Division-leading Denver has developed into one of the stingiest defenses in the league. At the moment, the sexy statistic is that they have forced interceptions in their last seven games, while Palmer has given up interceptions in eight straight.
At 32 years old, Palmer was never meant to be the full-time starter when he was acquired in 2011. Instead, he was a short-term solution to an injured Jason Campbell, who had put the Raiders in position to win the AFC West.
A 3-9 start is not explicitly Palmer’s fault, however. In losses, he has averaged over 300 yards and sports a 61.3 completion percentage versus just 59.0 percent in victories. Nevertheless, the season is all-but-over for the Raiders and now is the time to start evaluating for 2013.
Now, with just Terrelle Pryor and Matt Leinart to turn to, it seems high time that Pryor get his shot with the team that took the chance on him.
Denver travels to Oakland on short rest Thursday, but still has the upper hand with a defense that is seventh in the league versus the rush and sixth against the pass.
When these two first met in Week 4, the Broncos held Palmer without a touchdown and just 220 yards through the air. The result was a 29.4 QBR for the former No. 1 overall pick. Denver figures to do the same in their second meeting if Oakland cannot come up with something new.
That’s where Pryor fits in.
The trend recently has been to turn to young and mobile quarterbacks like Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick. Even Andrew Luck can break a big gain if he needs to and has five touchdowns on the g...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
