Arizona Cardinals dodge huge bullet, beat Falcons

The Arizona Cardinals defense leaves a lot to be desired but the offense kicks it into gear for the win

Of course this game would come down to a missed extra point.  However a win is a win and the Arizona Cardinals come out on the right side of the scoreboard with a 34-33 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Every quarter of the game told a different story.  The first quarter, the Cardinals came out slow on defense and fell behind 7-0 quickly.  Then they had to settle for a field goal.

The second quarter was a much different story.  The Cardinals put up 17 points in the second quarter to to take a 20-10 lead into halftime.

The momentum carried the team into the third quarter.  They scored on their first drive of the second half to go up 27-10, giving the Cardinals a score on five consecutive drives.  The game appeared to be close to getting completely out of hand for the Falcons.

However, the Cardinals defense, let’s just say, they have a lot of issues they need to address.  Plus the Falcons have quarterback Matt Ryan.  The Falcons scored 10 in the third quarter and another 7 points on the board to start the fourth quarter for 17 unanswered points and tied the game.

The fourth quarter was a little bit of everything.  After the Falcons tied it at 27, the Cardinals marched down the field and scored on a beautiful pass from quarterback Kyler Murray to running back David Johnson.

However, the Cardinals defense allowed Ryan to do pretty much whatever he wanted.  The Cardinals defense finally did make a stop prior to that Johnson touchdown catch but Ryan wasn’t done.

He took the Falcons offense down the field in 7 plays for 75-yards, including the 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Devonta Freeman that put them into position to tie the game late at 34-34.  However a little lady luck came the Cardinals way with Falcons kicker Matt Bryant missing the game-tying extra point.

One more first down for the Cardinals and then a couple of kneel downs ended it with a 34-33 victory.  The Cardinals move to 2-3-1 and the Falcons drop to 1-5 on the season.