Bengals vs. Cardinals: Score and Twitter Reaction for Sunday Night Football

The Cincinnati Bengals outscored the Arizona Cardinals in the first, second and fourth quarters by a combined 18 points Sunday. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, the third quarter happened, and the Cardinals won the game, 34-31.

Carson Palmer led Arizona on three touchdown drives in the third quarter alone at University of Phoenix Stadium and finished with 317 passing yards and four touchdowns on the evening. However, Palmer and the offense needed a game-winning field goal in the final minute to break a 31-31 tie and move to three games ahead of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West at 8-2.

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the drastic difference for the offense with Palmer under center after an injury-plagued 2014 campaign:

As for the Bengals, Andy Dalton finished with 315 passing yards and two touchdowns and engineered a comeback in the fourth quarter with his team trailing by double digits. However, Cincinnati managed to only tie the game with a field goal on its final drive instead of taking the lead with a touchdown and left the door open for the Cardinals offense.

It was another prime-time road loss for the franchise, as NFL on ESPN noted:

Despite the defeat, Cincinnati controlled the first half and took a 14-7 lead into the locker room behind a 195-102 advantage in total yards. The two tight ends (Tyler Eifert and Darren Fells) both caught touchdown passes in the opening two quarters, and Jeremy Hill ran one in from two yards out to break the tie.

Fells' score was particularly impressive, and the NFL shared the highlight:

Arizona responded at the start of the second half with a defensive stop and a quick strike to tie the game. Palmer launched a beautiful deep ball downfield and hit rookie wide receiver J.J. Nelson in stride for the 64-yard score. The NFL passed along the touchdown:

Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer said it was the longest pass play Cincinnati had allowed all year, and NFL Fantasy Football reacted to Palmer's toss:

Nelson shouldered the load in the passing attack with Michael Floyd inactive due to hamstring trouble. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller commented on the offense:

The Cardinals seized the lead on their following possession when Palmer hit another of those receivers—John Brown—for an 18-yard score. Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com reacted to the momentum swing:

Richard Skinner of CBS 12 in Cincinnati pointed to a problem for the Bengals:

Things quickly became worse for Cincinnati when Dwight Freeney destroyed Andrew Whitworth with a spin move and sacked Dalton inside the 5-yard line to end the next Bengal drive. Dehner summarized the second half for Cincinnati:

Arizona extended the lead with another third-quarter touchdown after Palmer hit Nelson for a 36-yard gain and David Johnson for a 16-yard score. Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com was impressed by Palmer's effort after halftime:

Marcus Hartman of Fox Sports had unfortunate news for Bengals fans after Monday's loss to the Houston Texans and the team's third-quarter struggles:

"

Book out on Bengals. Take deep ball away from offense, wait for defense to wear out

— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) November 23, 2015"

Cincinnati kept itself in the game on the ensuing possession when it converted a fourth down inside the 15-yard line and parlayed it into a touchdown as Hill scored from the 1-yard line. Jay Morrison of Cox Media Group responded to the drive:

The Bengals then notched a defensive stop and received the ball with nine minutes remaining, down 28-21 with a chance to tie the game despite the disastrous third quarter. However, the Cardinals defense snuffed out the opportunity when Markus Golden sacked Dalton and forced a fumble. Arizona recovered and set up the offense inside the red zone.

Dalton often gets the blame when the Bengals struggle, but Lance McAlister of 700 WLW pointed to another problem:

Chandler Catanzaro added a field goal and stretched the lead to 31-21 with less than seven minutes remaining.

Cincinnati's offense again kept the team in the game with an impressive 50-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by another Eifert touchdown following Brandon Tate's 58-yard kick return. Skinner recognized Eifert's technique in the end zone:

The Bengals defense kept the momentum with a three-and-out with less than three minutes remaining and gave Dalton a chance to win the game. To make matters worse for the Cardinals, superstar cornerback Patrick Peterson was on the sideline nursing an ankle injury.

As a result, Dalton targeted A.J. Green a few times, which was an issue for the defense, as Urban explained:

Giovani Bernard then put Cincinnati in scoring position with a 30-yard catch, and Mike Nugent tied the game at 31-31 with a field goal with 1:03 on the clock. Dehner commented on the comeback:

Despite the momentum, Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald went to work against a secondary that was missing Adam Jones and Darqueze Dennard with the game on the line. The two connected twice, and Domata Peko picked up a critical personal foul with less than 10 seconds left for calling out signals to put the Cardinals within easy field-goal range.

Catanzaro drilled it and put Arizona up 34-31 with two seconds left. Cincinnati attempted a miracle lateral play on the kickoff, but it was to no avail, and the Cardinals picked up their eighth win of the season.

What's Next?

Even with the loss, the Bengals have a critical opportunity in front of them, with their next two games coming against the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns. Those opponents are a combined 6-14 on the season and provide a chance for the Bengals to bounce back from two straight defeats.

A showdown with the division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers in Cincinnati will follow those winnable contests. The Bengals lost Sunday, but they are still two games ahead of Pittsburgh and could put the AFC North away in the upcoming stretch.

The Cardinals are in a similar situation, with their next two games coming against the Rams and San Francisco 49ers, who are a combined 7-13 this year. Those contests will come before a daunting finish against the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

The Packers and Vikings are both 7-3 atop the NFC North, and the 5-5 Seahawks are the two-time defending NFC champions and the closest team to the Cardinals in the division. If Arizona takes care of business in the next two, it should have a favorable cushion heading into that finish.

Postgame Reaction

The Cardinals looked like a different team after halftime, and Palmer implied it was because of a discussion he had with coach Bruce Arians, per Fox Sports 910 in Phoenix, saying, “He just looked me in the eye and told me I had to step up my play.”

Arians acknowledged that Palmer probably forced some things in the early going against his former team when he threw two first-quarter interceptions, per Rich Gray of NBC Sports 1060 in Arizona: “I think he wanted to get after these guys early on.”

As for the Bengals, coach Marvin Lewis was not pleased with the penalty call on Peko that made the field goal easier and prevented a false start from Arizona. He suggested as much, per Enquirer Sports, saying: “Phantom call there at the end, kind of ridiculous. I don't see how they make that call at that point in the game.”

Peko himself said he was telling his teammates to watch the run and not simulating the snap count, per Skinner.

The Bengals also missed an opportunity to win the game by controlling the clock on the ground during their final possession instead of leaving too much time for the Arizona offense. Dalton threw an incompletion on 3rd-and-2 with barely more than a minute left, and Lewis reflected on the decision, per McAlister, saying, “We took a shot at the touchdown at the end...and you know...we wound up losing.”

Most opponents who faced the Cardinals this year wound up losing. Cincinnati was just the latest.