Carson Palmer left yesterday’s game against the Rams in London with a broken left arm. The injury occurred in the second quarter, when he was hit by Alec Ogletree as he was in the process of throwing a pass that wound up being intercepted. The Injury is another devastating blow to the Cardinals season but it could be the final blow that also ends Palmer’s career.
The injury is expected to keep Palmer out for eight weeks, so technically speaking, there is a slim chance he could play again late in the season. However, with the Cardinals currently at 3-4 and a couple of those wins being pretty lucky, you would have to assume that the team won’t be anywhere near playoff contention come late in the season. This is also thanks in part to the season ending injury David Johnson had in week one. The Cardinals were being talked about as legit contenders in the NFC and now it appears they are headed for a top 10 pick in the draft. Even after acquiring Adrian Peterson from the Saints, his addition is basically going to be useless for the rest of the season, although for him on a personal level I would expect to see his workload increase.
Palmer entered Sunday with some pretty decent success in throwing the ball. He was third in passing yards and tenth in yards per attempt. But with this season likely being Larry Fitzgerald’s last and head coach Bruce Arians also likely headed out of town, it’s easy to see that the chances of Palmer already playing his final game in the NFL are very strong.
Injuries have always came at the worst possible time for Palmer. There were the two brutal knee injuries that he sustained, one in Cincinnati and one in Arizona, when both of those teams had super bowl aspirations as well. It’s hard to not feel for the guy but he has always left it all out on the field.
If Palmer has indeed thrown his last pass, his finishes his career with some impressive numbers. He’s thrown for more than 46,000 yards, which leaves him currently as 12th all time, 294 touchdowns, which also currently ranks him as 12th all time, with a completion percentage of 62.5, which is good for 20th in NFL history.
Perhaps Palmer will still want to play next season but the odds are definitely against it. If he walks away after this season, he’s had a hell of a career that he can be very proud of and based on the stats of some other quarterbacks in the hall of fame, it’s possible that Palmer can eventually wind up there as well.
Written by Joe Casey. All Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
Twitter: @IamJoeSports
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