On November 10, 2013, the (4-4) Arizona Cardinals took on the (2-6) Houston Texans. The Cardinals were led by Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, and head coach Bruce Arians. The Texans were going through a bad period in their franchise’s history. Their starting quarterback for that game was Case Keenum who was throwing to a very young DeAndre Hopkins and a prime Andre Johnson. This was not enough as their offense was ranked 31st in the NFL.
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The Cardinals went into this game as overwhelming favorites. The Texans were on a six game losing streak and the Cardinals were fresh off of a win over the Atlanta Falcons and a bye week. Everything pointed to an easy victory for Arizona but as they saying goes, “the game is not played on paper.”
First Quarter
This was a tough back and forth affair as both teams struggled offensively to start the game. Case Keenum was sacked by John Abraham. Keenum fumbled and the fumble was recovered by Matt Shaughnessy and returned for a touchdown. The teams would exchange disappointing drives until the Texans got on the board with a Keenum to Johnson touchdown pass. The game was tied at 7 after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
At the start of the second quarter the teams would exchange touchdowns and then Houston would take the lead with a 48-yard field goal from Randy Bullock. The Texans were up 17-14 with 6:36 left in the first half. The score would remain the same until midway through the third quarter.
Third Quarter
The Cardinals would score on a Jay Feely field goal to tie the game at 17 with 6:11 left in the third quarter. The Texans would struggle offensively in that quarter not scoring any points. Arizona would take the lead with another field goal from Feely to end the quarter. The Cardinals led 20-17 going into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The score would remain 20-17 until the Cardinals scored again midway through the fourth quarter. Carson Palmer threw a touchdown to Andre Roberts to put Arizona up 27-17 with 6:47 left in the game. The Texans would respond with a scoring drive of their own that ended with a Keenum to Johnson touchdown pass. The score was 27-24 Cardinals with 4:39 left.
Arizona had a chance to put the game away and could not do it. Houston got the ball back with 2:11 left in the game. The Cardinals defense made a stand and stopped Houston’s drive in its tracks forcing a turnover on downs. The Cardinals would win 27-24.
Game Stats
Carson Palmer went 20/32 for 241 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The leading rusher for the Arizona was Andre Ellington who had 11 carries for 55 yards. The leading receiver for the Cardinals was Andre Roberts who finished the game with five receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Case Keenum went 22/43 for 201 yards and three touchdowns. The Texans leading rusher was Ben Tate who had 15 carries for 56 yards. The leading receiver for Houston was rookie DeAndre Hopkins, who had six receptions for 69 yards. Andre Johnson had two receiving touchdowns.
How did 2013 turn out for each team?
The Texans were only halfway through their losing streak after that game against Arizona. Houston lost 14 straight games after a 2-0 start. The Cardinals won six of their last eight games to finish the season 10-6 but it wasn’t enough as they missed the playoffs. Under today’s rules they would have made it as the third wildcard team but back then then only two wildcard teams made the playoffs.
The 2013 Arizona Cardinals are one of only 10 teams that missed the playoffs with at least 10 wins after the NFL expanded to the playoffs to six teams per conference in 1990. To add salt to the wound, one of the teams that made the playoffs over the Cardinals were the 8-7-1 Green Bay Packers. 8-7-1 was good enough to win the NFL North that season.
