Drew Stanton was really good at really deep passes

The deep pass is something Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians believes in. He wants to take at least six shots a game, not leaving any of his "bullets" unused.

Drew Stanton and Carson Palmer's numbers support the notion Arians likes to throw the deep ball.

Pro Football Focus continued its look at quarterbacks and their numbers looking at different distances, and one focused on the deep ball.

They broke it down into three different distances, being 21-30 yards, 31-40 and throws over 40 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Overall, the Cardinals had great success on throws of at least 20 yards down the field. Palmer was 11/31 for 371 yards and three scores. He was not intercepted. Despite the low completion percentage, the passer rating was 113.8 on such throws.

Stanton was 16/42 for 542 yards and four scores. He also was not intercepted on deep throws. His passer rating was even higher at 117.6

In fact, Stanton threw the ball at least 40 yards down the field -- the true bombs -- at a higher rate than everyone else in the league. He attempted such a pass 5.6 percent of the time. PFF also gave him the highest grade in the league on such throws at +3.1.

Palmer was among the highest graded on throws between 31 and 40 yards down the field, grading out at +1.4.

This success is a stark improvement over 2013 when Palmer was in his first year of the offense. In 2013, he was 23/74 for 737 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. In 2014, he and Stanton eliminated the turnovers down the field. It also helped adding a player like John Brown, who was a better deep threat than anyone they had in 2013.

Can Palmer alone duplicate the success he and Stanton had in 2014? He has the knowledge and the receivers. He also has a line that should protect him better. Assuming he stays healthy, it could be exciting to see.