Rookie running back Andre Ellington exploded in his first NFL start for 154 yards passing, and incredibly, quarterback Carson Palmer had more touchdown passes than interceptions. Those two events were coupled with a defense that for the second straight year made Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan look bad.
Clearly, the reasons for the win didn’t matter as much as the fact that they got the win. Particularly with the bye week coming up, the Cardinals will have pleasant images to focus on during the break. The Cardinals are at .500 at the season’s midway point after delivering arguably their most complete game of the season.
“You don’t want to go into it (with a loss),” said linebacker John Abraham, the former Falcon who notched one of the four sacks on Ryan. “You want to go into it with a good note, not going into a bye week on a bad note. We did that.”
Particularly, the win produced a wide smile for coach Bruce Arians.
“It’s a lot more fun when you are 4-4 and you win than when you’re 3-5 and starting from scratch,” he said.
Arians had all but begged for faster starts. He got it from his defense, if not his offense. But that was all he needed, when the offense later caught up. The defense produced the same Halloween show Ryan lived through last year when the teams met in Atlanta.
Ryan threw four interceptions because he just didn’t have enough time for patterns down field to develop.
Tony Gonzalez, Hall of Fame bound, tight end, was exposed to be human, catching just three passes for 26 yards. Running back Steven Jackson was totally ineffective in his first game back, gaining six yards on 11 carries.
A questionable fourth-down end zone pass interference call on safety Tyrann Mathieu, who was guarding Gonzalez, is the only reason the Falcons now 2 & 5 got a late touchdown pass.
Safety Rashad Johnson said “A lot of it was the same last year,” Johnson had two interceptions. “The guys up front got pressure and were excellent. Matt Ryan never got his feet set and as a centerfielder, I was just believing what I saw with my eyes and breaking on it.”
A year ago, Ryan threw five interceptions with no touchdowns, yet the Falcons won thanks to the Cardinals’ poor offense. Ellington – and an efficient passing game – reversed that problem.
Ellington was dynamic, breaking off an 80-yard touchdown run with the Cardinals already leading, 7-6. His 154 yards came on only 15 carries, although Arians said after the game he would wait until incumbent starter Rashard Mendenhall was 100 percent healthy before evaluating the depth chart.
“When you have a running back and a running game, it helps the quarterback tremendously,” Arians said.
The Cardinals rushed for 201 yards as a team – fellow rookie Stepfan Taylor added 38 yards on 14 carries – which was their best total since the Cards had 268 in St. Louis on Nov. 27, 2011.
With that kind of run production, Palmer was able to settle into a better game. Palmer did throw his 14th interception early, forcing a pass rolling right in the first quarter that ultimately cost the Cards three points. But for the first time since the opener, Palmer did not throw a second pick, and completed a 51-yard bomb to newcomer Teddy Williams and touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd.
“You’ve got to have a short memory in this position and this game,” Palmer said. “You have to forget what happened on the last play, whether it was good or bad.”
Palmer finished with 13 completions on a season-low 18 attempts, for 172 yards. And it was plenty. Fitzgerald got four catches, the last being for 48 yards, the 800th of his career, making him the youngest ever to reach that mark.
On the flip side, Ryan attempted 61 passes, many of which were under duress.
“Guys came out and worked,” Fitzgerald said, before breaking into a smile. “I can’t say that, because I didn’t practice (because of his hamstrings). I could feel the energy from the sideline. It was pretty intense.”
“No question (that practice) set the tone,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “Guys weren’t mumbling under their breath. We understood we had to go out there and get it. These games aren’t going to be given to us.”