Entering Week 9 and the second half of the National Football League regular season this past Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals showed no signs of fatigue.
They sprinted out of the gate to a 7-1 record, the team’s best ever, in the highly regarded NFC West division, home to the reigning champion Seattle Seahawks and the former Super Bowl runners-up, the San Francisco 49ers. The Cardinals were on pace to have the notable distinction of being the first team in NFL history to participate in a Super Bowl in their own stadium.

While they did beat the St. Louis Rams over the weekend, raising them to the top of the league’s rankings with an 8-1 record, it came at the cost of quarterback Carson Palmer’s season. Palmer went down at the beginning of the fourth quarter with an ACL tear. Will the Cardinals winning season follow suit, or are their winning ways maintainable in the absence of Carson Palmer?

When the Cardinals made it to Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, the only appearance in their history, their run was propelled by the passing game. The Kurt Warner-Larry Fitzgerald tandem was crucial to that team’s success, stabilizing the team in the postseason after an up-and-down nine-win regular-season record. However, they ended up losing to the Steelers because of the same defensive lapses that had harried them all season long. And thus, the Cardinals are still in the longest championship drought of any team in the Super Bowl era.

The 2014-2015 Cardinals squad is a different beast altogether. As of Friday, the Cardinals are sporting a 13-3 record since this point in Week 9 last season, one of the best in the NFL, and they are doing so by means of their defense. They finished last season as the best rushing defense in the league and, despite losing four of their best linebackers to various circumstances, have claimed the same title by the 8th week this season.

Furthermore, the defense has, as a whole, proven its ability to perform well in clutch moments with multiple crucial turnovers, including three defensive touchdowns, and various shutouts in the fourth quarter this season. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Cardinals signed defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to a generous extension. With a defense that is both clutch and flexible, it is hard to see them breaking down between now and the playoffs.

That being said, the loss of Palmer does not necessarily present as bleak of a picture for the Cardinals organization as some might have feared. Drew Stanton is now taking over for Palmer under center, following his 2-1 record earlier in the season, due to a concussion-related Palmer absence. Stanton led a come-from-behind victory against the Rams this past Sunday. However, with a lower pass completion percentage (49.5% compared to 62.9%) and a lower passer rating (81.6 compared to 95.6) than Palmer, Stanton can be correctly judged as an inferior quarterback.

Still, Stanton has yet to throw an interception on the season, and his average yards per attempted throw are close to Palmer’s. The Cardinals may now be at their most vulnerable. With their rushing corps coming into Week 10 ranked 29th in average yardage in the 32-team league, even little deficiencies in the passing game may become magnified, as it is essentially their entire offense.

Ultimately, the Arizona Cardinals will likely find their way into the playoffs, regardless of Palmer’s injury, but with their remaining schedule, it will be no easy task. Arizona will face Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle (twice), and all will be able to shut down the Cardinals’ passing attack, leaving the offense to come to a grinding halt.

While the defense will continue to dominate, the lack of passing production and quarterback leadership will leave the Cardinals losing low-scoring games and likely finishing the season around the 11-5 mark. I would, however, not rule them out from making a run to the Super Bowl. Stanton still has room to grow, and I would not be surprised if his statistics continue to improve as he gets more and more comfortable with the starting position over the course of the next month and a half.

Fear not Cardinals fans, your 8-1 start has not been for naught. More worrisome is the team’s long-term financial health, as Palmer signed to a three-year contract extension just days before his injury. The organization will hope that Palmer makes a solid recovery, otherwise its $50 million invested in an injury-prone 34-year-old player will hurt the franchise for many years to come.

Max Fiege is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service. out of our league appears every other Friday.