Arizona Cardinals mistakes give victory to Vikings
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals come up short on Sunday in Minnesota
The Arizona Cardinals offense looked very good for most of the first half on Sunday. However, a second half shutdown and special teams mistakes again do the Cardinals in. The Minnesota Vikings came away with a 30-24 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium Sunday afternoon.
In the first half, Cardinals running back David Johnson ran with authority and was dominating. The Cardinals offensive line gave Johnson the holes needed to help not only Johnson but open up the passing game as well.
The Vikings offense scored just 16 points on Sunday, so not much blame to be placed on the Cardinals defense. Quarterback Carson Palmer was intercepted for a 100-yard return for touchdown by Vikings safety Xavier Rhodes in the second quarter.
To start the second half, the Cardinals gave up a 100-yard kickoff return to Cordarrelle Patterson which put the Vikings up 27-17. The Cardinals never got closer than the six they lost by the rest of the way.
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The Cardinals gained just 27-yards of offense in the second half, all on a short field after a Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford fumble. For the game, Palmer threw 20-38-198 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The first interception was returned for a score as the Cardinals were threatening to score themselves. It appears Palmer was expecting receiver John Brown to turn and he never did.
The second interception was a play that receiver Michael Floyd appeared to have given up on and the ball ended up overthrown. The Cardinals did not pick a good time to go for a home run ball there.
As for Johnson, he had 22 carries for 103-yards on the ground. It was nice to see but not nearly enough of it in the second half as the Cardinals tried to claw back into the game.
So what now for the Cardinals? For now, it appears their playoff aspirations will remain just that. The Cardinals are now off to face the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta next week coming off of the Falcons bye. Not a good recipe for a Cardinals victory.