Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer no longer has a monkey on his back

After 13 years in the league, Carson Palmer finally got his first playoff win.

Heading into the fourth quarter of last night’s playoff game it seemed like Carson Palmer would drop to 0-3 in the playoffs. It especially felt this way after Palmer threw a red zone interception. However, Palmer shook off any doubt and was able to rally the team to 3 consecutive scoring drives on his way to his first career playoff win, and the Arizona Cardinals’ first playoff win since 2010.

Palmer’s previous two playoff games were with the Cincinnati Bengals where he was drafted 1st overall in 2003. To be fair, Palmer only threw one pass in his playoff debut, a 66 yard bomb to Chris Henry. That same play Palmer tore his ACL after Steelers nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen dove into Palmer’s knee. His second playoff game however, Palmer played the entire 60 minutes and was only able to muster up 14 points in a loss to the Jets.

Heading into his playoff debut as a Cardinal, many analysts frequently brought up Palmer’s 0-2 playoff record (essentially 0-1 as he was a non-factor in his first playoff appearance). Even during the game a stat was brought up saying Palmer was among the top quarterbacks to start 100+ games and never win a playoff game. Through the first three quarters it seemed as if the critics were right and that Carson Palmer wasn’t just meant to win in the postseason.

Many thought the game was over after Palmer’s second interception and Green Bay had dominated time of possession and had all the momentum heading into the final minutes. That was not the case. The defense was able to get some stops and allowed Palmer to have another shot at redemption. His first drive after his red zone interception the Arizona Cardinals were able to score a touchdown off of a tip that landed right in Michael Floyd’s bread basket. After a turnover on downs, the Cardinals were able to score on a field goal to give themselves a one touchdown lead.

More from Raising Zona

• Arizona Cardinals: Could Eric Bieniemy come to the desert?
• Would Jonathan Gannon be a good fit for the Arizona Cardinals?
• Arizona Cardinals: Budda Baker right in his take regarding the next coach
• Arizona Cardinals: 3 reasons new coach should want to work with Murray
• Arizona Cardinals special teams could be completely revamped in 2023

The game should have been over, but things aren’t that easy. The packers were able to convert a 4th and 20 from their own end zone, and were later able to complete a Hail Mary touchdown pass to force it into overtime. Palmer would have to play some more football to get his first playoff win.

Luckily, Palmer had Larry Fitzgerald have one of his signature playoff explosions. On the first play of overtime, this happened:

The rest is history. The Arizona Cardinals scored two plays later on a 5 yard pitch to Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals were able to rally from a last second scare from the Packers and move onto the NFC Championship. No one deserves this more than Carson Palmer. After having a falling out with Bengals owner Mike Brown and going into semi-retirement, Palmer has gotten a second chance to live up to his hype coming out of USC and has made the most of it. Carson Palmer isn’t just content with one win under his belt. Palmer will now try to win his second playoff game and make his first Super Bowl appearance.

The Arizona Cardinals play the Carolina Panthers next Sunday at 4:40 Arizona time in the NFC Championship game on FOX.