Carson Palmer can’t get himself over the hump

For the rest of what’s left of his career, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer will try to prove he was worth of his No. 1 overall selection boy the Cincinnati Bengals back in 2003. It seemed lile he was becoming that guy in 2005, leading the Bengals out of 15 years of futility and to their first winning season since 1990.

And the 11–5 record Palmer and the Bengals earned that year, was good enough to win the AFC North. Individually, Palmer lit it up, throwing a league-high 32 touchdown passes and leading the NFL in completion percentage. He was the first Bengals quarterback to finish with a quarterback rating of over 100, setting the team record in that stat.

He also tied then Indianapolis Cots quarterback Peyton Manning for most consecutive games, 9, with a 100-plus quarterback rating. Palmer finished the season with a 101.1 rating and the process of being an emerging elite quarterback. But in the playoffs, his knee was rolled up on by Kimo Von Oelhoffen against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And Palmer suffered tears of both his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as torn cartilage.  After Palmer was knocked out of the game, the Steelers would go on to win 31–17. Palmer would come back with a strong 2006 but after that, the bottom seemed to fall out for him.

A couple of years later that what he thought was just soreness was a torn ligament in his elbow. Then his relationship with the Bengals deteriorated to the point where he retired until the Oakland Raiders gave the Bengals a couple of 1st-round picks for him. A couple of years later, he would quit on the Raiders too and they would trade him to the Cardinals.

He had the best receiver corps he could ask for, featuring Larry Fitzgerald but since 2007, he had become an interception machine. Palmer would overcome that 22-interception first year and a couple of years later, he threw for 4,671 yards, 35 TDs, 11 INTs while leading the Cardinals to the NFC Championship game.

This was the year he was to get over the hump but in that game on Sunday, it all came crashing down. At 36, the budding elite quarterback with a chance to get over the hump fell to pieces against Carolina, throwing four interceptions and losing a pair of fumbles. After than performance, he can forget about all the elite, getting over the hump stuff.

And Palmer knew he had blown a great opportunity for himself and the Cardinals, telliing the New York Post, “I kept digging us in a hole. I was definitely forcing it. Coming out in the second half, down multiple touchdowns, you’ve got to make something happen and I didn’t make it happen.”

And if we’re going to keep it 100, Palmer hasn’t played all that well in the playoffs period. The defense and receiver Larry Fitzgerald, perhaps sensing his last opportunity, got the Cardinals to the NFC Championship game. The organization has to wonder now if this is as far as the Cardinals can go with Palmer at quarterback.