Arizona Cardinals win thriller over Cincinnati Bengals 34-31

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer throws four touchdowns in victory over former team

Earlier this week Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer admitted the game Sunday night was more than just another game.  Early on in the game it made have looked too big for him with a couple of interceptions but in the end Palmer threw four touchdowns and lead the Cardinals to a 34-31 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Palmer was not sharp early and for most of the first half quite honestly.  However in the second half, he threw three of his four touchdowns, all in the third quarter, and also lead the Cardinals down the field in just over a minute to put the Cardinals in field goal range for Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro.

Catanzaro hit a 32-yard field goal with two seconds left and after a squib kickoff the deal was done.  The Cardinals got their second consecutive Sunday Night Football victory to go to 8-2 on the season and maintain a three-game lead in the NFC West after a Seattle Seahawks victory over the San Francisco 49ers earlier in the day.

There were a lot of missed plays on defense by the Cardinals and a few injuries they are going to have to deal with this week but they escaped after trailing 14-7 at halftime.  They came out in the second half and outscored the Bengals 21-0.  However in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals two-touchdown lead evaporated and it was a tie game with 1:05 remaining.

However, Palmer found receiver J.J. Nelson for 19-yards, and then threw an 18-yard and then a 20-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald to set up the game-winner from Catanzaro.  The Cardinals mind you did all that with no timeouts remaining in the game.

For the Bengals it is their second consecutive loss after winning their first eight games of the season.  They also stand at 8-2 now but still in first place in the AFC North.

For the Cardinals, they finish 3-1 against the AFC North, with their only loss coming on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Next for the Cardinals will be a date against the 49ers next Sunday afternoon in San Francisco.  The Cardinals defeated the 49ers in Glendale 47-7 earlier this season.

Now we just pray the injuries to cornerback Patrick Peterson and defensive tackle Frostee Rucker aren’t serious.  They both came out of the game with injured ankles on Sunday night.  In his post-game interview on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, coach Bruce Arians they won’t know more about the injuries until Monday.