"If only Carson Palmer could have played linebacker Sunday instead of quarterback. Then he might have been able to have a greater effect on the final result against the Denver Broncos.

Also, we might have gotten a true early read on whether Palmer's trade to the Raiders last month was a good idea.

Unfortunately, Palmer only played quarterback Sunday against the Broncos -- with mixed results -- and it did not matter much at all. Although he could probably have done better at the linebacker position than the Raiders' actual linebackers did.

The Broncos, who had no business winning the game by two points, let alone two touchdowns, took advantage of the Raiders' horribly undisciplined defense and strangely underwhelming special teams to win a 38-24 decision at the O.co Coliseum that only served to muddle the answer to whether the Palmer deal will turn out to be a good one."He was okay," said Raider coach Hue Jackson when asked to assess Palmer's play in his first start with the team, the tone in his voice skewing toward mediocre "okay" rather than splended "okay."

"I'm going to be very hard on him because I know what he has in him," Jackson said, after noting: "We didn't lose the game because Carson Palmer didn't play great or good enough. We lost as a football team.""