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 Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer connected with rookie wide
receiver John Brown for a 75-yard touchdown with 81 seconds to play,
and the Cardinals held off the Eagles 24-20 to improve to 6-1 --
their best start since beginning the 1970 season with a 7-0 mark.
"I was kind of thinking that he overthrew me a little bit, but it
ended up being a great pass by Carson," said Brown, who finished
with five catches for 119 yards. "It was right over the head, right
in the basket."
Most teams probably would have opted to try just for a first down,
but on third-and-5 from the Arizona 25, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians
decided to dial up a game-breaking deep ball. Palmer couldn't place
it much better than he did to Brown.
"We're going to take our shots when they give them to you," said
Arians, whose team is 13-3 in its past 16 games. "You know we had
players at the sticks. We had three guys at 8 yards for first downs.
But when there's a touchdown involved in the play, never pass it up.
"Don't play scared, play smart."
Arizona's defense set up the win by forcing the Eagles (5-2) to
settle for a field goal after Philadelphia had three chances to
score while inside the Cardinals' 10-yard line.
 After Brown's dramatic touchdown, Philadelphia still had one more
shot. Quarterback Nick Foles moved the Eagles 64 yards during the
final frantic minute. Foles had three chances from the 16-yard line
but couldn't get his team into the end zone.
A fade pass to Jordan Matthews in the end zone was out of the wide
receiver's reach. A throw into the corner for wide receiver Jeff
Maehl was batted away by rookie safety Deone Bucannon. And with one
second to go, Foles' pass for Matthews sailed too far for the
receiver to come down with it the end zone. Safety Rashad Johnson
helped break up the play to preserve the win for Arizona.
"The last throw, I've got to make sure it stays inbounds," said
Foles, who was intercepted twice by cornerback Antonio Cromartie.
"Jordan came down with a great catch, but I've got to make sure I
keep him inbounds to give us a chance to win.
"I'll deal with these emotions for the next 24 hours. It's
definitely tough because we fought as hard as we could. When it
comes to the playoff picture, we're focused one week at a time. I've
always been the kind of person that I'm going to focus on this game
and now I'm going to correct it and now I'm moving on to the next
game and then we'll see where we are at the end of the season."
The Cardinals, who are 4-0 at home, lead the NFC West by two games
over the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, who are tied for
second place at 4-3. Arizona faces another powerful NFC matchup next
week, playing the Cowboys in Dallas.
Palmer finished 20 of 42 for 329 yards and two touchdowns.
Foles completed 36 of 62 passes for 411 yards and two touchdowns,
both of them to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who caught 12 passes
for 187 yards.
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Maclin's second touchdown was a 54-yard bomb from Foles into the end
zone that gave the Eagles a 17-14 lead with 2:22 left in the third
quarter.
There was a scary collision late in the first half involving two
star players. With 5:39 remaining in the second quarter, Foles
completed an 8-yard pass to Maclin, who was immediately hit from
both sides by cornerback Patrick Peterson and Bucannon.
Their helmets all hit, and Bucannon's flew off of his head. Peterson
and Maclin experienced the worst of the hit, though, and each player
stayed on the ground for some time until being helped to the
sideline.
Peterson sustained a concussion on the play and did not return.
Maclin was treated for a head injury, and there were reports he was
bleeding from his ear. He cleared the concussion protocol and
returned just before the half.
Maclin scored on a 21-yard pass from Foles 4 1/2 minutes into the
game, completing a nine-play, 80-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.
The Cardinals tied it up thanks to an 80-yard drive on the ensuing
possession. Running back Andre Ellington capped the 13-play drive
with a 1-yard run, his second touchdown carry of the season.
The drive featured a 30-yard reception from receiver Larry
Fitzgerald, who finished with seven catches for 160 yards, and a
3-yard run by Ellington when the Cardinals elected to go for it on
fourth-and-1 from the Philadelphia 25.
Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro set an NFL rookie record with
his 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, that tied the
score at 17. It was his 16th consecutive field-goal attempt without
a miss, the longest stretch by a rookie ever to start a season. The
St. Louis Rams' Greg Zuerlein made each of his first 15 attempts as
a rookie in 2012.
NOTES: WR Jeremy Maclin made all the highlight reels with his
third-quarter punt return in which he fielded the ball on a bounce,
zig-zagged his way to the outside and his momentum sent him flying
over the Cardinals' bench and tumbling over a table holding several
sports drinks. ... The Eagles played without versatile RB Darren
Sproles (knee). ... QB Carson Palmer threw a touchdown in a 17th
consecutive game, extending his career high. Only Kurt Warner (22)
and Neil Lomax (19) have longer streaks in Cardinals' history. ...
Arizona lost backup RB Stepfan Taylor to a calf injury during the
third quarter. Taylor did not return.
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