SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 18, 2012
Falcons 23, Cardinals 19: Michael Turner scored the go-ahead touchdown from a yard out with 6:40 left and Atlanta survived quarterback Matt Ryan's worst game of the season to rally past visiting Arizona and preserve the NFC's best record.
Turner's run capped a seven-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in the only offensive touchdown of the day for Atlanta (9-1), which remarkably won despite six turnovers.
The Cardinals benched quarterback John Skelton in the first half after he completed 2 of 7 passes for six yards, and turned over the reins to rookie sixth-round draft pick Ryan Lindley, who finished 9-of-20 for 64 yards.
Ryan had thrown just seven interceptions through nine games, but he threw three in the first quarter and another late in the third to set up a Jay Feely 27-yard field goal that gave Arizona a 19-16 lead. His fifth of the day set up the Cardinals at the Atlanta 32 with an opportunity to win it, but Lindley threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 and the Falcons ran out the clock.
Arizona led 13-0 when it benched Skelton, but three Matt Bryant field goals and a 15-yard fumble return by Jonathan Babineaux - on a fumble by Lindley - helped the Falcons pull even at 16 at halftime.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Turner's go-ahead touchdown was his 56th as a Falcon, tying him with Andre Rison for the second-most in franchise history. … Atlanta improved to 28-11 under coach Mike Smith in games decided by one score. … Cardinals CB/PR Patrick Peterson left with a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter.