Cardinals show they have weapons to burn in win
GLENDALE, Ariz. – They call themselves Smoke and Fire, and together, they weigh about as much as one defensive tackle.
And while there might not be anything especially intimidating about the appearance of diminutive Arizona Cardinals receivers J.J. Nelson and John Brown, they’ve added a terrifying element to the Cardinals offense.
In a league that prizes size and strength, the Arizona Cardinals are winning with speed. Both Nelson, a 156-pound rookie from Alabama-Birmingham, and Brown, a 179-pound second-year player, scored third-quarter touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 34-31 win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Nelson’s touchdown was particularly spectacular, as he streaked down the right seam, splitting two safeties and catching Carson Palmer’s pass over his shoulder while hardly breaking his stride. The 64-yard score was just his fourth career catch, and his first career touchdown.
“I remember covering those guys in training camp, and I remember playing 15 yards off, because they have that kind of speed. Any time you have two or three receivers that run a 4.2, it definitely stretches a defense out,” Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu told Paste BN Sports. “That speed is just so terrifying. That speed, man. That speed kills.”
Mathieu may have been a tad generous on Brown’s 40-yard dash time, officially recorded as a 4.34 when he was coming out of Pittsburg State in 2014. But Nelson clocked a 4.28 at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis last spring – a time that only Cardinals running back Chris Johnson, he of the 4.24-second 40 in 2008, could consider slow. As a trio, there might not be a faster fleet of skill position players in the NFL.
“I like speed that comes in any kind of package,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “It is nice when it is 6-4 and 220 pounds. If it’s a buck 58 and it’s still fast, you don’t have to be big to catch it over your shoulder. I have always liked fast little guys that are quick and can take the top off the coverage. Those little guys are exciting.”
But the lesson in the Cardinals’ thrilling win against the 8-2 Bengals, clinched with a 32-yard field goal with two seconds remaining, is just how deep and diverse the Arizona offense is. Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer threw four touchdowns to four different players – one each to the speedy receivers, one to tight end Darren Fells, and another to rookie running back David Johnson – and still managed to connect eight times with veteran Larry Fitzgerald, including twice for 28 yards on the game-winning drive.
The Cardinals have already defeated the Seattle Seahawks, the team with the NFC’s best secondary. What a challenge now for any other defenses to try to match up, especially once No. 3 receiver Michael Floyd is cleared to return from the hamstring injury that kept him out of Sunday’s game.
“Whatever you decide to take away, there’s other guys that can beat you,” Fitzgerald said. “When you have the kind of speed that we have outside – one mistake, one bad angle, one missed tackle, we’re capable of making you pay for it.”
Still, it took until the third quarter Sunday night for that potent Cardinals passing game to truly pounce on the Bengals, who lost cornerback Darqueze Dennard to a shoulder injury in the second half.
Palmer threw two first-quarter interceptions and nearly had a third ugly pass picked off. He admitted later that perhaps he was “pressing” as he faced his former team for the second time since forcing a trade away from Cincinnati in 2011. There was no great halftime speech that precipitated his big third quarter, just Arians looking him in the eye and telling him he had to play better.
While Palmer was nearly perfect in that third quarter (9-of-11 for 171 yards and three touchdowns), he showed why he should be in the MVP conversation alongside Tom Brady and Cam Newton in the game’s final minute after the Bengals tied the game at 31.
“We’re not the type to run it out and play for overtime,” Palmer said.
With no timeouts and 58 seconds remaining, Palmer quickly hit three consecutive passes – a 19-yarder to Nelson, and 18- and 20-yarders to Fitzgerald, to set up Chandler Catanzaro’s game-winning field goal, which was shorted to a 32-yarder after the Bengals were flagged for a personal foul on a kneel-down play. Officials said Cincinnati defensive tackle Domata Peko was calling out the Cardinals' snap count to try to force a false start.
The Cardinals now have two signature – and highly visible – wins over the past two weeks, first at Seattle and now against a Bengals team that is vying for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Palmer was cautious about saying the Cardinals have made a statement to the rest of the NFL, beyond reinforcing to the league at large what he always believed: The Cardinals are a good team.
But Palmer is wrong. The Cardinals aren’t just a good team; the Cardinals are a scary team.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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