NFL Week 11

He was getting soooo much love on CBS' pre game show this morning. All of 'em were praising Sanchez.
They had to be paid to praise him, right?
If they believed he was as good as they said, they should be fired.

 

Welp, impressive showing by Indy so far....

 

I posted these last week, but I'll update them with today's numbers: In the six games Palmer started this season, Arizona averaged 360 yards of offense and 26 points per game. In Stanton's four games, they averaged 283 ypg and 20.5 ppg.

The offense is pretty plainly better with Palmer.

 

Yeah I saw that . Bart Scott knows better.

 

It looks like you're giving the offense credit for a lot of defensive and special-teams TDs.

You're also leaving out the competition. Stanton has started games against SF, Denver and Detroit. Those are possibly the three toughest defenses the Cardinals have faced. He also threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in a game started by Palmer.

The Cardinals are way more explosive wih Stanton. Look at the number of 20+ yard passes. Tons more on a proportional basis.

 

Stanton is completing roughly 53 percent of his passes, compared to Palmer's 64 percent. He's throwing for 230 yards per game compared to Palmer's 271 ypg. Stanton's got 5 TD passes and 2 INTs (both today), compared to Palmer's 11 TDs and 3 INTs.

On what planet are the Cardinals better with Stanton? If you want to chalk it up to the tough defenses Stanton has faced, that's fine. But Palmer's had some success in this league against defenses good and bad and I feel confident saying that, had he not been injured, Palmer likely would have performed better against those tough defenses than Stanton.

 

It's been about 15 years now under three different coaches, and the Colts have yet to have a defense capable of offering the Patriots the slightest amount of resistance. Things change, but it's hard to see anybody but New England and Green Bay in the Super Bowl right now.
PS: Richardson trade looks better by the carry, doesn't it.

 

Provided New England's running game can keep carrying whoever played quarterback in the first half, that is.

 

Before going up against the No. 1 defense in the league today those numbers were a lot closer. Stanton threw for 306 against a defense that was allowing an average of less than 290 passing and rushing combined.

In fact, three of Stanton's four starts have come against defense's that right now are in the top five.

 

Boy. This morning I certainly didn't see myself as becoming the board's leading Drew Stanton defender by the end of the day.

There is not just a small difference in the teams they have each faced. Stanton has started against Detroit, San Francisco and Denver -- those are the Nos. 1, 4 and 5 defenses in the NFL after today. (His other start was against 31st-ranked NYG. He had a pretty humdrum game then.)

Palmer's six starts have come against teams ranking anywhere from ninth to 26th.

They play differently. Although they have the same yards per attempt, Stanton averages 13.7 yards per completion to Palmer's 11.5. Stanton, in 125 attempts, has 16 passes of 20+ yards and four passes of 40+ yards. Palmer, in 224 attempts, has 19 of 20+ and three of 40+.

Stanton has been averaging about seven fewer attempts per start than Palmer, accounting for the difference in their yardage. We'll see how it goes, but a 300-yard game against the league's top-ranked defense is a pretty good sign. I just think they're a lot better when they can get the ball downfield, which they can do much more dangerously with Stanton. The fact that Palmer has "had some success in this league" is not really a huge selling point to me unless his arm strength and mobility are at the same point that they were in whatever timeframe you're remembering so fondly.

 

Before today, Arizona averaged 273 ypg and 23 ppg in Stanton's starts, still well behind the 360 ypg and 26 ppg they average with Palmer behind center. And Stanton's other start came against the second-to-last place defense.

Believe me, I never expected to be taking up the torch for Carson Palmer.

You asked me what numbers show that the Cardinals' offense is better with Palmer and I gave them to you. You can parse it however you want. You assume that Palmer would have played worse than Stanton against the Giants, 49ers, Broncos and Lions. I see nothing in this season's statistics, nor in Palmer's prior history, that suggests this to be true.

You are in love with Stanton's passes of 20+ yards, yet you ignore his dismal completion percentage, which is behind Geno Smith's (56 to 53).

 

I'm not ignoring it; I'm noting that they are different styles of quarterbacks. Y/A is supposed to roughly account for that, and they're even.

We've probably gone as far as we can go. I would suggest though that in using the team's yards and points per game, you make sure to tease out any defensive and special-teams scores as well as the yards and points the Cardinals gained with Stanton in mid-game relief.

I'm sure Arizona will slow down with four road games left, but I think 12-4 or 13-3 is about right. They have a good makeup -- strong defense, tough mindset, play from the opening whistle to grind out a close win instead of trying to boat-race everybody. It doesn't seem very sexy during the season, but it's often a successful playoff strategy.