This past Sunday, the 30th of December and week 13 of the NFL regular season we saw the then 9-2, now 9-3 Cardinals (1st NFC West) upset in their road trip by the then 4-7, now 5-7 Atlanta Falcons (1st NFC South) 18-29.
First, let;s explain that in the NFC South the 4 teams are the 5-7 Falcons, the 5-7 Saints, the 3-8 Panthers and the 2-10 Buccaneers, thus the Falcons and Saints are now tied for 1st in that Division.
Thus, in this game the Falcons, even with a losing record were striving for a divisional title as the beat the Cardinals with QB Ryan passing for 361 yards and 2 touchdowns with his receiver Jones had 10 receptions in the game for 189 yards and a TD in the 29-18 win to stay tied with the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South.
The Falcons started out strong in the game scoring some 17 points in the 14st quarter, while the Cardinals were scoreless. The Cardinals came back in the 2nd quarter scoring 10 points while the Falcons scored 3 points, thus half-time score was Falcon 20 Cardinals 10. In the 3rd quarter the Cards were scoreless while the Falcons scored 3 points. In the final quarter Arizona scored 8 points while Atlanta scored 6 points, and won the game 29-18.
The Falcons had 21-1st downs in the game on 76 total plays for 500 total yards, with 358 passing and 142 rushing with 1 interception while having the ball for 37:03 minutes of the game. Arizona had 18-1st downs on 50 plays for 329 total yards, with 294 passing and 35 rushing with 2 interceptions and 1 fumble lost, and had the ball for 22:57 minutes of the game.
Offensively for the Cardinals their QB Stanton completed 24 of 39 passes for 294 yards with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Falcons QB Ryan was 30 of 41 for 361 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, and was sacked 1 time for a loss of 3 yards.
RB’s for Arizona, Grice & Ellington combined for 10 carries for 28 yards, while Receivers Brown & Ginn Jr. had 11 receptions for 136 yards. Falcons RB’s Jackson & Freeman had 26 carries for 137 yards, while Receivers Jones & Douglas had 19 receptions for 315 yards, with Jones scoring 1 TD.
With this loss for Arizona, they still remain in the lead in the NFC West even after 2 consecutive losses, but they are only one game ahead of the defending Champions Seattle. Their principal problem in the past two losses was scoring touchdowns has they had 11 quarters without scoring a TD, until they scored a TD in this game with just a little more than a minute remaining in the game, which turned out to be worthless.
Fans who bet on NFL at an offshore betting site get ready for week 14 as the Cardinals 9-3 play at home against the Kansas City Chiefs 7-5 (3rd AFC West) on the 7th of Dec. at 4:05 PM ET and on CBS. The Falcons 5-7 will play at the Green Bay Packers 9-3 (1st NFC North) on Monday the 8th of Dec. at 8:30 PM and seen on ESPN TV.