Arizona Cardinals got off to a slow start against the Indianapolis Colts
For those the sky is not falling people, stay the course. The Arizona Cardinals got off to a slow start on Sunday on both sides of the ball.
After the Cardinals got the opening kickoff, they went three and out. Quarterback Carson Palmer was sacked once on a Jared Veldheer missed block.
The defense came on and allowed the Colts offense to march down the field. They initially kept the Colts to a field goal but an unsportsmanlike penalty on Rodney Gunter for using his arm as leverage on the field goal try cost them.
The Colts got the ball back and scored on a Frank Gore run to take a 7-0 lead. The second drive was no better for the Cardinals after that.
After a couple of runs, Palmer threw a ball to Jaron Brown that he couldn’t catch. The defense came in and forced a field goal attempt from the Colts. It was 10-0 after the Colts first two drives.
Just before the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals started to move the ball. Palmer hit tight end Ifeanyi Momah for 46-yards and Troy Niklas for 16-yards to get in the red zone.
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Palmer hit J.J. Nelson for 15-yard to the one after an Andre Ellington penalty. Unfortunately he was stopped at the one. The Cardinals went for it on fourth and goal and failed to complete a fade to Larry Fitzgerald.
A couple of mistakes cost the Cardinals that score. Ellington’s illegal motion penalty, Nelson not running a route into the end zone, and the bad play call.
The Colts got the ball back and were at their own one-yard line on third down. A pass to receiver T.Y. Hilton was short of first down. The Colts challenged the play and lost the challenge.
The Cardinals got more into a rhythm offensively as the second quarter moved along. A couple of nice receptions by receivers Chad Williams, Jaron Brown, and J.J. Nelson.
Nelson had a touchdown but the second foot hit the back line to negate the score. The Cardinals had to settle for a field goal.
The defense got a three and out after the field goal to get the ball back with four minutes left in the half. The Cardinals were moving the ball once again but this time it ended in the first turnover of the game with an interception of Palmer.