Arizona Cardinals survive scare against Houston Texans

Arizona Cardinals are still alive in the NFL wildcard race after improving to 5-4, grinding out a 27-24 victory over the Houston Texans in Glendale despite a spirited effort from the visitors.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the opening passage of play as Matt Shaughnessy made a fumble return count to break the deadlock, but Houston responded quickly as Case Keenum found Andre Johnson in the end zone.

Houston were once again able to bounce back in the second quarter when the two teams traded touchdowns for a second time, as Rob Housler and Ryan Griffin scored within six minutes of each other in a topsy-turvy first half.

The Texans took a narrow lead into the break courtesy of Ryan Bullock's 48-yard field goal, but that advantage was short-lived as a pair of Jay Feely strikes put Arizona back ahead after the interval.

Midway through the fourth quarter Arizona managed to make a sustained drive count to produce the decisive moment of the match, with Carlson Palmer finding Andre Roberts with a 19-yard touchdown pass.

The visitors soon fought back and closed the gap to within three points late on, but Johnson's second score proved fruitless as Arizona moved to 5-4 with their fourth home win of the season.