Part of the story of the game-saving (season saving?) third-down-and-20 completion to Jaron Brown Sunday was how the Cardinals even got there in the first place.
-- First came the FUBAR Carson Palmer "sneak" on third-and-1 for four yards, gaining a first down at the Cardinals' 24-yard line. All was OK, more or less. -- The next play, the right side of the offensive line collapses. Right tackle Jared Veldheer is pushed back, and for some reason, right guard Evan Boehm disengages with the tandem block he has on his man with center A.Q. Shipley to help Veldheer, allowing that rusher to go in a straight line to Palmer, where both pass rushers engulf the QB for a six-yard loss. -- On second-and-16, Palmer tries the fake-screen-left-screen-right to Andre Ellington, who is buried for a four-yard loss.
That's how the Cards ended up at third-and-20, and why things were so bleak. It wasn't just that it was third-and-20, but how they got there.
"Not an ideal situation to be in obviously, especially against the way they were playing, sort of sitting back a lot and sitting at sticks, at the first down yard marker a lot," Palmer said. "That's, you know, Jaron making a big play."
Brown needed to hang on, but to be truthful, the Cardinals were given the perfect defense. For whatever reason, not only were the Colts playing back, but Brown had a free run all 20 yards to the first-down line. Palmer did a nice job sliding up in the pocket and got rid of the ball just before Jabaal Sheard hit him as he got past Veldheer one more time. Brown hung on to the ball as he took a hit to gain 22.
The Cardinals then lined up and bombed away, with the J.J. Nelson 45-yard TD catch on the next play.
There were a little more than eight minutes left as this was all playing out. Brown has made his share of plays over the years but I don't recall many like this. Same with Palmer -- it was a third-down conversion that reminded me of a Palmer-scramble-to-hit-Jake-Ballard in Seattle in 2013. That was only needing something like six yards, though. To get 22, and give the Cardinals any hope of winning -- and then to have them win -- gives this play gravitas.
