He wouldn't be Bruce Arians if he didn't say the Arizona Cardinals could win the Super Bowl without their starting quarterback.
Arians is a confident coach and that rubs off on his team. His hubris will be tested.
Carson Palmer is headed to injured reserve with what Arians confirmed is a torn ACL in his left knee. It's the same knee Palmer injured in the playoffs at the end of the 2005 season.
Now Drew Stanton steps in for a team with an NFL-best 8-1 record. Stanton, in his eighth NFL season, has seven career starts. He has completed just 53.8 percent of his passes and has eight touchdowns to nine interceptions.
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That doesn't bother Arians at all.
“We can win the Super Bowl with Drew Stanton,” Arians told The MMQB. “There is no doubt in my mind.”
Maybe he's right. This whole season has defied plenty of odds already for the Cardinals.
Arizona saw linebacker Daryl Washington suspended, lost linebacker Karlos Dansby in free agency, then had defensive lineman Darnell Dockett go down for the season. Palmer missed three games earlier this season with a shoulder injury. Nothing has mattered. The Cardinals just keep marching on. Their only loss all season is at Denver.
Palmer just signed a three-year, $50 million contract extension, but that won't entirely erase the disappointment of missing out on this season. Palmer has started just two playoff games in his career, the fateful game at the end of the 2005 season in which he attempted one pass and got injured, and a loss to the Jets at the end of the 2009 season when he was with the Bengals.
The Cardinals will miss Palmer, who was playing well, even if Arians thinks they'll be just fine without him.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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