Cardinals vs Buccaneers: Some notes from the team's win

00BIG COMEBACK ON THE ROAD

The Cardinals trailed Tampa Bay 10-0 entering the 4^th quarter on Sunday, but scored 13 unanswered points in the final 12 minutes on two FGs by Tampa native Jay Feely and a 13-yard TD strike from Carson Palmer to Larry Fitzgerald to earn the victory.

It marked the first time the Cardinals erased a 10+ point 4^th quarter deficit to win in regulation since 12/28/03 vs. Minnesota. In that dramatic 18-17 victory that knocked the Vikings out of playoff contention, Arizona overcame an 11-point 4^th quarter deficit by scoring the game's final 12 points, including a 28-yard TD pass on the game's final play.

The win Sunday marked the first time since 9/12/99 at Philadelphia that the Cardinals overcame a double-digit 4^th quarter deficit to win on the road. In that game, Arizona came back from 12 points down in the 4^th quarter to earn a 25-24 win.

In the Cardinals two victories this season - both 4^th quarter comebacks - the team has outscored opponents 22-0 in the fourth quarter. Arizona outscored Detroit 9-0 in the 4^th quarter of their 25-21 victory in Week 2, and Arizona outscored the Bucs 13-0 in the 4^thquarter on Sunday.

The Cardinals played third of their first four games on the road this season, finishing with a 2-2 record. The only other teams to play three of their first four games away from home this season are the NY Giants (0-4) and Miami Dolphins (3-0 heading into MNF matchup at New Orleans). The 2013 season marked the 12^th time the Cardinals opened the year with three of their first four games on the road since 1988.

PETERSON CLOSES THE DOOR

CB Patrick Peterson had his first two INTs of the 2013 season on Sunday, and they both came in the final four minutes to lead the Cardinals to victory. Peterson's first INT came with 3:23 remaining and Tampa Bay holding a 10-3 lead. On the play, Peterson stepped in front of a Mike Glennon pass intended for Vincent Jackson at the TB 24-yard line. Peterson returned the INT 11 yards and QB Carson Palmer hit WR Larry Fitzgerald on the very next play for a 13-yard TD to tie the game. After the Bucs punted on their next possession, the Cardinals took a 13-10 lead on a Jay Feely FG. Tampa Bay took over at their own 20-yard line with 1:29 remaining before Peterson stepped in front of a Glennon pass on 2^nd-n-2 with 50 seconds left to end the game.

Sunday's outing was the first multi-INT game of Peterson's career.

Peterson became the first Cardinals player to record two 4^th quarter INTs in a game since Kwamie Lassiter intercepted two Charlie Batch passes on 11/18/01 vs. Detroit. He became the first Cardinals player since Tim McDonald on 10/20/91 vs. Atlanta to record two INTs in the final four minutes of the 4^th quarter.

DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN THE BUCS IN 2^ND HALF

The Cardinals 4^th quarter comeback on Sunday would not have been possible had the defense not held the Bucs offense in check during the second half.

Bucs Offense By Half
Stat 1^st Half 2^nd Half
Points 10 0
1^st Downs 13 7
3^rd Down Eff. 6-11 (55%) 1-7 (14%)
Total Net Yards 144 109
Net Passing Yards 104 69
Pass Attempts/Completions 15/24 (62.5) 9/19 (47.4)
Turnovers 0 3

Bucs 2^nd Half Drive Breakdown

Only four of the seven drives totaled more than four yards. Tampa Bay reached Arizona territory just twice in the second half, and never went further than the Arizona 40 yard line.

2^nd Half Drive Chart
6 plays, 41 yards, punt
4 plays, 1 yard, punt
7 plays, 12 yards, fumble
7 plays, 37 yards, punt
2 plays, 4 yards, interception
3 plays, -9 yards, punt
4 plays, 21 yards, interception

The Cardinals defense forced three Tampa Bay turnovers in the 4^th quarter on Sunday, marking the first time since 10/10/10 vs. New Orleans that the team forced three turnovers in the 4^th quarter of a game.

