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Originally Posted by Sea Ray
I made my evaluation after the Bengals/Vikings game and the games leading up to the Bengals game. I did not think he was that bad as of say July 2005. He was playing horribly in 2005 and in fact after he got hurt the offense performed better with his backup in there...not great for his resume.
So no I did not see the dropoff until I saw him play in 2005.
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So based on two games at the begining of the season, you were able to write off the rest of the guy's career? The games leading up to the Bengals game? Try one game, the opener against Tampa Bay. Did you actually watch that game, or did you just see the interception he threw in the last minute and assume he had a bad game? I watched that game from start to finish and can tell you that it was not that bad, but unfortunately the referees overruled two touchdown passes on two bogus calls and one of the interceptions was a tipped pass that should have been caught by a wide receiver. Sure he was looking downfield too much, but there isn't anything that would lead me to believe that wasn't the game plan going in. Not to mention the offensive line play was less than stellar.
The team performed better after his injury and that's an endictment of Culpepper's performance. Tell you what, there is no quarterback who could have done much better in those first five games in the same situation. And of those five games actually played well in two, but no one wants to talk about that. The fact of the matter is that by the time Johnson took over the offensive line had solidified again and the defense was much better so they didn't have to play catch up constantly and Johnson did a good job of managing games. That's not a knock against Culpepper, it's just a simple matter of evaluating the circumstances.
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Plenty of people could see clear in September that Carson Palmer was a better QB than Daunte ever was. It's not hindsight. I wouldn't have traded Palmer for Daunte straight-up before the season (regardless of money) and I certainly wouldn't do it now. If both fully recover from their injuries, Palmer will be a superior QB to Daunte in every way. He's just better. Carson (assuming health) is THAT good.
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And on what would you base that Palmer was clearly the better QB based on past performance? Superior in every way? Very doubtful, unless Palmer bulks up and starts shrugging off blitzing linebackers. I really can't understand how some people can say that Palmer was the far superior quarterback when looking at their 2004 seasons. Culpepper had a historic year and was entering his prime at the age of 28. Palmer had just completed his first year of starting and had a pretty solid year, but nothing earth shattering. His 2005 season certainly showed great progress, but I wonder if there is another level to his play or if he's peaked. Obviously that's a good peak, but do we put him up there with the Elways, Youngs, Marinos, etc? Most here seem to think so based on their comments, but I think I'll let you all attend the crowning ceremony and catch up later.
Look, I think Carson Palmer is one heck of a quarterback. He'll be in his fare share of Pro Bowls, put up some real good numbers and will get some MVP talk from time to time. But I wonder if Palmer is thought to walk on water because he's that good or are Bengals fans just so starved for a good quarterback that as soon as a guy has one good season they'll deem him the second coming? So far I'm having a hard time deciding. Seems like anytime anyone brings up the fact that Palmer may not be the greatest quarterback in the history of football you get tons of people telling you how wonderful he is and why he's great. It's not just here, I hear it all the time when I talk football with my Bengal fan friends. I really hope this Palmer-love doesn't reach the Brett Favre level, because that would be a shame, but it wouldn't surprise me. From where I stand, I don't even know if you can say that Palmer is the best quarterback in his division. I'm sure that'll send the Palmerites into a frenzy and I'll be called crazy by some, but so far I can't see any reason to elevate Carson Palmer way above every other quarterback like some seem to.