azdad1978
Championship!!!!
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
The Arizona Cardinals snapped a 17-game road losing streak with a 2-yard touchdown catch by Larry Fitzgerald in the final seconds for a thrilling 24-23 win over the Miami Dolphins in a game that resembled last year’s season finale victory over Minnesota.
“It was an opportunity to draw on some of the things that happened on the last game of the year,” said quarterback Josh McCown. “We were in a lot worse situation as far as points to come back and win that game so I was feeling this thing 100%.”
Even though the Cards offense had failed to convert on a 3rd and 1 on the possession before, which led to a short field for Miami and the go-ahead one-yard touchdown run by Sammy Morris, McCown said, “Our heads were never down.”
Rookie quarterback John Navarre summed up everyone’s feelings at the two-minute warning when he turned to McCown and said, “Let’s get ready to win this thing.”
“We got the offense up and said we were going to win this and that it was going to be our game,” said McCown. “Every guy upfront and the receivers played awesome and it made it easy on me. I just managed the drill.”
With 1:51 remaining and all three timeouts, McCown and company went to work. With the game on the line at 4th and 8 from the Cards 32-yardline, McCown scrambled for 9 yards to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive. On 2nd and 2, he hit Fitzgerald for a 48-yard completion at the Dolphins 3-yardline.
“I had a seam route and they were playing cover 2 man and the middle of the field was wide open,” explained Fitzgerald who finished with 5 catches for 92 yards. “I had to get off (Patrick) Surtain a little bit, he’s a great corner, and luckily I got on top of him and Josh put it there perfectly for me.”
The Cards used up two downs on a run play for a loss and an incompletion, and then on 3rd and 4, McCown was sacked for an 11-yard loss. A defensive holding call on the play wiped out the sack and set the Cards up at the 2-yardline with a fresh set of downs and 23 seconds remaining. On 1st and goal, McCown connected with Fitzgerald for the score to tie the game, and Neil Rackers nailed the extra point for the win.
Although Fitzgerald caught the game winner, the defense deserves credit for keeping the Cards in the game. Cornerback Duane Starks made a pivotal play late in the third quarter, picking off Dolphins quarterback A.J. Feeley and taking it to the house with a 41-yard touchdown return to cut the Dolphins lead to 12-10. Feeley took over at quarterback when Jay Fiedler left the game with a shoulder stinger early in the third quarter.
“Duane made a heck of a pick and that really helped to get us going,” said McCown. “You feel added pressure because you don’t want the defense to outscore you.”
Following the interception, the Cards pieced together an 8-play, 80 yard drive, finished off with a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Emmitt Smith, the first of his career against the Dolphins. The drive was kept alive by a helmet-to-helmet hit Surtain made on McCown, and an unsportsmanlike penalty called on Jason Taylor when he kicked the ball out of frustration on the same play.
The Dolphins responded with a 28-yard field goal by Bill Gramatica to close within two, followed up with Morris’ rushing touchdown to recapture the edge following the two-minute warning, but Fitzgerald and his clutch catches on the final game-winning drive stole the show.
“It is always great to get a victory,” expressed Fitzgerald. “They brought me here to make touchdown catches and that’s just what I try to do.”
“I think it just helps everything,” continued Fitzgerald of the road win. “You want to get momentum anyway you can. We had a great week of practice, followed by a win and we just want to keep this train rolling.”
Although Head Coach Dennis Green wasn’t part of the previous 13 road losses, the 0-4 road record this year was already more than he had anticipated.
“I didn’t like the burden of being 0-4 on the road and I wanted us to play better than we did against St. Louis and Atlanta on the road when we didn’t win,” said Green.
“That is how hard it is to win on the road,” added Green of the roller coaster ride in the final minutes. “It really is. Our guys did a great job, they played hard. We had a chance to win it and lost it. They had a chance to win it and lost it. We had a chance to win it and we got it. I feel real good about the effort because the guys played all 60 minutes and that’s what we have to play. You have to really take it right to the end and I was real proud of how they played.”
How’s that For Irony…
Former Cardinals kicker Bill Gramatica was signed on Saturday after Matt Bryant suffered an injury at Friday’s practice. Gramatica became the third kicker the Dolphins have employed this year. Gramatica was good from 30, 29 and 28 yards and had one touchback, but missed an extra point attempt. The last time the Cards won a road game was in Carolina on October 6, 2002 with a Gramatica game winning field goal.
Injury Update…..
Green said the Cards came out of the game without any significant injuries. In the final minutes before the first half, the team had a scare when Anquan Boldin went down with what looked to a knee injury. After talking to team trainer, John Omohundro, Boldin jogged off the field and returned on the following play. Green said he thought Boldin got his cleats caught up in the field and went down awkwardly.
Offensive Line Rotations….
Anthony Clement and Cameron Spikes also played in the offensive line rotation, including the final drive of the game.
“I think as Everett is working with those guys he wants them to all feel like they can add to it and I believe in him and what he’s talking about so we did it and it worked out for us,” said Green.
Penalties….
The Cards were flagged nine times for 45 yards and the Dolphins were called for 12 penalties for 99 yards. Several calls on both sides seemed questionable, including the helmet-to-helmet Surtain made on McCown. From one angle, the hit looked clean, but from the other vantage point, it appeared to be a clear violation.
“He hit me pretty hard because I didn’t even realize the ball got intercepted,” said McCown. “I thought there was going to be a PI (pass interference) call on it and that was about the last thing I saw and then I peaked through (the pile) and saw that Anquan didn’t have the ball and I was getting up and I heard everyone cheering and then somebody got me again."
“All I could say was yes,” said Cards running back Emmitt Smith of the call. “The refs were calling a whole lot of junk out there today. Coach Green and everybody will take a look at the film and see exactly where they went wrong or if some of those calls were justifiable. Last week we turned in a couple of plays that had a bunch of ghost fouls so we might have some ghost fouls today, we’ll see.”
Smith Comes Up Shy, But Still Wins
Running back Emmitt Smith needed 59 yards to reach the 18,000-yard rushing mark. His 42 yards left him 17 yards shy of the milestone, but Smith said before the game that he’d take the win over the yards. It was Smith’s 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that gave the Cards the lead for the first time all day.
“It is the fact that we won, that is what is big,” said Smith. “It says a lot about a team when you are down and you have to go down and score. For some reason you find a way to do it. You’ve got guys like Anquan, Larry, and BJ out there making plays. That says a lot about a young ballclub. We’ve got a lot of room to grow.”
Pregame Brouhaha
Right before the coin toss, Neil Rackers was squeezing in a few extra field goals when Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison kicked the ball out of the tee holder and poked Rackers in the forehead. A brief skirmish followed and included a few shoves amongst other teammates.
“I guess Miami was determined to come out there and bully us around and try to intimidate us,” said defensive tackle Darnell Dockett. “It got the guys pumped up though.”
McCown Gives Props
McCown made sure to mention a key catch made by second-year receiver Bryant Johnson. Facing a 3rd and 5, Johnson made a 6-yard grab at the Dolphins 5-yardline to set up Smith for the go-ahead score.
“I just want to say that probably one of the biggest plays today was the catch Bryant Johnson made to keep the drive alive,” praised McCown. “I had to throw it up outside and he went out and plucked it. Was it a game winner or a 70-yarder? No, but it was a play that kept that drive alive and those points put us over the top so I was proud of Bryant.”
http://azcardinals.com/news/news_details.html?iid=2365
Last edited:
