Excuses excuses excuses.... everyone wants to believe the finger was the problem because it means Palmer will be a different QB next season when it heals up. News flash... it is not the finger. Roll tape on the games in this season pre-finger when Carson had bad games, at least to start, which coincidentally were some of the most hyped games (Steelers, Bengals, etc). The moment was so big he couldn't control his nerves. He was sailing balls like crazy. He himself admits he gets butterflies, which is understandable, but his negatively affect him, not positively. He needs to find a way to get mentally prepared for these games.
Palmer has always had the problem of being inconsistent and trying to force balls. He becomes a liability because he thinks he is the best player on the field, or at the very least doesn't understand you can't always be the hero, you can't make every play go your way.
When he understands to take what the D gives and consistently gives up on plays that aren't there is when he will become a consistent asset like top tier QBs and not someone you are always wondering "which Palmer will we see today?"
He played quite well throughout the regular season with some exceptions, but there were the same questions at times on which Palmer would show up because he had his share of bad games that we still won. When he played well he played smart. You saw him throw the ball away a fair amount and he also wasn't taking the low percentage big payoff plays at poor times. I'm sure he did throw a ball or two away, but I can't think of many times where he threw the ball away in the last few games. He started believing the hype that he was the best or one of the best in league so the chips would just fall his way, double or triple coverage be damned.
Palmer was always one of our biggest liabilities... if he had an OK game or better we would be in a position to win. If he didn't protect the ball, which has been a problem especially at key times (red zone!) along with pockets of inaccuracy, it was going to be a tough hill to climb.
This is what is crazy about this last game... if Palmer didn't put up huge numbers but just protected the ball the game would have been in reach, even with the less than stellar play everywhere else. The person who bears the most responsibility for the loss, or at the very least the score, is Palmer. It's simple math, you can't deny it. He could have throw the ball OB on any of those picks and the score would be wayyy different. Even if he took a knee on those the score would be way different.
If the finger was really a problem why did he keep looking to the medium long and long balls, and not take the open receivers on the short and intermediate routes? Simply put, he was on a big stage and wanted to prove he was a great QB instead of playing smart football, and it made him look like a clown. He wanted to have a huge highlight moment play instead of grinding it out and it cost us.
What also pisses me off is the whole "first X plays are scripted" crap. That is dumb. To say you have a select basket of plays to choose from at first is one thing, but that is the mentality that you can just outplay and impose your will and not play smart football and exploit the defense. I think the reason they do this is because they don't play so much based on defensive looks. BA is at ground level and can't see the field like a normal OC can so he calls the scripted plays because there is no real-time adjustment because he can't see the field like an OC can. Committing to plays regardless of what the defense is doing is no different than committing to throwing to a certain receiver regardless of the coverage. Palmer really needs to be audibling more if this is a trend that will continue IMO.
I get Palmer is competitive, but I think he is trying too hard. When he can set the ego or whatever it is that is driving him to think he is capable of putting the game on his back at any time and instead just learn to play a smart game and protect the ball above all else... that is when he will be able to live up to the big moments and play more consistently.
lol
