Not a very good game for Carson Palmer, harassed by the Oakland Raiders and their pass rush during his entire first half stay on the field, but the Arizona Cardinals offensive line isn’t the only thing to blame for his performance.
Head coach Bruce Arians hinted that Palmer holding on to the ball a little bit too long might have had a bigger sway on his poor performance. He completed just 8-of-22 passes for 103 yards, threw two interceptions and was sacked three times, busy most of the time escaping linemen and linebacker chasing him.
In a first half without any touchdowns for either side, Palmer managed to get just one drive to end with points, although it only helped the Cardinals head into the halftime break trailing 15-3. The Raiders, eventually losing 30-23, scored all of their points in the first half from field goals as well.
The touchdowns came later for the Cardinals: Drew Stanton connecting with David Johnson, Phillip Simms with Kerwynn Williams, Marion Grice with the game winning touchdown on an 11-yard run and a Derek Carr interception returned by Cariel Brooks for 81 yards.
Besides Grice scoring a touchdown, the Cardinals looked bad on the ground with their running game. They finished with just 73 yards on 24 carries, with Andre Ellington getting just 19 on nine carries. Johnson, having a good day as a receiver, finished with -2 yards on his four carries.