Arizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams Box Score on Sep 08, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2013

Rams 27, Cardinals 24: Greg Zuerlein kicked a 48-yard field goal with 40 seconds to play as host St. Louis overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to win its season opener and beat Arizona for the third straight time.

Sam Bradford threw for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns to tight end Jared Cook while Zuerlein kicked four field goals as the Rams (1-0) spoiled Bruce Arians' first game as coach of the Cardinals. Cook had seven catches for 141 yards, including a pivotal 25-yard grab on the game-winning drive in his St. Louis debut.

Offseason acquisition Carson Palmer threw for 327 yards and two scores to Larry Fitzgerald while defensive tackle Dan Williams returned an interception 2 yards for a touchdown for Arizona (0-1), which built a 24-13 lead with 1:47 to play in the third quarter. Fitzgerald had eight receptions for 80 yards for the Cardinals, who have lost 12 of their last 13 games dating to last season.

Palmer and Bradford each had a big first half, but both threw costly interceptions on the opening two possessions of the second half. Trumaine Johnson picked off Palmer, leading to Zuerlein's 25-yard field goal, before Williams hauled in a deflected pass from Bradford and ran it back 2 yards for the score and a 17-13 Arizona lead with 10:34 left in the third.

Palmer and Fitzgerald hooked up on a 24-yard scoring strike to make it 24-13 late in the third, but Bradford drove the Rams 80 yards on the next possession, capping it with a 1-yard toss to Cook before he ran for the conversion to cut the deficit to three points. St. Louis pulled even 84 seconds later, when Robert Quinn forced a Palmer fumble and Zuerlein connected from 38 yards with 9:04 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cardinals rookie DB Tyrann Mathieu prevent a 55-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, lunging from behind to punch a ball loose from Cook that Karlos Dansby recovered in the end zone. ... Rams WR Tavon Austin, the No. 8 overall pick in this year's draft, had six receptions for 41 yards and one rush for minus-1 yard. ... Williams' touchdown was the first by an Arizona defensive lineman since Fred Wakefield returned one for a score in November 2001 versus Detroit.