The Arizona Cardinals rallied in the second half to put themselves back in control of the NFC Conference with a spirited 17-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Cardinals got off to a good start in the game as they went ahead through the boot of kicker Chandler Catanzaro, who fired a 44-yard field goal after Drew Stanton and running back Stepfan Taylor had driven the home side into range.
Kansas City responded on their first possession of the game when Alex Smith handed the ball off to Jamaal Charles, who found a crease in the defense and sprinted all the way to the endzone untouched for a 63-yard score.
Arizona came back with a solid drive to move deep into Chiefs territory, but were held out of the endzone as Catanzaro was forced into action again with a 33-yard field goal to bring his side within a point.
The Chiefs managed to extend their advantage as they converted on third and 15 when Smith fired to Dwayne Bowe, who broke two tackles and hurdled a defender to get the first down. One play later, Smith threw to Charles who weaved his way through two tackles to coast into the endzone.
In the second half, the Cardinals brought themselves within five points when Stanton drove them downfield and put them in field-goal range once again, and this time Catanzaro made the 39-yard kick.
Arizona made a crucial play when Smith was intercepted by Alex Okafor, and that pick set up a scoring chance for the club's offense with his 26-yard return.
Stanton held his composure on third down and 18 to loft a pass to the endzone which was caught for the score by Jaron Brown to hand his side the lead. Bruce Arians's side then went for the two-point conversion which they made as Stanton found John Carlson in the endzone.
A fumble from tight end Travis Kelce killed a promising drive from the Chiefs and handed possession back to the home side to run out the clock. A missed field goal from Catanzaro kept the game alive as the Chiefs had one last chance to level the scores or steal the victory.
Smith completed three passes, but the Cardinals brought pressure with a series of blitzes which was enough to put the quarterback off his stride and secure the victory.
Simon Sinclair
