Here Come the Arizona Cardinals

The Cincinnati Bengals were unable to defeat the Arizona Cardinals in last night’s marquee matchup between an elite AFC and an elite NFC squad, as Carson Palmer was able to bounce back from two first quarter interceptions to cement his MVP candidacy further with 317 passing yards and four TDs in a revenge game.

Palmer threw two interceptions early in the game but in the second half completed 13 of 19 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

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.

With their fourth consecutive victory, the Cardinals (8-2) maintained their three-game division lead and their one-game edge in the race for the No. 2 seed in the NFC postseason. Punter Drew Butler had a net average of 4 yards, and three of his four punts were downed inside the 20.

Louis Rams in Week 12 and have opened as 8-point home favorites.

-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.

“When Pat went down, we had a couple big changes in the secondary where our matchups got exposed a little bit from the rest of the game”, Arians said.

Here is what they had to say.

“I don’t see how they make that call at that point in the game like that”.

The Arizona Cardinals were prolific on offense for most of the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.

But Dalton’s overall 99.8 rating for the Arizona game still bettered his 97.9 rating in 48 career wins with the Bengals. That gives him 27 for the season, three shy of the franchise single-season record. Bruce Arians put his coaching skills on full display with the flawless two-minute drill that Palmer and crew executed to get within field goal range.

FOX OUTFOXES FOX: Often criticized for being too conservative in Denver – remember when he had Peyton Manning take a knee with three timeouts and 31 seconds left after Joe Flacco’s 70-yard TD toss in the playoffs?

The Cincinnati Bengals’ 31-34 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last night, the latest in a long line of prime time blunders, can be portrayed in one of two ways.

-WR J.J. Nelson, inactive a week ago, caught four passes for 142 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown.

Bengals running back Giovani Bernard needs some Pro Bowl votes. The last time a back reached 100 yards, was 17 years ago when Brandon Bennett set the record with 119 against the Steelers. I do get that, and I respect that. “It’s just hurting us and it’s hard”. The touchdown reception extended Eifert’s league-leading total to 10 on the year. The two minute offense drove quickly before stalling and kicking a game tying field goal. He was replaced by Earl Watford.

Maybe I’m trying to overcompensate for the fact that I was perhaps a tad unnecessarily critical of Bernard’s play in his first two seasons, but, the way I see it, he’s quietly become a true standout. “You have to just stand tall and be tough about it. That’s all you can do”. “We’ve got to continue to do better – we don’t ever want him touched”. “We’ve got to keep doing that”. Of course it is nice knowing guys like Michael Floyd are around to emulate as well. OL Ted Larsen started for Cooper, and WR Jaron Brown was elevated on the Cardinals’ depth chart.

Rookie fourth-round pick Josh Shaw replaced Dennard and played 18 snaps.