Palmer starting on Sunday

[cincygrad]

If you believe all of the rumors, it appears that Carson Palmer wills start for the Raiders on Sunday. Anyone else think this is insane? While Carson has a history with Hue Jackson, the offense is coordinated by Al Saunders. Saunders is a long-time offensive coordinator with his own system. While I don't doubt Carson's ability to pick up concepts quickly, three practices really seems to be stretching it. On top of that, he hasn't played a single down since the loss to the Ravens last winter.

Wouldn't you be better off starting Boller, taking a bye week and then starting Palmer for the rest of the year?

I know it's not relevant to the Bengals - But what do you guys think?

 

[flamingrey]

I think the key here is Kyle Boller. I did watch parts of their game against Cleveland, and the one play that still stands out in my mind is the Raiders being on the Browns' 5 yard line and Boller not even seeing a player run wide open across the middle of the endzone.

And let's be real, they didn't pay that hefty price to take the chance that Boller loses them the game.

Furthermore, given that to this point they've won with their running game (2nd in the league in rushing yards), I don't think it's as big a risk. They will probably run the air out of the ball, and Carson's job will be to simply not make mistakes. They'll probably have a few short routes, some screens, and a lot of check downs to the TE and McFadden. Against KC, that should do the trick. Combine that with KC's inability to get to the passer, and I think they can protect Carson well enough to make it work.

All that said, I do believe this does come with risks. Having a new QB who many have questions about, I think the worst thing they can do is put Carson in a position he may struggle. The last thing they need is for his teammates to potentially lose confidence in him. I'm sure they'd understand the circumstances, but some thoughts just get stuck lingering in the back of people's minds.

Given the above, I believe the game experience outweighs any possible setbacks. Not to underplay division rivalries, but they're fortunate to have KC up and then a bye followed by Denver.

If it were my call, I'd do the same thing.

 

[flamingrey]

I just read that the Raiders have an 8 game win streak against their division in which they have averaged 213 rushing yards per game and 2 rushing TDs per game.

 

[futballiscool]

"While Carson has a history with Hue Jackson, the offense is coordinated by Al Saunders."



Saunders is a Coryell disciple, so his passing concepts are similar to Brats. Also Hue Jackson is still calling plays, so I'm sure they retained most of the verbiage from his offense...

still I was shocked. their bye is in week 8 so it seemed like the perfect scenario to try and eek out a win with Boller. give CP9.. umm i mean CP3 a few weeks to prepare.. I agree that's seemingly the best possible scenario...

He'll be used like Dalton was earlier in the yr. limit the throws, run safe routes, and try to win with the running game and defense...

Ken O'Brein and TJ both say his arm-strength is back. i'm interested to see if that's true

 

[cravnravn]

Im betting KC...Seriously

 

[Servo]

I think it's crazy..it does seem like there is a precedent, though. I seem to remember Testeverde starting after 2 days or something and playing well. The thing that I would worry about with Carson though is his confidence. If he comes in, plays horribly due to it being rushed then faces a ton of scrutiny I think that could effect the rest of their season. I question his resilience from the neck up..

 

[flamingrey]

I think it's crazy..it does seem like there is a precedent, though. I seem to remember Testeverde starting after 2 days or something and playing well. The thing that I would worry about with Carson though is his confidence. If he comes in, plays horribly due to it being rushed then faces a ton of scrutiny I think that could effect the rest of their season. I question his resilience from the neck up..

He was pretty resilient the final 2.5 games of the season last year.

The only thing that concerns me about him would be his confidence in the o-line. THEY need to show that they have the ability to keep him upright. It doesn't help that Oakland has had mobile guys back there in the past in Campbell and Russell, so they're going to have to get used to Carson's tendencies pretty quick. That's where this might hurt.

 

[DanBengalfan]

If Boller sucks that bad, they should just release him and pick up Jordan, lol.

....

Palmer really just has to do 2 things.

