Arizona Cardinals win nail biter 26-18 against Ravens

Arizona Cardinals had 26-10 lead late but a blocked punt changed the game

Leave it to the Arizona Cardinals to leave the game up in the air until the end. However a Tony Jefferson interception in the end zone with just seconds left in the game against the Baltimore Ravens preserved a 26-18 victory on Monday Night Football.

The difference on Monday night was two turnovers. The first, a fumble, lead to a Cardinals touchdown. The second, in the fourth quarter was a Jefferson interception to seal the victory.

After taking a 14-10 lead into the locker room at halftime, the third quarter is what made the difference for the Cardinals. The Cardinals only settled for two Chandler Catanzaro field goals, however those field goals gave the Cardinals a two-score 20-10 lead heading into the fourth. One of those field goals you can thank Cardinals running back Chris Johnson for.

Johnson seemed stopped on a running play in the third quarter but he rolled off of a Ravens defender without hitting the ground and scampered 62-yards to put the Cardinals in scoring position. As I said in the first half, give the Ravens defense credit for holding the Cards to two field goals.

However in the fourth quarter, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer found receiver John Brown for a four-yard pass and gave the Cardinals a 26-10 lead. Catanzaro missed the extra point, which kept the Ravens within two scores and in the game.

Also keeping the game close was the Ravens special teams. They blocked a Cardinals Drew Butler punt to put the Ravens at the Cardinals one-yard line. Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk scored on a one-yard pass from Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to make it 26-18.

The Cardinals had a chance to run out the clock or at least get close, however Palmer was called for an intentional grounding that kept the Ravens in the game and with a chance for a game-tying score on the other side of the two-minute warning.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco though was intercepted in the end zone with 13 seconds to go by Cards safety Tony Jefferson to seal the deal. It was closer in the end than we all wanted or anticipated but honestly we all shouldn’t be surprised. Before Monday night, the Ravens hadn’t lost a game by more than four points.

Now the Cardinals have a short week as they take their 5-2 record back east to face the Cleveland Browns at 10:00 a.m. next Sunday morning.

More from Raising Zona

Home/Cardinals News