 5 of them by completing 62% of his passes, tossing 11 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions.
The Cardinals have now compiled an 8-1 record for the first time since 1948. At risk for the rest of the season is the NFC West championship and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Drew Stanton
And now, Enter Drew Stanton . . . again. Stanton replaced Palmer on Sunday and on his first drive threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to John Brown to give Arizona the lead and with the defense's help the win.
The pressure to keep the league's best record isn't solely on Stanton's shoulders. He'll be able to rely on a hot defense that's developed a reputation for treating the fourth quarter like its own turnover party. The Cardinals' turnover margin is plus-12 -- plus-11 in the fourth quarter this season. The Cardinal defense forced 3 turnovers on Sunday against the Rams.
This is not Stanton's first rodeo coming in as a relief pitcher per say for the Cardinals. Stanton was 2-1 as a starter when Palmer missed three games earlier this season with a right shoulder injury. Stanton won at the New York Giants and at home against the San Francisco 49ers. His only loss came at Denver when he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter.
At 6'3 243 pounds Stanton has the prototype size to be an NFL quarterback. He also has prototype speed to be an NFL quarterback, running a 4.73 40 yard dash. He has the tools he needs to be successful, but to get the Cardinals the NFC West Championship and home field advantage through the playoffs he must play better than he has during his 8 year career.
In the 15 games he has played in he has completed only 54% of his passes, thrown only 7 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. To achieve the goals the Cardinals have this season he must play better than this.
In the 3 games he has played in so far this year he only completed 49% of his passes, but most important is that he threw 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions.
The Cardinals do not have an easy road to the NFC West Championship or to the playoffs as they still have four NFC West games to go, including the San Francisco 49ers, the defending NFC West Champion and super bowl champion Seattle Seahawks twice, the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs, a playoff team last season.
For Drew Stanton and the Arizona Cardinals to be successful and reach their goals they must rely on the formula that has gotten them to where they are this season.
That formula is winning the turnover battle, stopping the opponent's run game, and playing great defense in the 4th quarter by creating turnovers.