Cardinals vs Broncos final score: Missed FG gives Arizona 22-20 win to close out preseason

The preseason is over. The Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals sent out a bunch of backups, but it was a back-and-forth affair. In the end, Logan Thomas made a big throw and Denver missed a 51-yard game-winning field goal, giving the Cardinals a 22-20 win to end the preseason.

The Broncos scored the first 13 points of the game. Brock Osweiler only needed one play to get Denver on the board to start things off, hitting Andre Caldwell for a 78-yard touchdown pass. But the defense recovered.

After a Cardinals punt, Denver settled on a 50-yard field goal, and then, after Phillip Sims was sacked fumbled, the Broncos took over in the red zone. The defense held and Denver settled on a field goal once again.

But the Cardinals battled back to take the lead.

Sims led the offense on a 15-play drive that took over eight minutes. It ended with a touchdown reception by Paul Lasike, but the throw was intended for Ifeanyi Momah.

On his next drive, he took the offense another 15 plays, but it ended with a Chandler Catanzaro field goal.

The second half saw Logan Thomas enter at quarterback. After the Broncos punted in their first possession of the second half, Thomas took the Cardinals down the field for a touchdown. That drive was seven plays and Kerwynn Williams ran the ball in from nine yards out. Catanzaro missed the point after, so Arizona took a 16-13 lead.

But the Broncos responded on the next drive to take back the lead.

Thomas then made the play of the night. After a zone read play where he kept the ball and ran for 14 yards, he threw a beautiful deep ball that found J.J. Nelson for a 59-yard touchdown. Catanzaro again missed the PAT, so the lead was only 22-20.

Denver had a chance at the end of the game and got within field goal range, but the 51-yard potential winning kick was wide right.

Arizona ends the preseason 2-2.

More important that the score were the players everyone was watching.

As a "starter" in the final preseason game, Sims finished a very efficient 15/23 for 112 yards and a touchdown.

Thomas was 9/10 for 116 yards and a touchdown.

Chris Johnson, starting at running back, carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards and caught one pass for 10 yards.

Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon played well and played into the third quarter. He didn't appear to get hurt, which is a big deal at this point.

What's next? Decisions. Arizona will have until Saturday afternoon to decide on 53 players to keep.