He reclaimed some of his faded glory, though, with a game-sealing strip sack of Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, securing a 23-20 Cardinals victory over the Vikings on Thursday in Arizona.
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Earlier this week, Buccaneers.com Senior Writer and Editor Scott Smith broke down a few teams for Bucs fans to root for this week, one of them being the Cardinals.
A shaky win over Minnesota clinched a playoff berth for the Arizona Cardinals.
Carson Palmer threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals, who will claim the National Football Conference West title if the Seattle Seahawks are beaten in Baltimore, Maryland, tomorrow.
“It’s not good enough, clearly, but I think it’s a step back to where we want to be”, linebacker Chad Greenway said. “The second one I spun and I got killed so, I thought, he will never expect a third one, and I actually got in there and made a good move and we had good coverage in the backfield”.
The Detroit Lions will be on the road Sunday facing the St. Louis Rams with both teams at 4-8 so far this season. “We don’t know where or when, yet we’re in”, coach Bruce Arians stated. “We don’t know where or when, but we’re in”. I’m pleased with that. So, then we got beat.
Palmer eclipsed 4,000 yards passing for the year while throwing his 30th and 31st touchdown passes. Freeney was also a highly-touted prospect, having been selected No. 11 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, but as a defensive end Freeney’s job was always to make life hard on privileged quarterbacks like Palmer. “Those were high records Kurt set. I was just getting ready to throw out of bounds so we can live to see another down”.
Minnesota ultimately was undone by three turnovers, all fumbles.
Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, the NFL’s leading rusher this season, ran for 58 yards in the first half but was limited to just 11 yards on the ground in a second half that included his league-leading seventh fumble.
Late in the first quarter, the Cardinals scored their first touchdown of the game.
“I really hold myself accountable”.
Chandler Catanzaro and Blair Walsh traded field goals – Walsh from 54 yards for the Vikings – and Mike Wallace’s touchdown from a Bridgewater pass tied the game at 20-20. “Some of the plays I wish I could get back”. “But this is the team we are, this is who we have to be”. “Now can we remain consistent and be that team for three more weeks?”
While many expected the Cardinals to destroy the Vikings, Minnesota managed to stay in the game until the very end. Minnesota was happy to counterpunch Bettcher’s blitz-heavy scheme, the Cardinals offense still lacked a red-zone plan, and Arizona’s defense somehow managed a 12-men-on-the-field penalty when the Vikings were trying to stop the clock. He had 23 carries for 69 yards – 31 after Minnesota’s opening drive.
But they still had Palmer and they still have perhaps the best speed in the NFL. Extra credit goes to Mike Iupati for the heads-up play on his 10-yard gain on a reception off a batted pass in the Cardinals’ go-ahead scoring drive.
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Johnson’s longest run of the night was 24 yards, which was originally ruled 26 and a touchdown before it was overturned on review.