1. hand the ball off to the RBs
2. Don't make any stupid throws. He's not expected to have completely mastered an offense. If he doesn't see a good play, he can run out of the pocket and throw it oob, or throw it over the end zone.

 

[bengaldoug]

After 8 years as an NFL quarterback and going to a head coach who's system he is already familiar with, I don't think Palmer will have many, if any, issues grasping the offense.....my worry would be he's not in football game shape.....I guess that's different with a quarterback since theoretically at least he's not in contact play after play.....but I would still be worried about how he'll handle the physical aspects of the game.....other than that I believe he's fine, and if his arm is in as good a shape as TJ and OBrien seem to think, he could have a big day against a weak KC defense......

 

[SuperFlyer13]

If Boller sucks that bad, they should just release him and pick up Jordan, lol.

....

Palmer really just has to do 2 things.

1. hand the ball off to the RBs
2. Don't make any stupid throws. He's not expected to have completely mastered an offense. If he doesn't see a good play, he can run out of the pocket and throw it oob, or throw it over the end zone.

One thing you have to put in the equation is the fact that Palmer and Hugh Jackson have worked together and have a familiarity already, Palmer will already be up to speed on Jackson's offense, he will be rusty for a couple of games but we have 2 things working in our favor there too, the first is that we play KC this Sunday(they suck) and then we have a bye week and follow that up with the Donkey's the following Sunday, both home games too. The Second thing is the rest of the AFC west sucks lol.

 

[cincygrad]

Yes, Palmer worked with Hue in college. And yes, Palmer was on a team that Hue held a coaching position. But, Hue was the receivers coach for the Bengals.... As for knowing Hue's offense. I certainly hope he's not running Bob Bratkowski's offense, page-for-page. I'm sure a lot of the concepts are similar and the terminology is similar, but it's still a different offense with different players. I would expect some rust.

 

[cincygrad]

But yes, you're right..... You do get the advantage of playing in the AFCW!!! Good luck.

 

[DanBengalfan]

One thing you have to put in the equation is the fact that Palmer and Hugh Jackson have worked together and have a familiarity already, Palmer will already be up to speed on Jackson's offense, he will be rusty for a couple of games but we have 2 things working in our favor there too, the first is that we play KC this Sunday(they suck) and then we have a bye week and follow that up with the Donkey's the following Sunday, both home games too. The Second thing is the rest of the AFC west sucks lol.

I believe the KC defense will challenge that assumption and stack up against d-mac. Palmer by now has at least anywhere from 20-50 passing plays memorized.... but it's like cramming for a test. He won't be full speed on that, he won't be calling a no huddle offense, most likely. He'll control the pace of the game in a rational manner, hit the open receiver if it exists, and mostly just not lose the game for you. He can at least do that.

 

[kramer1]

Palmer is gonna fail. It's gonna be funny watching that trainwreck.

 

[cincygrad]

Palmer is gonna fail. It's gonna be funny watching that trainwreck.

Now that I have Kramer's prediction, I fully expect Palmer to throw for 400 yards.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Now that I have Kramer's prediction, I fully expect Palmer to throw for 400 yards.

Is it too late to put him on your fantasy team? lol.

 

[kramer1]

I have him starting on my team this week.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I have him starting on my team this week.

Oh, he'll break his leg in the first quarter then.

 

[Servo]

He was pretty resilient the final 2.5 games of the season last year.

The only thing that concerns me about him would be his confidence in the o-line. THEY need to show that they have the ability to keep him upright. It doesn't help that Oakland has had mobile guys back there in the past in Campbell and Russell, so they're going to have to get used to Carson's tendencies pretty quick. That's where this might hurt.

Yeah, we'll see. Carson is pretty Bledsoe-esque. It's like he's wearing cement shoes back there...

 

[flamingrey]

Carson Palmer of Oakland Raiders unlikely to play Sunday after all, source says - ESPN

They better hope they don't lose. If you're going to risk your season, might as well do it with the guy you spent big bucks on rather than the backup.