The Arizona Cardinals kept the Baltimore Ravens at arm's length throughout Monday night, playing stifling defense and rolling out a balanced offense to win their fifth game of the season, 26-18. Carson Palmer threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Johnson racked up 122 rushing yards and the defense held the Ravens to 276 total yards in a clinical outing that reestablished Arizona as one of the NFL's best.
Ravens vs. Cardinals 2015 final score: 3 things we learned in Arizona’s 26-18 win
The Ravens made things interesting late, but ultimately the Cardinals’ suffocating defense won out on Monday night.
The Ravens held brief leads twice, first with a field goal to open the game’s scoring in the first quarter and again with a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead near the end of the second. The second drive went 84 yards, Baltimore’s best of the night. After that, the Ravens punted on five consecutive drives, never gaining more than 29 yards on any one series.
Quarterback Joe Flacco finished with 252 yards passing, but couldn’t connect on anything deep. The Cardinals’ defense was lock-tight downfield throughout the game. It didn’t help that Flacco was often operating under pressure. Flacco was sacked three times and hurried much of the night.
The Ravens injected energy into what had otherwise been a sedentary second half when they blocked a Drew Butler punt. After recovering the ball at the 1-yard line, they scored on the next play and converted the 2-point conversion to pull within one score, 26-18.
Prior to that play, the Cardinals had been suffocating the Ravens. They scored on four consecutive possessions, their last touchdown coming on an 11-play, 79-yard drive that ate more than six minutes off the clock. Chandler Catanzaro’s extra point attempt doinked off the right upright, however. The miss loomed large when the Ravens scored after the blocked punt.
The Cardinals had a promising drive on their next possession, but the drive stalled out near Ravens’ territory after Carson Palmer committed an intentional grounding. Baltimore was unable to complete the comeback, however, sealing Arizona’s win.
Three things we learned:
1) The NFL needs to clean up its officiating
If there's any person in this world who knows the rules about eligibility and offensive formations, it's John Harbaugh. The Ravens head coach raised a fuss during the playoffs last season when the New England Patriots threw a screen pass to an offensive lineman in an unbalanced formation. So he was understandably FURIOUS in the first quarter when he ran the same play and offensive lineman John Urschel very clearly reported to officials that he was an eligible receiver on the play. They ruled that the Ravens employed an illegal formation anyway.
Urschel is No. 64 in the GIF below. He rubs his chest to notify the referee that he is eligible despite the fact that he is wearing No. 64, an ineligible number.
Harbaugh tried to demonstrate this to the refs, to no avail.
2) CJ2K is back
I suppose we already knew this given how good Chris Johnson was in the games prior to Monday night, but he reaffirmed his return to glory against the Cardinals. And on top of being spry, Johnson is also crafty.
3) The Ravens desperately need better receivers
Steve Smith is amazing. We hope he never retires and he was solid against against the Cardinals -- five receptions, 78 yards. But no one else on the Ravens appears capable of being his complement. While Smith had a long of 29 yards, no other Ravens pass catcher gained more than 11 yards on any reception until the team's final, desperation drive. Flacco spread his passes out generously, but seemingly none of his non-Smith options were capable of making a big play.
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