Ravens Look For Pay-Back Against Raiders' Palmer

To a man the Baltimore Ravens know just what to expect out of Oakland Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer holds a 9-4 all time record against Baltimore and has thrown for 3,202 yards against them, his most against any opposing team.

Many say that Palmer's skills have diminished since his short stint with retirement but Ravens All-Pro outside linebacker Terrell Suggs doesn't see it that way, according to a story on BaltimoreRavens.com.

"He is one of those underrated quarterbacks that can make every throw, especially if he gets in a groove," the outside linebacker said.

"You all saw it when he was in Cincinnati. I remember, vividly, games I thought we had won, and Carson Palmer got in his groove, and he torched us."

Suggs is not alone in his respect for Palmer. Ravens' new defensive coordinator Dean Pees sees many of the same traits that made him a Pro Bowler in Cincinnati, as noted in the same BR.com story.

"I don’t see it. I don’t see it," Pees said. "He stands in the pocket. He stands tall. He delivers the ball. I don’t see a lot of difference in Carson Palmer now than when we used to play him."

"He manages and operates the offense as well as anybody, and some of the same things he did in Cincinnati, he’s doing now," Harbaugh added. "There’s not a throw he can’t make, and when he’s on, he’s on time; he can really stick it in a tight window."

One of the more recent knocks on Palmer is that he is to streaky with his good play. In fact he is coming off of a game in which he passed the ball 61 times for four touchdowns but he also threw three interceptions. If the Ravens get ahead early Palmer could be asked to throw a lot again and the Ravens secondary will look forward to adding to their interception count.

Last week the teams two interception leaders Cary Williams and Ed Reed came away with key takeaways against the Cleveland Browns Brandon Weedon when he was forced to put the ball in the air due to his team trailing in the game.

"When you throw 61 passes you see a lot of mistakes too," Williams said. "He’s a great quarterback, but we’ve got to make him pay whenever he throws the ball to us." (from BaltimoreRavens.com)

In 2009 Palmer lead the Cincinnati Bengals on an 80 yard touchdown drive as time expired to beat the Ravens 17-14. This is the typical fashion in which he would leave the Ravens faithful reeling after a game. That was when the Ravens defense was still considered dominant as well.

Hopefully this new group of Ravens will have better luck against the aging quarterback. Bernard Pollard was not with the Ravens in the days that the team was dominated by Carson Palmer but that doesn't mean he doesn't respect the one time All Pro, as noted in this same BR.com story.

"I wouldn’t be surprised," Pollard said. "Looking at this team, you’ve got burners everywhere. You’ve got burners at every position. We have to control that, we have to be sound in what we’re doing and play the scheme."

"He’s with a new team. He’s with a new cast of guys," Pollard said. "Who cares what he’s done with Cincinnati. This guy’s going to come in here ready. When you look at what happened last week, the guy’s putting up numbers."