Arizona Cardinals Are The Team To Beat In The NFC

Palmer, who struggled early in the game with two first-quarter interceptions, bounced back in Palmer-like fashion, finishing the night with an impressive 317 yards and four touchdowns. Palmer threw three of his four touchdown passes over the final 30 minutes, including a 64-yard strike to rookie wide receiver J.J. Nelson. The long touchdown pass from Palmer to Nelson showed poor angles from Reggie Nelson and George Iloka, while also having the corner beat on the play.

Now, they don’t look as smart, dependable or composed as the Broncos team that has their same 8-2 record … a team that’s playing Brock Osweiler instead of Peyton Manning.

“I think the one thing you can take from this is that there’s no quit”, Dalton said. “Everybody has to stay focused”.

That dip in performance isn’t the sole reason for the Bengals’ two-game slide, but it played a significant role. It’s not that Bernard played poorly in his first two years, but after an inefficient sophomore season in which he was benched for Jeremy Hill, who seemed to be on his way to being a top-five RB, expectations for the explosive UNC product weren’t high heading into this season.

If not for a block in the back penalty on Dre Kirkpatrick, Brandon Tate might have been considered a hero on Sunday night. “He can have rough moments, shake them off and just come on back”.

“I think it part of the adjustment (of teams)”, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. We’ve got to keep that mentality. If Andy Dalton and the rest of the team can’t win a playoff game, nobody is going to care about the mid-season loss to the Texans. We’ve just got to block it better.

Cincinnati’s Domato Peko was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for mimicking Palmer’s offensive counts as Arizona prepared to spike the ball and bring in the field goal unit.

The end featured a rarely called penalty that moved the ball to the Bengals 14 and made Chandler Catanzaro’s 32-yard kick a much easier one.

“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. “I trust our guy to be honest with me”. “So, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to do it.’ I know my daughter loves it, so that’s why I do it”. Andy Dalton produced a decent stat line, completing 22 of his 39 passes for 315 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. But two glaring misses aren’t prominent in the stat sheet.

Dennard done?: Lewis said during Monday’s press conference that he didn’t have an update on Darqueze Dennard’s shoulder injury, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the cornerback needs surgery and is out for the year. The offense then converted that turnover into a field goal, pushing the lead to 31-21. In the receiving end, Giovani Bernard had 128 yards in eight receptions while AJ Green added 79 yards in four catches. Given how poorly the Cincinnati Bearcats played against South Florida Friday, maybe it’s a good thing basketball season has finally tipped off. Though Palmer led the Bengals to a 10-6 record in the 2009 season, the Bengals again lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Nelson later in the third quarter, used his 4.28 speed to zoom past the Bengals defense for a 36 yard gain to the CIN 17 yard line. “At the same time we can also be an average team just like anybody else”. Kicker Mike Nugent connected on a game-tying 43-yard field goal to tie the score with 1:08 remaining, set up by a 58-yard kick return by Brandon Tate.

The St Louis Rams (4-6) are coming from a 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

-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.

The Arizona Cardinals came away with a big win on Sunday night, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31 on Sunday Night Football.