Ryan Lindley To Start Over Logan Thomas
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians announced Thursday that Ryan Lindley will start over rookie Logan Thomas against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
All signs, including Arians’ words, were pointing toward Thomas starting the Cardinals’ week 17 matchup with the 49ers. Arians had announced on Wednesday morning that Thomas would start the game, but would have a “quick hook”. Seems like that quick hook came before Thomas could even take the field to make his first start.
Oct 5, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Logan Thomas (6) during the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The fourth round draft pick out of Virginia Tech has received playing time earlier in the season, but only completed one pass out of nine attempts in two appearances. That one completion did go for 81 yards and a touchdown however.
The dual-threat quarterback will serve as a backup to Lindley on Sunday now after a pair of rough practices. Arians said that Thomas looked “shaky”, but was able to finish strong on Wednesday. The bounce back in the second half of Wednesday’s practice didn’t seem to be enough for Arians.
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The Cardinals are in serious trouble with Lindley and Thomas being the quarterback battle of discussion. With Carson Palmer out for the season and Drew Stanton on the mend with a sprained knee, Arizona will need Lindley to come up big on Sunday to at least give the Cardinals a chance at a first round bye and the NFC West championship.
If the Cardinals win on Sunday in Santa Clara and the Seattle Seahawks lose at home to the St. Louis Rams then the Cardinals will be awarded the first week of the playoffs off and will face the lowest remaining seed in the Divisional round. This would be huge as that may be enough time for Stanton to return, which would be a significant boost over the offensive production of Lindley.
If the Seahawks win on Sunday, regardless of what the Cardinals do, they will win the NFC West and will receive home field advantage and a first-round bye.
Obviously the Cardinals would much rather avoid having to go through Seattle on their quest to make the Super Bowl, but the chances of the Seahawks, winners in eight of their last night games, losing to the Rams at home is slim-to-none.
The Cardinals game is on Sunday and will kick off at 2:25 PM MST from Santa Clara and will be broadcasted on FOX.