Hue Jackson fired.....

[flamingrey]

You could argue that had McFadden been healthy, Palmer would have suffered more. He's not a "game manager" like Campbell was, and having more of a running game would have taken more of the deep throws away from Palmer, and more than likely, put more emphasis on the shorter routes, which is where Palmer gets quite a few of his picks...and pick-6's as results.

Yes, the running game would open up the deep pass. I realize that, but if you are able to run the ball, and eat up the clock like Oakland was doing early in the year, there's no need to attempt higher risk passes down-field...or at least, throw as many as Palmer was doing because, outside of 2 games, Bush wasn't getting as much as McFadden was, at least seemingly.

Palmer is what he is. A system QB. If everything around him is perfect (see 2005) he'll thrive. When he's forced to adjust on the fly and adapt, he struggles. That's always been his knock, and why he's not a good game manager or check down QB. He'll have his yards, because of his arm and ability to get the ball down field in an open offense. But in a run-oriented offense, he's going to struggle, and in an offense where he has to make multiple check-downs and adapt away from the play called, he's going to do even worse.

The stats tell a different story. In the games Bush had monster games in the run game, Carson played very well. When Bush had good games, Carson also played well. It was in the games where Bush struggled because teams honed in on the run game with Oakland's top receivers missing that Carson didn't play well. That inside attack opens up the entire field, and while Carson isn't overly accurate on the short passes, it opens up those intermediate to long passes where Carson flourishes.

Also, when the run game was going, Carson was throwing a lot fewer passes. And he was successful. I think he only passed the ball 20 times in that San Diego game. In the Detroit game in the first half, he wasn't passing the ball much because the run game again was going and he played very well.

The year Carson had Chris Perry healthy, he was great at getting him the ball in space. Bush is also a good receiver out of the backfield and he was one of Carson's favorite targets. Outside of those 2 years, the Bengals nor Carson have ever had a consistent threat out of the backfield. Think back to 2009 when Leonard saw the field, he made huge plays on 3rd down for us because Carson found him on checkdowns (and some designed plays). We saw the same thing this year with Dalton. It was only when Leonard saw the field that Dalton would hit his checkdowns. Rudi, Benson, and Scott (he could be, but they don't allow it) are not those kind of players. That's a system thing.

You give Carson a decent o-line, a good running game, and receivers that know how to run their routes, he'll thrive.

 

[Servo]

Teddi Bruschi wrote this piece on Palmer in 2010 and I still think it's spot on...doesnt even go into the mobility issues, lack of pocket presence and the tendency to throw high.

3. Carson Palmer's struggles. With the addition of all the Bengals' offensive weapons, I felt that Carson Palmer would be a better quarterback. When we played Palmer earlier in his career, we were able to confuse him by disguising our coverages. Over the course of a quarterback's career, he'll start to figure things out, but Palmer still hasn't done that. The Patriots showed Palmer one coverage pre-snap and executed a different coverage post-snap, and Palmer looked lost. I read Pete Carroll's book and when Palmer was at USC, he had self-confidence issues. After throwing two interceptions in the spring game, according to the book, he said to Carroll, "It's just so typical. I always play well and then screw it up when it matters most." He is still that same guy. Until he is able to win the big game that makes a statement, and this was one of those games, defensive coordinators will always see him as a quarterback that can be fooled.

Tedy Bruschi's five observations from the New England Patriots' opening win - ESPN Boston

 

[kramer1]

Everyone but Rey and some other nutjob from the old ESPN board knows Carson is a choker, has always been a choker, and will always be a choker.

 

[vancelot23]

At this point Carson is a veteran backup. If a team tries to make him a starter they will be disappointed.

 

[flamingrey]

Teddi Bruschi wrote this piece on Palmer in 2010 and I still think it's spot on...doesnt even go into the mobility issues, lack of pocket presence and the tendency to throw high.

3. Carson Palmer's struggles. With the addition of all the Bengals' offensive weapons, I felt that Carson Palmer would be a better quarterback. When we played Palmer earlier in his career, we were able to confuse him by disguising our coverages. Over the course of a quarterback's career, he'll start to figure things out, but Palmer still hasn't done that. The Patriots showed Palmer one coverage pre-snap and executed a different coverage post-snap, and Palmer looked lost. I read Pete Carroll's book and when Palmer was at USC, he had self-confidence issues. After throwing two interceptions in the spring game, according to the book, he said to Carroll, "It's just so typical. I always play well and then screw it up when it matters most." He is still that same guy. Until he is able to win the big game that makes a statement, and this was one of those games, defensive coordinators will always see him as a quarterback that can be fooled.

Tedy Bruschi's five observations from the New England Patriots' opening win - ESPN Boston

I don't entirely disagree with that. I don't think he gets confused when you show him a different look post snap, but when he does get comfortable and in a rhythm it is easy to throw him off. That's when he starts keying in on a single receiver and doesn't realize or pay attention to the post snap look and he becomes prone to make mistakes.

E.g. In Week 16 against the Chiefs, one of his picks came off the exact type of play. Oakland had a receiver wide and a receiver in the slot on the right side of the field. Carson read single coverage wide, and had the receiver run a short route, 10 yards up the field and stop. However, after the snap, the corner on the slot receiver came off his receiver - whom was released to the OLB - and undercut Carson's throw and picked it off. The top tier QB's just don't make those mistakes.

Kurt Warner on the other hand still speaks very highly of Carson.