Cardinals win to earn place in NFL play-offs
Palmer beats Warner record in narrow 23-20 victory over Vikings
>> LOS ANGELES: The Arizona Cardinals won their seventh straight and joined the Carolina Panthers in the postseason by holding off the depleted Minnesota Vikings for a 23-20 win on Thursday.
The Cardinals continue to roll over their opponents and are now assured of at least a play-off spot. They can claim their first NFC West division title since 2009 if the Seattle Seahawks lose or tie tomorrow at Baltimore.
The Cardinals blew a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead but got a 47-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro with 1:28 minutes remaining to snap a tie and take a lead they would hold onto for good at the University of Phoenix stadium.
The Vikings had a chance to win it or at least force overtime. But veteran pass rusher Dwight Freeney forced a fumble by Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater that was recovered by the Cardinals Calais Campbell with five seconds to go. Arizona just had to take one kneel-down after the turnover to run out the clock.
Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer beat up a Minnesota defence that was missing four starters. Palmer threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns and has 31 scoring passes on the year, breaking Kurt Warner’s single-season franchise record.
Palmer, who was 25-of-35 with no interceptions, threw touchdown passes of 65 yards to wide receiver John Brown and 42 yards to wide receiver Michael Floyd.
The loss was the second in a row and the third in four weeks for the Vikings, who are fighting to stay in the post-season race. Bridgewater helped Minnesota get in position to tie the score at 20 with 4:55 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings’ defence couldn’t stop the league’s most explosive offence when it counted the most.
Running back Adrian Peterson rushed for 69 yards on 23 carries after complaining publicly because he got the ball just eight times the week before. Peterson also had a fumble and a touchdown.
His touchdown on Thursday was the 100th of his career and he moved ahead of Steven Jackson for 17th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list.