Carson Palmer is a resilient QB---he has bounce back ability, in-game and from an off game to a good game. His mistakes can be corrected---like not forcing the ball into a crowd at the hash marks. Those areas seem to be his blind spots.
Versus the Bengals on SNF last year he had a similar first half as the ones he had versus the Seahawks (Week 17) and Panthers (NFCCG). At half-time he made some key adjustments, like waiting the extra second or two to let his receivers gain separation and threw to spots where there was no safety help. The result was a very good come from behind win, versus a team that was 9-1 at the time.
I really felt that versus the Panthers in the NFC Championship game, had Pat P. not muffed the punt at that juncture of the second quarter and had Carson Palmer and the offense taken advantage of the momentum swing, it could have been anybody's game in the second half. The week before, the Seahawks, after getting clobbered and embarrassed in the first half, mounted a fierce comeback in the second half...but ultimately had too much of a deficit to overcome.
We saw last night how the Broncos came back from a 7-17 deficit at halftime to win 21-20. They had turned the ball over three times---and all at bad times. But they were able to swing the momentum in their favor and keep it long enough to win. Thus, what BA and the coaches have most likely been impressing upon the Cardinals' players is to try not to compound their mistakes and to keep making momentum swinging plays, because if the offense gets hot and the defense clamps down, the team can find ways to prevail.
