Can Drew Stanton lead Cardinals to a win in Denver? 2012 says he can

With Carson Palmer officially out for the game against the Denver Broncos in Denver, there is much less hope for a win against a team that has Super Bowl aspirations and Super Bowl credentials.

Drew Stanton will lead the Arizona offense instead of Palmer.

There is no hope for a win, right?

Well, it was just two seasons ago when the Cardinals went on the road and defeated the New England Patriots, a team that ended the season 12-4 and made the AFC Championship Game, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champ Baltimore Ravens.

And they technically did it with their backup quarterback.

If you recall, John Skelton was named the team's starting quarterback before the season began in 2012. he got hurt in the second half of the season opener against the Seahawks and Kevin Kolb came in and threw the winning touchdown.

Kolb would start in Week 2 and led the Cardinals to a 20-18 win over the Patriots in Foxboro.

So the blueprint is there.

If you look at the stat sheet, there is no way Arizona should have won. Kolb only threw for 140 yards. The team only had 242 yards of offense. They fumbled twice. Tom Brady threw for over 300 yards.

So how did they do it?

Kolb didn't throw any interceptions. The defense sacked Brady four times. They made special teams plays and had a little luck.

In that game, they blocked a New England punt, which led to one of Arizona's touchdowns. They only allowed New England to get into the end zone once. And in the end, New England missed a field goal.

If the Cardinals want to get a win in Denver with Stanton as the starter, they will need the same type of game.

Stanton can't turn the ball over. He has been great at that so far, but he will face DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, who are very dangerous pass rushers.

The defense will need to find a way to get to Peyton Manning. They will need to allow field goals and punts instead of touchdowns.

They will need at least one big special teams play, whether that is a blocked punt, a big return or forcing a missed field goal.

The win in Foxboro was very unlikely, but they did it. They did it with Kevin Kolb.

If they could beat the Patriots at home in 2012 with Kolb, then there is no reason why Arizona can't do it in Denver with Drew Stanton.