Cardinals Make Dramatic Comeback, Beat Bengals

The Arizona Cardinals blew a two touchdown lead against the Cincinnati Bengals, but came back to win 34-31 on a field goal with two seconds left in a battle of division leaders in Glendale, Arizona on November 22nd.

After Cincinnati’s Mike Nugent kicked a 43 yard field goal with 1:03 left, the Cardinals took over at their own 16 yard line after the kickoff. They had 58 seconds left, and no time outs, but instead of taking a knee and going to overtime, Arizona opted to try and win it in regulation. Carson Palmer completed three passes, spiked the ball and then took a knee. With the ball on the Cincinnati 28 yard line, and the field goal unit on the field, Cincinnati’s Domata Peku was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for yelling out signals in an effort to confuse the Cardinals. That’s a no-no, and the ball was moved half the distance to the goal. Kicker Chandler Catanzaro then kicked a 32 yard field goal for the win.

Once again, playing to win instead of playing not to lose paid off.

The Bengals (8-2) have now lost two straight after starting the season 8-0. They have a two game lead over the 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. The Cardinals improved to 8-2 and maintained their three game lead over the Seattle Seahawks (5-5) in the NFC West.