Arizona Cardinals beat Jacksonville Jaguars
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer against the Jacksonville Jaguars. (Nov. 17, 2013) Credit: AP
Carson Palmer threw for 419 yards to nine players, and all of them played for the Arizona Cardinals.
Palmer did not throw an interception for the first time this year, Michael Floyd scored on a 91-yard catch-and-run that made the Jaguars' secondary look silly, and the Cardinals' defense stiffened in the second half of a 27-14 victory Sunday.
Arizona (6-4) won its third straight game, and won twice in Florida in the same season for the first time in franchise history. The Cardinals also had a 13-10 win over Tampa Bay, and this one was easier.
The Jaguars (1-9) at least scored a touchdown at home for the first time this year. On fourth-and-2 from the 38 on their opening drive, Chad Henne found tight end Danny Noble all alone behind the defense for an easy catch, and he rumbled 50 yards with his first NFL reception.
Jacksonville scored another touchdown after a 59-yard kickoff return by Jordan Todman and a pair of Arizona mistakes -- none bigger than Yeremiah Bell getting called for unsportsmanlike conduct after Henne's pass on third-and-goal from the 3 was incomplete. Maurice Jones-Drew scored from the 1 for a 14-7 lead.
But that was it for the Jaguars, who returned to their inept ways one week after getting their first win at Tennessee.
Palmer was rarely under pressure and moved the ball at will, with six passes that went for at least 20 yards. Palmer was 30 of 42 with two touchdowns, the other one a 14-yard strike to Larry Fitzgerald that tied the game 7-7 in the first quarter.
Rashard Mendenhall scored on a 5-yard run late in the second quarter to tie the game at 14. Otherwise, the running game didn't exist for either team. The Cardinals came into the game with the third-ranked run defense. It held the Jaguars to 32 yards. The Cardinals had 416 yards, only 14 on the ground.
Henne rarely threw downfield, settling for bubble screens that didn't get the Jaguars very far. When he finally went vertical, he threw a pair of interceptions late in the game that sealed it for Arizona.
Henne was 27 of 42 for 255 yards.
Arizona effectively put the game away with one play midway through the third quarter. On third-and-10 from its 9, Floyd beat Will Blackmon on a slant. Floyd shook off tackles by middle linebacker Russell Allen and safety Winston Guy. When Blackmon caught up to him, the cornerback's hands slid off his shoulder pads, he rolled into cornerback Alan Ball and Floyd was on his way.
