Arizona Cardinals scratch out season-opening win over San Diego: By The Numbers

Arizona Cardinals fans had to be sweating bullets as the first game of the 2014 season wound down.

Sep 9, 2014, 6:27 AM Updated: Sep 10, 2014, 3:33 am

Arizona Cardinals fans had to be sweating bullets as the first game of the 2014 season wound down.

The Cardinals led 6-3 at the half over the San Diego Chargers at University of Phoenix Stadium, but the visiting team scored the game’s first touchdown less than four minutes into the third quarter, and added another score before the end of the period, taking an 11-point lead into the fourth.

Running back Stepfan Taylor picked up most of the yards — and his first career touchdown — on a scoring drive early the final period, but San Diego threatened to make it a two-score game again as it drove into field-goal territory with under eight minutes to play.

Fortunately for Arizona, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers fumbled a shotgun snap, which effectively ended the drive for the visitors.

The Red Birds stayed tough and put together a 91-yard drive that ate up nearly four-and-a-half minutes of clock and culminated in a 13-yard touchdown catch by rookie John Brown.

Soon after, Rivers completed two passes in a row and the Chargers looked like they were cruising to another score as the two-minute warning hit, but the Cardinals forced three incomplete passes after that time and a near-delay of game on fourth down.

Arizona held on for an 18-17 season-opening victory, becoming the third team in the NFC West to go 1-0 — along with heavy hitters Seattle and San Francisco.

Here’s a look at Monday night’s game by the numbers:

1

Taylor and Brown recorded their first NFL touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Taylor, a second-year running back, still has yet to record his first rushing TD. He finished with three catches for 21 yards in the game, along with one carry for five yards. Brown had a total of two receptions for 29 yards.

2

Inside linebacker Larry Foote had a stellar debut for the Cardinals, posting eight tackles (including two for loss) and one pass defensed.

4

Wide receiver Michael Floyd had a nice stat line of 93 yards on three catches at halftime, and he finished with 119 yards on five receptions, his fourth time going over 100 yards in his career. His first-quarter 63-yard reception was the second-longest of his career.

6 (part I)

He wasn’t always flashy Monday, but quarterback Carson Palmer broke the 300-yard passing plateau for the sixth time since he joined the Cardinals last year. He completed 24-of-37 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. However, Palmer was also sacked twice, one which caused a fumble and eventually led to a third-quarter Chargers touchdown.

6 (part II)

The Cardinals improved to just 6-9 in season openers since 2000, although they are 6-3 over their last nine.

8 (part I)

As far as home openers go, Arizona is 8-1 over its last nine, including five wins in a row. Looking back to 2000, the Cardinals are 9-6 in home openers.

8 (part II)

Second-year safety Tony Jefferson was another standout on defense. The 22-year-old Oklahoma product rang up eight tackles (seven solo, one for loss) and well as a quarterback hit.

29

Palmer picked up a surprising 29 yards on the ground in four carries against San Diego, his longest being 12 yards. The 34-year-old second-year Cardinal had only three yards rushing on 27 carries in all of 2013. In case you’re wondering, the most yards he has rushed for in a season is 93, which happened in 2009 as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

55:49

It took nearly 56 minutes of game time before Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald made his first catch of the night — a 22-yarder that helped lead to Brown’s touchdown. That also happened to be Fitzgerald’s only catch of the game. When the eight-time Pro Bowler hauled in the pass, he became the 11th Cardinal of the game to log a reception.

80

Starting running back Andre Ellington started slowly but finished the game with 80 yards of offense (53 rushing and 27 receiving on five catches). The second-year back broke off an 18-yard run in the fourth that helped set up the Cardinals’ game-winning touchdown. The Cardinals as a whole went over the 100-yard mark on the ground, finishing with 109 on 26 attempts (4.2 yards per carry). San Diego gained just 52 yards on the ground on 24 attempts (2.2 yards per carry), although Ryan Matthews did have the game’s only rushing touchdown (a 20-yarder).

218

The inexperienced special teams of the Cardinals actually looked pretty good Monday. Rookie Chandler Cantanzaro made both of his field goal attempts, including one from 44 yards, and newly acquired punter Drew Butler booted the ball four times for 218 yards — an average of 54.5 yards per punt.

403

Despite the game being as close as it was, the Cardinals dominated in many overall offensive categories, such as 403 yards of offense compared to San Diego’s 290. Arizona also gained 22 first downs to San Diego’s 15, and 6.2 yards per play to the Chargers’ 4.8.