Posts tagged CarsonPalmer at FanHouse

Compared to what Lions fans are dealing with, folks in Kansas City and Cincinnati are rooting for a team that is on the right track. Of course, we all know that isn't true, as the Chiefs just capped off a 2-14 season, their worst in franchise history.

They did manage to win two games, but this truly was one of the worst teams in NFL history. Counting last year, they have lost 23 of 25 games. The Chiefs recorded just 10 sacks this season, breaking the record for least sacks in a season (the Colts had 11 in 1982).

What is amazing is that they were sharing the field with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have been one of the worst franchises in the NFL over the past 17 years and were 1-11-1 just three weeks ago. An upset win over the Redskins and wins over the listless Browns and Chiefs gave Cincy a nice three-game winning streak to end the season. It also gives an excuse for owner Mike Brown to stay the course and keep head coach Marvin Lewis.

You have to love Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. His shameless things aren't that bad routine is a running joke for the Cincinnati media. So much so that everyone just dismisses pretty much anything he says.

Still, you have to do a double take when he says things like this:

"Our football team won't have to go through another season like this. Nor will our fans," Lewis said. "Believe me."

Um, you do know what city you are in, right? This is a franchise that has just 11 winning seasons and just lost their 10th game for the 16th time in 41 seasons. These fans have seen seasons like this before and odds are they will again. There has been exactly one winning season and no playoff wins in the last 17 years. Excuse the fans if they don't believe you.

But what else can he say? Lewis is up against a wall even if his job isn't in serious jeopardy. To be fair, Cincinnati has been devastated by injuries this season -- which includes losing Carson Palmer for most of the season. Palmer will be back next year, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh and/or Chad Johnson may not. There are more questions than answers and not enough people who care to do what it takes to turn it around.

That's why Lewis' words fall on deaf ears around here.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

Baltimore (7-4) at Cincinnati (1-9-1): If I asked you at the beginning of the season the following question, "Would Joe Flacco have a better year than Carson Palmer," you'd have three responses.

"Who is Joe Flacco?"

"What team does he play for?"

"Who is Joe Flacco again?"

Like most fans, I can't believe in the Ravens until they are preparing themselves for their first round playoff game. But Flacco has been better than anyone could have expected this season, and it must be nice for Ravens fans to see that. Honestly, do you think a single person in Baltimore thought before the season started that there was such a thing as a competent quarterback on their roster?

Pick: Baltimore

Twelve weeks. Apparently, that's how long it takes for lifetime backup Matt Cassel to make people forget about Tom Brady and the three Super Bowls he brought to New England. Cassel, you've no doubt heard, spent his college years on the USC sideline watching Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart win Heismans, and prior to Week 2, hadn't started a tackle football game since high school.

After a shaky start, Cassel, who was once affectionately nicknamed "Rusher McFumbles," has thrown for at least 400 yards in back-to-back games. He's playing with more confidence, actually completing passes that travel more than 10 yards downfield, and, unlike Brady, is a threat to make plays with his feet. And most importantly, perhaps, Randy Moss seems happy.

But he's not the only one; left guard Logan Mankins, when not using his prognosticatory skillz, is also very impressed with the Dreamboat v2:

On Thursday night, as he gave his post-game press conference, Marvin Lewis looked about as sad and dejected as I've seen him during his six-year stint as the Bengals' head coach. Cincinnati had just lost their ninth game of the season, and had sent one of their best players, Chad Javon Ocho Cinco home earlier in the day because the Pro Bowl wideout couldn't -- or, more likely, wouldn't -- stop sleeping during a team meeting.

Unless Lewis gets "Scott Linehan-ed" (fired midseason), or less likely, pulls a "Bobby Petrino" (quits with a month to go), he's still got to coach the Bengals up for five more weeks. It's a daunting task considering that virtually everybody in the building checked out for the year sometime around Halloween.

Yet Lewis trudges on.

