Rapid Reaction: Cardinals earn an impressive win vs. Jags

More production from youngsters, a few veterans playing up to the highs bars set for them and competent enough quarterback play.

All that — not to mention a stellar defensive effort — led to the Arizona Cardinals completing their most impressive win of 2017, a 27-24 home victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars that came down to a big kick from veteran Phil Dawson.

Here’s some quick reaction to the game from the staff of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station and ArizonaSports.com.

RELATED: Redemption ‘sweet’ for Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson | Recap

Of course, you can get more reaction Monday starting at 6 a.m. with Doug & Wolf and continuing with The Blitz with Bertrand Berry & Mike Jurecki and Bickley & Marotta — who will both broadcast from the Cardinals practice facility in Tempe. Then, Burns & Gambo will wrap up the day’s analysis on your drive home from 2-6 p.m.

Vince Marotta, Co-host of Bickley & Marotta

Bruce Arians entered his postgame press conference and before answering questions, issued a statement to my co-host, Dan Bickley.

“Don’t bury us yet, Bick,” he said, smiling widely after a hard-fought, 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Cardinals would have been dead at 4-7 with games against the Rams and Titans looming. Now, at 5-6, the guys shoveling dirt on the team’s casket don’t have to stop altogether, but it’s probably a good time for them to take a lunch break.

For the first time in 2017, and really since a Week 16 win over the Seahawks last season, Arians’ team has notched a win over a team with a pulse. And Jacksonville is so much more than that. The Jaguars came into University of Phoenix Stadium (for the first time ever, by the way) leading the AFC South with a 7-3 record and the subject of comparisons to the 1985 Chicago Bears — a Super Bowl champion with a defense that is regarded as one of the best in history.

The Jaguars had given up 31 points total in their four-game winning streak, but Arizona was undaunted. The Cardinals played well on the offensive and defensive lines. While the running game wasn’t dominant, it was productive enough to win. Blaine Gabbert committed two more fourth-quarter turnovers, but made plays when he had to — most notably, two great sideline throws to set up Phil Dawson’s game-winning 57-yard field goal.

This was easily the Cardinals’ best and most satisfying win of the year, and maybe, just maybe, the foundation to build on with another division-leading team coming to Glendale next week.

Dave Burns, Co-host of Burns & Gambo

Admit it. When former Cardinals standout Calais Campbell picked up a Blaine Gabbert fumble and ran it in for a go-ahead touchdown, you thought, “that’s it, they’re done.” Maybe you didn’t, but I certainly did. Everything about that moment felt like not only a fitting conclusion for the game but a perfect summation of the season as well. Then something else happened.

Gabbert to Jaron Brown for a 52-yard touchdown happened. Tyrann Mathieu, who had a terrific ballgame, came up with a timely pick. D.J. Foster happened, delivering a stunning sideline catch that moved the Cards closer to field goal range. And of course, Phil Dawson, who might not be on this team if it weren’t for a short week before the Seattle game, happened. His career-long, 57-yard field goal touched off an unlikely celebration.

Gabbert was good, but between the pick and the fumble certainly could have been better. I still want to see more. Chandler Jones was worth every penny on Sunday and Dawson’s Phil-Shank Redemption moment had to feel good. But the guy I’m left wondering about is Honey Badger. He finally had that​ game. The one we’ve all been waiting for and certainly the one the Cardinals paid for. How many more does he have to have for the Cardinals to pay for it again in the spring?

John Gambadoro, Co-host of Burns & Gambo​

There is no tanking in the NFL — at least not in Arizona. While many fans are rooting for Cardinals losses and a better draft position so they can pick their quarterback of the future, those plans were thwarted Sunday behind a hard-fought victory against a good Jacksonville team.

If the Cardinals are to get one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft, it will very likely have to be done by moving up in the draft. It is and was highly unlikely that they would finish with a top-7 pick. The Cardinals had four wins with seven games left, and four of those games were at home. For a team that plays with pride, Arizona certainly wasn’t going to finish the season with only four wins.

There were some good signs Sunday and not just Phil Dawson nailing a career-best, 57-yard field goal for the win. D.J. Foster made a remarkable sideline catch to set up that field goal. Ricky Seals-Jones continued to impress as the rookie had four more catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. With the Cardinals in need of a total revamp on offense — time to say goodbye to John Brown, J.J. Nelson, Troy Niklas, Jermaine Gresham and a few offensive lineman — it was good to see some young players take advantage of opportunities.

Blaine Gabbert got the win but he almost gave it away twice — first the fumble that was returned for a touchdown then the interception. But Tyrann Mathieu bailed him out with a pick of his own, and the Honey Badger had a solid game as he fights to prove he belongs on the roster beyond this season. The Cardinals aren’t worrying about draft position — they are just trying to win some games. Sunday, they accomplished that goal.

Luke Lapinski, Host of The Rundown with Luke Lapinski

If nothing else, the Blaine Gabbert Era has been interesting. After tossing three touchdowns in last week’s loss to the Texans, the former first round pick threw for two more scores and made some big plays with the game on the line, giving the Arizona Cardinals a last-second, 27-24 win over the visiting Jaguars.

He also fumbled on a play that led directly to a Calais Campbell touchdown in the fourth quarter, but hey, nobody’s perfect right?

Gabbert is still Arizona’s third-string quarterback, after all, though he might be moving up the depth chart. And he responded to the fumble by slinging a 52-yard touchdown strike to Jaron Brown just six plays later.

Considering all the shaky QB play around the NFL this season, that means something. If you were drafting the 32 starting signal callers at this exact moment, Gabbert would probably already go ahead of 7-8 of them, wouldn’t he? Not bad, seeing as he wasn’t even active last month.

Meanwhile, the defense made plays, led by a key Tyrann Mathieu interception late, plus a pair of sacks by Chandler Jones, who was disruptive all day. Arizona also limited Rookie of the Year candidate Leonard Fournette to a career-low 25 rushing yards.

Of course, if you’re trying to win with defense, that typically means the special teams have to come up big as well. And that’s exactly what happened with Phil Dawson connecting on all four of his field goal attempts, including a 57-yarder with one second left.

At 5-6, the Cards’ playoff outlook is still bleak, but at least they’re still fighting. And maybe I shouldn’t even go down this path but, if they had just found a way to beat the Seahawks two weeks ago, they’d actually be tied for the second wild card spot right now. Actually, nevermind. Let’s not think about that.​

Craig Grialou, reporter

Where to begin.

The offense (Blaine Gabbert, Adrian Peterson and Ricky Seals-Jones), defense (Chandler Jones and Tyrann Mathieu) and special teams (Phil Dawson) all came to play Sunday afternoon at University of Phoenix Stadium and did so against one of the better teams in the NFL.

Call it a signature win: it’s just unfortunate that it’s Week 12 when the Cardinals finally performed like they expected to all year long.

While everyone had a hand in the 27-24 victory, you really had to feel good for Dawson. He’s endured his fair share of criticism this season, and deservedly so, but he made good on all four of his field goal attempts, including the game-winner. Dawson has now made seven straight kicks, looking every bit the player the Cardinals targeted in the offseason.

The question for Dawson and the rest of the roster is can they now build upon this effort in which all three phases play to expectations and avoid the tag of one-hit wonders.

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