CARDS MAKE HISTORY AGAINST MARTIN

The Cardinals defense held Bucs RB Doug Martin - the NFL's second-leading rusher heading into the game - to just 45 rushing yards on 27 attempts, an average of 1.7 yards per carry.

The Cardinals defense accomplished a rare feat against Martin on Sunday. His 45 rushing yards on Sunday were the fewest yards for a RB with 25+ carries since LeSean McCoy had 38 yards on 27 carries on 12/11/11 vs. Miami. It also marked just the eighth time since 1935 that a player was held to 45 yards or fewer with at least 25 attempts in a game. It is only the second time it has happened in a loss and the first time since 1968.

Fewest Rushing Yards with 25+ Attempts (1968-Present)

Yds Player (Team) Opponent Att Avg.
45 Doug Martin (TB) 9/29/12 vs. Arizona 27 1.7
42 Larry Brown (Was) 12/13/71 vs. LA Rams 27 1.6
42 Reggie Cobb (TB) 12/26/93 vs. Denver 25 1.7
42 Curtis Martin (NYJ) 11/1/98 vs. Kansas City 30 1.4
40 Pug Rentner (Bos) 12/8/35 vs. Brooklyn 25 1.6
38 LeSean McCoy (Phi) 12/11/11 vs. Miami 27 1.4
37 Karim abdul-Jabbar (Mia) 10/13/96 vs. Buffalo 25 1.5
33 Paul Robinson (Cin) 12/8/68 vs. NY Jets 26 1.3

Martin was the Bucs leading rusher with 45 yards on 27 carries and TE Tim Wright was the Bucs leading receiver with 41 yards on five receptions. Yesterday's game marked the first time in NFL history dating back to 1933 (first year stats were kept) that a team had a player with 25+ rushing attempts and a player with 5+ receptions and no player with more than 45 yards of offense.

The Cardinals held Martin to two yards or fewer on 14 of his 27 carries in the game, with nine of his attempts going for negative yards.

For the game, the Buccaneers totaled just 80 yards rushing on 31 attempts, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Of those 80 rushing yards for Tampa Bay, 22 came on a fake punt attempt by Dashon Goldson. Buccaneers RBs totaled 30 carries for 58 yards in the game, an average of 1.9 yards per attempt.

Sunday's game marked the third time in four games this season that the Cardinals have held their opponents below 3.0 yards per rushing attempt. Arizona allowed 2.8 yards per carry in St. Louis (24 for 67) in Week 1, 2.5 yards per attempt vs. Detroit (20 for 49) in Week 2 and Tampa Bay at 2.6 yards per attempt on Sunday (31 for 80).

Through four games, the Cardinals feature the NFL's second-ranked run defense, allowing just 75.0 yards per game. Only Denver (74.0) is allowing fewer rushing yards per game than the Cardinals.

NFL Leaders - Run Defense

YPG Team
74.0 Denver
75.0 Arizona
77.8 Dallas
79.0 Cleveland
79.3 NY Jets

10,000 AND 80

WR Larry Fitzgerald hauled in the 80^th TD reception of his career on Sunday when he caught a 13-yard reception from Carson Palmer in the fourth quarter. In doing so, Fitzgerald became just the 16^th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career receiving yards and 80 career TD receptions. He joins Atlanta TE Tony Gonzalez and Indianapolis WR Reggie Wayne as the only active players on the list.

