St. Louis Rams vs Arizona Cardinals Match Player Stats On Nov 09, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 9, 2014

Cardinals 31, Rams 14: Drew Stanton relieved an injured Carson Palmer and threw a long touchdown pass to rookie John Brown with 7:49 remaining in the fourth quarter as host Arizona improved upon the best record in the NFL.

Patrick Peterson made a pair of interceptions late in the fourth, including one he returned 30 yards for his first career touchdown to secure the victory as the Cardinals moved to 8-1 for the first time since the 1940s. Larry Fitzgerald made nine catches for 112 yards, Andre Ellington ran for a score and Antonio Cromartie returned a fumble for a TD as Arizona raised its home record to 5-0.

Austin Davis completed 17-of-30 passes for 216 yards with a touchdown, surpassing the 160-yard mark for the first time in four games. Benny Cunningham ran for a score and Jared Cook made a TD catch for the Rams (3-6), who held the Cardinals to 28 yards on the ground but went just 1-for-10 on third-down conversions.

After a scoreless third quarter, Palmer (25-of-36, 241 yards) went down with the left knee injury early in the fourth - the same knee on which he underwent reconstructive surgery in 2006. Stanton came on and needed only four plays to regain the lead for the Cardinals, firing a deep pass down the middle for Brown, who made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch for a 48-yard touchdown.

St. Louis grabbed the lead on Cunningham's 3-yard touchdown run with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter before Ellington answered with one of his own 3 1/2 minutes into the second to knot the contest. Rookie Chandler Catanzaro put Arizona ahead with a 43-yard field goal with less than five minutes to play before halftime, but Davis hooked up with Cook for a 59-yard TD three minutes later to give the Rams a 14-10 advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Although multiple media outlets reported that Palmer tore his ACL, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said it's too early to tell and that his quarterback would undergo an MRI exam. ... Brown made a similar fantastic catch late in the fourth quarter in Week 8 to give Arizona the lead en route to a 24-20 victory over Philadelphia. ... Fitzgerald, who extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 158, moved past Keenan McCardell for 19th place on the all-time receptions list and Michael Irvin for 24th in the receiving yards. ... Catanzaro's NFL record-tying streak of 17 consecutive successful field goals to start a career came to an end in the fourth quarter, when he missed wide right on a 53-yard attempt. His second-quarter kick tied the mark set by Kai Forbath of Washington.