IF Palmer doesn't blow out his knee against Pittsburgh...

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(09-12-2017, 01:58 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: I don't think so. Even without Palmer, we still lead that game 17-14 heading into halftime. Then the typical Primetime/playoff/Steeler Marvin Lewis collapse reared its ugly head in the second. True, you can argue that Kitna struggled but the entire team (especially Bresnahan's defense) completely fell apart. That was a team loss, and I don't think even a healthy 2005 Carson Palmer could win a Marvin Lewis playoff game.

But the sad truth is, we'll never know. That injury was the beginning of the end of Carson Palmer's potentially great career in Cincinnati. Could Carson have been good enough to get us over the hump despite questionable coaching (a la Peyton Manning in Indianapolis)? Again, we'll never truly know. Honestly, it's quite depressing to even think about.

Hardly.

'06 & '07, Palmer had:
63.7% completion
8,166 yards
7.5 YPA
54 TD/33 INT
90.1 QB Rating

Keep in mind this was still back when there was only 5 QBs who threw for 4,000+ yards in 2006. Out of QBs who threw at least 320 attempts (so only 20/gm) Palmer was 4th in QB Rating in 2006.

What messed up Palmer was the '08 season, where he had the broken nose and then the elbow injury. The broken nose messed up his mind, and the elbow messed up his ability.