All-Time NFL Players with 10,500+ Receiving Yards/80+ TDS

Player Yards TDs
Jerry Rice* 22,466 194
Terrell Owens 15,934 153
Isaac Bruce 15,208 91
Tim Brown 14,934 100
Randy Moss 14,899 151
Marvin Harrison 14,580 128
Tony Gonzalez 14,510 106
Cris Carter* 13,899 130
Reggie Wayne 13,363 80
Andre Reed 13,198 87
Steve Largent* 13,089 100
Irving Fryar 12,785 84
Hines Ward 12,083 85
Don Maynard* 11,834 88
Lance Alworth* 10,266 85
Andre Rison 10,205 84
Larry Fitzgerald 10,658 80

*Hall of Fame Inductee

ANOTHER COMEBACK FOR CARSON

QB Carson Palmer helped engineer the Cardinals fourth quarter comeback against Tampa Bay, completing 7 of 12 attempts for 86 yards, a TD and a 108.3 passer rating in the final quarter. The win on Sunday represented the 15^th 4^th quarter comeback win of Palmer's career and second with the Cardinals. It was Palmer's sixth 4^th quarter comeback on the road and first since 10/11/09 at Baltimore.

Palmer's two 4^th quarter comebacks this season match his total from all of last year. His high for a single season came in 2009, when he led three 4^th quarter comebacks.

It marks just the third time in his career that Palmer has led his team back from as many as 10 down in the 4^th quarter. In addition to Sunday's game, he also led the Raiders back from 10 down (31-21) against the Steelers on 9/23/12 (34-31 final), and he led the Bengals back from 11 down (20-9) vs. Pittsburgh on 9/27/09 (23-20 final).

Palmer's Career 4^th Quarter Comeback Victories

Opponent Deficit Final
9/29/13 @ Tampa Bay 0-10 13-10
9/15/13 vs. Detroit 16-21 25-21
10/21/12 vs. Jacksonville 13-20 26-23 (OT)
9/23/12 vs. Pittsburgh 21-31 34-31
9/19/10 vs. Baltimore 9-10 15-10
10/11/09 @ Baltimore 10-14 17-14
10/4/09 @ Cleveland 14-20 23-20 (OT)
9/27/09 vs. Pittsburgh 9-20 23-20
10/21/07 vs. NY Jets 17-23 38-31
9/10/07 vs. Baltimore 19-20 27-20
10/22/06 vs. Carolina 10-14 17-14
9/24/06 @ Pittsburgh 14-17 28-20
10/16/05 @ Tennessee 17-20 31-23
12/5/04 @ Baltimore 3-20 27-26
11/28/04 vs. Cleveland 44-48 58-48

In addition to his 248 passing yards for the game, Palmer also had a 10-yard run in the third quarter. It was just the 12^th run of at least 10 yards in his career (219 attempts) and first since a 10-yarder on 12/11/11 at Green Bay.

ALL-AROUND ELLINGTON

Through his first four games in the NFL, rookie RB Andre Ellington, the Cardinals second pick in the sixth round (187^th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Clemson, has shown his ability as a triple-threat out of the backfield-as a blocker, a receiver and a runner. That held true again on Sunday with Ellington totaling 29 rushing yards on four attempts (7.3 avg.) and 22 yards on three receptions (7.3 avg.).

For the season, Ellington now has 202 all-purpose yards (68 rushing, 113 receiving, 21 KOR) on 21 touches. Ellington is averaging 9.6 yards per touch so far in 2013.

Ellington's 181 yards from scrimmage this season rank fifth in the NFL among rookies. Ellington and Cincinnati's Giovani Bernard are the only RBs in the top five.

NFL Rookie Leaders - Scrimmage Yards

Yds Player (Team) Rush Rec.
270 WR DeAndre Hopkins (Hou) 0 270
269 RB Giovani Bernard (Cin) 147 122
257 WR Kenbrell Thompkins (NE) 0 257
217 WR Robert Woods (Buf) 16 201
181 RB Andre Ellington (Ari) 68 113

Of Ellington's 20 offensive touches this season, 10 have gone for first downs. His 10 first downs are tied for second in the NFL among rookies this season.

NFL Rookie Leaders - 1^st Downs

1^st Player (Team)
15 WR DeAndre Hopkins (Hou)
10 RB Andre Ellington (Ari)
10 WR Kenbrell Thompkins (NE)
9 RB Giovani Bernard (Cin)
9 WR Robert Woods (Buf)
9 WR Marlon Brown (Bal)

Ellington's 25-yard run in the second quarter on Sunday was the longest run of his career and it was the longest for a Cardinals RB so far this season.

