St. Louis - The Cardinals came into this game 4-3 on the season and looking to gain some ground on the divisional leading Seahawks, in order to do so…they had to do what they could not do last year, which was beat their divisional rivals St. Louis RAMS. It took a lot of game planning and a flawless offensive game to do so. There were zero turnovers in this game, so it all came down to execution. The Cardinals converted on 70% (7-10) of 3rd downs, thus keeping the deadly offense of the Rams on the sideline. One of the key plays came after the Rams had failed to capitalize on great field position, which only netted them a FG to make the score 7-3 Cardinals. On the ensuing kick off Ted Ginn took it to the house to give the Cards some breathing room 14-3 end of the 1st quarter. After 3 and outs by both teams, Arizona was able to put some plays together and on 3rd and goal with under 40 sec on the clock Lynch punched it in to take a commanding 21-3 lead. However, the Rams without timeouts were able to drive the length of the field and hit on a 42 yard FG as time spire in the half. 21-6 Cardinals at the Halfway point. Apparently the Rams found something during their halftime adjustments, cuz on their first possession they only needed 1:08 to drive it 76 yards for the score, to inch closer at 21-13. The Cardinals on 3rd down and 5 found Lynch on a screen and he took it to the house for a 50 yard answer to stretch the lead to 28-13 end of the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th the rams were able to hold the Cardinals to two long FG and 6 points, but they had fallen into to deep a hole, and even though they score 14 points they could not catch up. Final score 34-27 Cardinals Player of the game: HB Marshawn Lynch = 24 carries for 139 yards and 2TD, and 3 catches for 68 yards and 1 TD Notable: QB Sam Bradford who posted a 140.9 Rating by going 17-24 for 326 yards and 2 score.
Great win Mike! The Hawks are definitely feeling them Cardinals breathing down their necks. With both of our games yet to be played, I am not taking anything for granted. Lynch is sure working out well for you too. I see he is in the early talks for league MVP this year.
