The Arizona Cardinals staged a second-half comeback to secure a 34-20 win over the Cleveland Browns to improve to 6-2 in the 2015 NFL season.
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Arizona opened the scoring early on when Carson Palmer picked out tight end Troy Niklas in the corner of the endzone after Andre Ellington had got the visitors into a strong field position.
It did not take the Browns long to respond though, with Armonty Bryant intercepting a pass from the Cardinals quarterback, setting up Josh McCown to connect with Brian Hartline a couple of plays later.
Cleveland took the lead for the first time early in the second quarter when Chris Johnson fumbled the ball during a Cardinals drive, leaving McCown to fire the ball to Gary Barnidge.
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Hartline was in again before half time to extend the AFC North side's lead further, losing his marker with a change of direction to leave himself wide open for McCown.
The visiting side thought that they were back in the game before half time when Michael Floyd made a one-handed catch in the endzone, but a hold from John Brown resulted in the score being chalked off, leaving Chandler Catanzaro to add the field goal.
The Cardinals did reduce the deficit early in the third quarter when Palmer launched a deep pass to Floyd again, with the receiver running after the catch for a 60-yard score.
Palmer continued to find his receivers, with Brown hauling in a big catch to get the NFC West side back into a promising position on their next possession, before Niklas recorded his second touchdown of the day.
Arizona tried to keep their momentum going when Palmer looked downfield for Larry Fitzgerald, but Tashaun Gipson beat the receiver to the ball, although the Browns were unable to add to their score after forcing the turnover.
Palmer tried to make amends with a rushing attempt on the next possession, but he was marked down just short, while a Johnson touchdown was ruled out because of a false start.
At the third time of asking, Arizona extended their lead to 14 points when Fitzgerald made a run down the back corner of the endzone, stretching up high to pull in a pass from Palmer, while the home side were unable to cut the deficit in the final minutes.
The result keep the Cardinals top in the NFC West, while the Browns drop to 2-6.
Sian Cowper