ZASTUDIL KEEPS PACE

After establishing a new NFL single-season record with 46 punts landing inside the 20-yard line in 2012, P Dave Zastudil has landed 14 punts inside the 20-yard line through four games this season, including three in Sunday's game in Tampa Bay. He trails only Kansas City P Dustin Colquitt in that category, the player Zastudil outpaced for the NFL record last season. Colquitt finished the 2012 season with 45 punts inside the 20, one behind Zastudil.

NFL Leaders - Punts Inside the 20-Yard Line

In20 Player Team
15 Dustin Colquitt Kansas City
14 Dave Zastudil Arizona
13 Shane Lechler Houston
11 Brett Kern Tennessee
10 Shawn Powell Buffalo

Yesterday's game was Zastduil's ninth straight with multiple punts landed inside the 20-yard line, which represents the longest streak of his career.

FEELY HITS 10^TH GAME WINNER

K Jay Feely connected on both FG attempts in Sunday's game (42, 27 yards), including a 27-yard FG with under two minutes remaining that proved to be the game-winner. The kick was Feely's 10^th game winning FG of his career and fifth as a member of the Cardinals. It was Feely's first game-winning kick on the road since he hit a 34-yarder in OT at New England on 11/13/08 as a member of the Jets.

Feely's Career Game Winning Field Goals

27 yards at Tampa Bay in the 4^th qtr,
9/29/13 (Arizona)46 yards vs. Miami in OT,
9/30/12 (Arizona)28 yards vs. Seattle in OT,
1/1/12 (Arizona)22 yards vs. Cleveland in OT,
12/18/11 (Arizona)48 yards vs. Dallas in the 4^th qtr,
12/25/10 (Arizona)34 yards at New England in OT,
11/13/08 (NY Jets)36 yards at Philadelphia in OT,
12/11/05 (NY Giants)38 yards vs. Carolina in OT,
12/18/05 (Atlanta)47 yards at New Orleans in 4^th qtr,
10/27/02 (Atlanta)52 yards vs. Buffalo in 4^th qtr,
12/23/01 (Atlanta)

SIGN AND SACK

One of the biggest plays for the Cardinals defense came courtesy of LB Dontay Moch, who signed to the active roster earlier in the week after three Arizona LBs landed on injured reserve following the Week 3 game in New Orleans. Playing in just his second career NFL game, Moch took down Bucs QB Mike Glennon for a nine-yard loss on 3^rd-n-10 late in the fourth quarter. The sack forced the Bucs to punt from their own 1-yard line and the Cardinals took over at the Tampa Bay 38-yard line following the punt-and would go on to kick the game-winning FG on the ensuing drive.

A Phoenix native who attended Hamilton High School in Chandler with current teammate WR Kerry Taylor, Moch was the Cincinnati Bengals third round selection (66^th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft, and joined the Cardinals practice squad following training camp. Moch finished Sunday's game with two tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, two QB hits and a special teams tackle.

BELL GETS 13^TH CAREER SACK

S Yeremiah Bell recorded his 13^th career sack, and first as a member of the Cardinals, when he took down Mike Glennon for an 11-yard loss in the first quarter. With the takedown, Bell joins Oakland's Charles Woodson as the only defensive backs in the NFL with at least one sack in each of the last six seasons (2008-13).

The sack was Bell's first since 12/17/12 at Tennessee.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM THE GAME

The Buccaneers entered Sunday's game tied for third in the NFL with 12.0 sacks through three games. Arizona allowed just one sack on 38 pass attempts on Sunday. Tampa had recorded at least three sacks in each of their first three contests.

Rookie free agent S Tony Jefferson appeared in a season-high 55 defensive plays in Sunday's win and totaled a career-high seven tackles.

WR Michael Floyd posted season highs with five receptions for 87 yards against the Buccaneers. Sunday's game marked Floyd's 13^th straight game with multiple receptions. In his first seven games last season as a rookie, Floyd recorded multiple receptions just once.