Reports say Cardinals will go with Ryan Lindley at QB after all

The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly decided that Ryan Lindley is still their best option at quarterback, which should say plenty about rookie Logan Thomas.

Thomas was slated to start in Week 17 after Lindley was wholly ineffective against the Seattle Seahawks last week. Lindley has 225 career attempts with no touchdowns and eight interceptions, the most passes without a touchdown in NFL history. The thought was that things couldn't be any worse with Thomas.

Except, after seeing Thomas in practice, the Cardinals decided that things could in fact get worse.

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Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reported that after a poor practice on Wednesday for Thomas, the team has decided to start Lindley. Given how bad Lindley has been every time we've seen him play in the NFL, one can only imagine how awful Thomas' practice must have been for the Cardinals to already pull the plug on that plan.

This week's game against San Francisco has meaning for the Cardinals. if they win and the St. Louis Rams upset the Seattle Seahawks, the Cardinals win the NFC West. It's unlikely the Seahawks lose, but the Cardinals have clinched a playoff berth either way. The question is, who will be their quarterback when they get there?

The Cardinals are hopeful Drew Stanton returns from a knee injury for the playoffs. Even though Stanton has been mostly ineffective, he's clearly better than Lindley or Thomas. Thomas was drafted in the fourth round out of Virginia Tech, but has completed just one of nine passes (the one completion was an 81-yard touchdown, however) and he is considered a project. That the Cardinals feel like they can't even start him over Lindley isn't a great sign for where he is in his development.

The most likely scenario for the Cardinals is they get the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs and travel to play at Atlanta or Carolina, who play each other on Sunday for the NFC South title. Whoever wins between Carolina and Atlanta will be the second team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record. But given the Cardinals' predicament at quarterback, it will be a major challenge for them to beat anyone this postseason.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab