GLENDALE, Ariz. — Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes to Randall Cobb and the Green Bay Packers knocked off the previously unbeaten Arizona Cardinals 24-21 after Kyler Murray’s stunning late interception on Thursday night.
The Cardinals looked like they were going to rally to win their eighth straight game but Murray threw an interception on second-and-goal with 12 seconds left. A.J. Green didn’t expect the pass to come his way, never turned around and Green Bay’s Rasul Douglas was there to snatch the ball in the corner of the end zone.
It was a big night for some lesser-known Packers players. Douglas was added to the active roster just three weeks ago when the team needed help in the secondary. He was on the Cardinals practice squad earlier in the season.
Cobb’s clutch night was much needed since Green Bay was playing without their two top receivers. Davante Adams and Allen Lazard were put on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the week, but the 31-year-old Cobb responded with two touchdowns that were both tough catches in traffic.
His 6-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the fourth quarter put the Packers up 24-14. Cobb was once one of the NFL’s top receivers — making the Pro Bowl in 2014 with 1,287 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns — but has settled into more a secondary role late in his career.
He only caught three passes on Thursday, but they were important ones.
The Cardinals trailed for most of the night but rallied to pull within 24-21 on James Conner’s second touchdown run of the night with 10:45 left in the fourth. Arizona then had a crucial goalline stand late in the fourth — capped by Devon Kennard swatting down Rodgers’ fourth-down pass — giving them the ball back at the 1-yard line and an opportunity to go 99 yards for the win.
They almost made it.
Green Bay (7-1) has won seven straight games after dropping the season opener. Arizona (7-1) was trying to set a franchise record for longest winning streak to start a season but instead tied the mark set in 1974.
It was a matchup between two of the league’s top quarterbacks but both were hampered in the early going by a lack of healthy receivers. The offensive pace picked up in the second half.
Green Bay’s offense was a little more conservative without Adams and Lazard. Arizona’s top receiver DeAndre Hopkins made a 55-yard catch in the first quarter but tweaked his sore hamstring on the play and didn’t play for a big chunk of the game.
The Packers took advantage of a couple Cardinals mistakes to take a 17-7 lead by early in the third quarter.
The Packers grabbed a 10-7 halftime advantage after Cardinals rookie Rondale Moore mishandled a punt deep in Arizona territory. The referees initially ruled that the rookie didn’t touch the ball, but the call was overturned when replay showed that the ball hit Moore’s finger.
That gave Green Bay the ball at Arizona’s 3-yard line. The Packers had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Mason Crosby but it still gave them the advantage.
Early in the third quarter, Murray threw a pass that was deflected by Moore into the hands of Green Bay’s Henry Black at the Arizona 14. Five plays later, Rodgers found Cobb in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown and 17-7 lead.
Murray finished with 274 yards passing and two interceptions.
The Cardinals were playing their first game without defensive end J.J. Watt, who reportedly needs shoulder surgery that could end his season.
Watt suffered the injury in last week’s game against the Texans, though there was no indication that there was a problem after the game. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has 16 tackles and one sack this season.
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