No quarterback had ever thrown for over 400 yards in his NFL debut. Until today. Leave it to the Arizona Cardinals secondary to do what they do best – get burned by the opposing quarterback. Carolina Panthers Cam Newton threw for 422 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, however it was not enough to defeat Kevin Kolb and the Cards, as the Cards came away with a 28-21 victory on Sunday.
The Cards came out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to some great running by Beanie Wells, who carried 18 times for 90 yards. His early touchdown should have set the tone, but the Cards defense allowed the Panthers to stay in it all afternoon. The Panthers even had a 21-14 lead going into the fourth quarter. In that fourth quarter though, the Cards got the tying score and then held on until the last few minutes when rookie Patrick Peterson scored on a 90-yard punt return to give the Cards the lead for good.
Kevin Kolb threw for 309 yards in his debut and looked pretty good. He was sharp most of the day, save for a costly pitch inside the 10 yard line to Wells, which led to the only turnover of the day for the Cards. The defense was good at times, as they managed five sacks. Linebacker Daryl Washington had one interception, should have had two, but thanks to the biggest bogus roughing the passer call I’ve ever seen, his first interception was negated by the penalty.
Now it will be a true test to see how they handle the Washington Redskins on the road next week. They defeated the New York Giants 28-14 at home today.