Hines Ward has been in the NFL for 11 years, and for most of that time, he's been known as a gritty, hard-working wide receiver and, more than that, a tenacious blocker. So it should be hardly worth noting when he legally plants an unsuspecting defender on his ass since, you know, it happens a half-dozen times a year.

Yet, every season, a small subset of folks decry Ward's tactics as dirty, over the line, so on and so forth. His latest victim (see above), Bengals rookie linebacker Keith Rivers, suggested through a jaw wired shut that Ward would "reap what he sows." Later we learned that the Ravens defense had a bounty on Ward, not to mention the discussion this week that Cincinnati would be plotting their revenge.

Ross Tucker, a former NFL lineman who now writes for SI.com, helps dispel some myths about bounties, revenge and whatnot in his latest column.

Nearly four weeks ago, it looked like the Bengals were going to shut down Carson Palmer for the season. Well, we're still waiting, and despite head coach Marvin Lewis' proclamations that the team hasn't ruled out Palmer's return, it won't happen this Thursday, either, when Cincinnati travels to Pittsburgh.

Via NFL.com's Adam Schefter:

And now that it already has been determined Palmer will be on the bench for week 12 matchup at Pittsburgh, it is fair to wonder if and when Cincinnati's veteran quarterback will play again. After Thursday night's game in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati will have five games remaining - Baltimore, at Indianapolis, Washington, at Cleveland, Kansas City.

Which means that Ryan Fitzpatrick will make his seventh start of the season. And while he's only averaging five yards per completion and has one more interception (6) than touchdowns, he's steadily improved over the last month and a half.

Whether it'll be enough to slow up the Steelers' top-rated defense is another issue. But the Bengals eked out a tie against the Eagles, the same outfit who sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times in Week 3, so it's not entirely implausible.

As for Palmer, he'll serve as the team's emergency quarterback, although if he's not well enough to start, he's probably not well enough to come off the bench. But this isn't a medical blog, so maybe I'm wrong about that.

Willie Parker already missed four games this season because of a bum knee, and he'll be out of commission against the Colts this afternoon after injuring his shoulder in Washington last Monday night.

According to NFL Network's Adam Schefter, it could be something that keeps Parker out for more than one game:

Willie Parker found out during the week that he has a torn labrum in his shoulder. He went for a second opinion on that shoulder on Friday; if and when he plays again this season, he's going to have to wear a harness. [The Steelers are] awaiting the results of a second test ... to see what the proper course of action is.

Schefter also points out that Chad Javon Ocho Cinco has played the 2008 season with the same injury -- and the requisite harness -- and hasn't been his usual effective self.

It sounds as if Chad Javon Ocho Cinco has been sending Carson Palmer subliminal messages. Or maybe the injured quarterback believes that the Bengals are poised for a second-half-of-the-season run after their first victory of the season last week.

Or perhaps Palmer's just overmedicated, an unintended side effect of rehabbing his right arm injury. Whatever, he sounds hopeful, which is something new for an organization that got off to a rollicking 0-8 start.

"We still have seven games left. We can still end up at 8-8," Palmer said. "You never know what can happen in this league. I've only been in it for six years, but strange things happen. You can't say right now that one team can or can't make the playoffs. You could find a way to slip into a wild-card spot at 8-8. I'm not going to say it's going to happen, but I'm not going to say it's not going to happen. So all I can do is to continue to rehab and get as healthy as possible."

Attention Bengals doctors: please lower Carson's dosage because he's obviously going mad. Actually, I don't fault him for his cheery optimism; football is a competitive sport and, presumably, owner Mike Brown pays the players to try to win games.

Texan coach Gary Kubiak has submitted three plays to the league relating to Viking defensive end Jared Allen's play against Houston. Two of those plays are low hits to the quarterback, which are against league rules.

These hits look particularly bad because Allen is not trying to tackle with his arms but is leading with his helmet toward Matt Schaub's knees. (New video showing both hits above).