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FOR A TEAM that still has a chance to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Arizona Cardinals are in deep trouble going into the playoffs.

They’ve been decimated by injuries at the quarterback position. First-string QB Carson Palmer suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 10. His replacement, Drew Stanton, went down with an MCL injury in Week 15.

As recently as Christmas Eve, the Cardinals were 85% sure Stanton to be ready for the playoffs. But on Friday NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that he “may be” done for the year due to an infection.

According to Rapoport, the infection was discovered earlier in the week and he has since undergone arthroscopic surgery.

Third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley started in Week 16′s 35-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He completed 18 of 44 passes for 216 yards.

On Monday, coach Bruce Arians announced that fourth-stringer Logan Thomas would probably start the final game of the season. But now he has changed his mind and gone back to Lindley after Thomas struggled in practice, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic.

It’s a mess. The Cardinals will go into the playoffs with a quarterback who struggled, got benched going into Week 17, and then got un-benched with it became clear that his backup couldn’t get the job done.

- Tony Manfred

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