The Cardinals scored a touchdown with three seconds left, and Bruce Arians did exactly what he had to do, down one point: He went for two.
"No. No. No way," Arians said to the suggestion he'd even consider kicking there. "That's against all rules of preseason football."
Amen to that. Added bonus: When the pass fell incomplete -- and Blaine Gabbert had Jeremy Ross wide open, so the play call was great -- the final score was 24-23 ... the exact score of the infamous Monday Night Meltdown loss to the Bears, the night Denny asked us all, rhetorically, what the third game of the preseason meant.
What did the third game of this Cardinals' preseason mean? You'd like to see the first-team defense defend the run a lot better, especially since the top two Bears running backs didn't play. Arians said the tackling was poor, and it's clear the injuries at inside linebacker make a difference. You'd like to see the pass protection for Carson Palmer be a little better, but Arians said Palmer held the ball too long a couple of times.
No one is going to proclaim the Cards world-beaters in what they saw, but it was a typical second preseason game -- again, even though it was the Cards' third, that Hall of Fame game didn't mean much with the starters. Next week, in Atlanta, against the defending NFC champs when the starters figure to play a whole half against the Falcons' starters, that will be something to dissect. That's where the Denny philosophy should kick in.
-- The Cardinals need Karlos Dansby and Deone Bucannon back for the regular season. If that wasn't apparent, it's becoming moreso. Haason Reddick missed a little time because his arm was cramping, but the ILBs haven't been stout. Arians said the run game defense issues were in part because of that position. "I'll be concerned if we're playing with the group we had tonight," Arians said.
-- That was such a Tyrann Mathieu-from-2015 interception. A welcome sight. It's good he didn't lose that fumble at the end of the run.
-- I'm sure I'll hear about this comment, but I thought Justin Bethel was solid and Brandon Williams obviously showed up. It sure looks like these ate the corners the Cards will roll with -- Peterson, Bethel and the two Williamses -- and it seems like that can work.
-- Drew Stanton was not as on target as the week before. But he moved the Cards into field goal range. I'll be honest, the way Phil Dawson had been kicking in practice, I thought he'd hit that one.
-- The Cards are off Sunday, and have one week left of camp. The regular season gets closer.
