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After watching the Cardinals lose to the Rams I believe it was the type of game that will define the Cardinals 2013 season. What's nice about close games is that there are good things to glean from them.
Wide Receivers
You may be fooled into the entire passing game was great, but Palmer played like an average QB. Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and Andre Roberts though? Amazing. FItz had the two offensive touchdowns and was Palmer's go -to receiver on third down. Floyd averaged 20.4 ypc, the longest a 44 yard catch. Most impressive though was Andre Roberts with 8 receptions for 97 yards and nearly caught every single pass thrown to him.
Turnovers
While the offensive had three fumbles, the Rams only got two field goals from them. Meanwhile the defense caused two turnovers themselves which led to 14 points. In most games, that is what makes the difference between a win and a loss.
Balance
Bruce Arians' known philosophy is vertical passing, but he actually called a very balanced game up until the fourth quarter and the team was playing from behind. Sure, the run game only totaled 86 yards, but it's effectiveness is what made the passing work better in the first half.
Red Zone Defense
The Cardinals only allowed two touchdowns. Despite the final score that's pretty impressive. The reason it is a positive is because the coaching staff has said they are fine giving up yards on defense, all they care about is making sure they get turnovers and stop the opponent from touchdowns. The Cardinals defense did exactly that today, but the offense stalled in the fourth quarter.
If you want to show convince a skeptic just how special Honey Badger is as a player show them the fumble poke on Jared Cook. Frankly, just the fact that he is the only one not to give up on the play is impressive enough. But the fact he is able to cause a turnover and stop the Rams from scoring makes this play incredible.
Bonus: Patrick Peterson
PP7 deserves some recognition too. Chris Givens had 2 rec for 27 yards. Bradford spent the entire day just ignoring him because Peterson covered so well.