The game came down to clock management, and if Carson Palmer could lead his team into field goal range with a minute left in the game. This was determined to be an unsportsmanlike penalty, and the ball was moved up for the Cardinals to hit a 32-yard game-winning field goal.
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One week after Cam Newton’s dabbing led one horrified mother to write a viral scathing letter against the quarterback’s touchdown dance, online celebration police stayed away from their keyboards on Sunday night after Arizona Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro hit the dab against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I was concerned that (the officials) would blow it, but it was obviously what they called – one of those jump-at-you deals”, said Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, whose Arizona teams improved to 23-5 against opponents outside the NFC West, including 7-1 this season. The Cardinals kept a three-game lead over the Seattle Seahawks and will play the first of two consecutive road games next week with a trip to play the San Francisco 49ers.
On fourth-and-1 from the 2, Brock Osweiler handed off to Ronnie Hillman, but the 6-foot-8 quarterback’s size 17 shoes tripped up his running back. The Bengals, who lost to the Houston Texans last week, drop to 8-2, after opening the season with an undefeated 8-0 record.
-COACHING: C. While penalties aren’t something you always can pin on the coaching staff, it’s the second straight week that the Bengals have been flagged for some big ones. “‘We’re going to win this game.’ And we had a chance to win the game, we just didn’t execute like we’re supposed to”. They could have thrown in the towel in the 3rd quarter when Arizona went on their run, yet the Bengals went on to tie the game. “I think we had a first or second down hurry or sack but they were doing some things where (Dalton) was able to avoid and step through and make plays as well”.
-PASS DEFENSE: D. The third quarter was a solid F. Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter to turn a 14-7 halftime deficit into a 28-14 lead.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) celebrates his touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, November 22, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz.
Following another strong defensive stand, the Cardinals used a 36-yard pass from Palmer to Nelson to set up their third touchdown of the quarter, a 16-yard pass from Palmer to rookie running back. Dalton missed open receivers a couple of times with chances to make long completions. The second one, a 10-yarder, cut it to 31-28 with 3:44 to play. Dalton was sacked four times, resulting in a lost fumble, Cincinnati’s only turnover of the night. In the receiving end, Giovani Bernard had 128 yards in eight receptions while AJ Green added 79 yards in four catches. Defensively, the Bengals yield 236.3 yard sin passing and 102.4 yards in rushing.
“We’ve got to clean it up”, Lewis said. “We just would like to have a better outcome next time”.
The 39.4/57 local rating in Cincinnati is the best-ever for a regular-season Bengals “Sunday Night Football” game. The touchdown reception extended Eifert’s league-leading total to 10 on the year.
Larsen was sure the Bengals had done something illegal, but was he afraid the officials wouldn’t see it that way and throw the flag on the Cardinals?
“Who knows, they get the phantom call there at the end”. He was replaced by Earl Watford. On the ground, Jeremy Hill rushed for 45 yards and two touchdowns in 13 attempts.
Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes, and Doug Martin ran for 235 yards for Tampa Bay. “We’ve got to clean it up. They were bringing heat and that was their plan: play aggressive and try to get the ball out (Dalton’s) hands and get him out of the pocket to see if we could ad-lib plays”. Of course it is nice knowing guys like Michael Floyd are around to emulate as well.
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Arians said he is hoping starting right guard Jonathan Cooper (knee) can return this week, but if Cooper is limited in any way, Ted Larsen could remain in the starting lineup. He was replaced by CB Darqueze Dennard.
