Cardinals outlast Cowboys in OT

Whenever the Cowboys and Cardinals hookup in Arizona, something crazy always happens, and on Sunday, the Cowboys did themselves in by icing their own kicker.

With seven seconds left in the game, and the game tied at 13, kicker Dan Bailey lined up to kick a 49-yard field goal to win the game for Dallas, but before going through the motion, head coach Jason Garrett called timeout. The kick would’ve been good had Garrett not called the timeout, but that’s neither here nor there.

As fate would have it, Bailey would miss the second attempt and the game would go to overtime, where the Cardinals would again pull off the incredible…

Quarterback Kevin Kolb dodged a major Cowboys rush, found LaRod Stephens-Howling on a short screen pass, and Stephens-Howling would zig-zag 52 yards for the game winning score, as the Cardinals again ripped the Cowboys’ hearts out in Glendale, this time by a 19-13 score.

Last Christmas, the Cardinals beat the Cowboys 27-26 on a 48-yard field goal by Jay Feely. In 2008, Arizona beat Dallas 30-24 in overtime on a blocked punt.

“I was glad they iced their kicker so I didn’t have to,” said Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt.

The win was the Cardinals fourth in their last five games, and for Dallas, the loss snapped their four-game winning streak.

Arizona improves to 5-7, while Dallas falls to 7-5.

Garrett talked afterwards about the decision to take the timeout.

“The play clock was running down,” Garrett said. “We just wanted to make sure that he had a real clean opportunity at it.”

“It was at about six [seconds] and we were still getting settled in, so we banged a time out to give him the opportunity to get the snap, hold and kick as clean as possible.”

Kevin Kolb played in his first game since he suffered the turf toe injury in Baltimore against the Ravens.

Kolb was a little shaky in the first half, primarily because the offense had poor field position, and also because he was sacked four times as well. He would come back in the second half and play much better and looked smoother in the pocket.

Kolb was 16-of-25 for 247 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. He was sacked five times in all.

His counterpart, Tony Romo, was 28-of-42 for 299 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. He was also taken down five times by the Cardinals defense.

Kolb talked afterwards about the pass to Stephens-Howling, and the resulting score.

“LaRod felt it all get bottled up because the pressure came strong side, then he just kicked it out wide,” Kolb said.

“I tried to hold on as long as possible to give him enough room to make a play and then he does what he does best and that’s making people miss in the open field. It was an exciting day and one I’ll never forget, for sure.”

Andre Roberts had six catches for a career high 111 yards. Those were both team highs for the game.

Roberts talked about how the Cowboys bring something mysterious to the table each time the Cardinals go head up with them.

“There’s something about the Cowboys,” Roberts said. “I don’t know.”

For the game, the Cowboys outgained the Cardinals 336-327 in total yardage. Neither team could mount a consistent running game. Arizona had 103 yards rushing as a team to Dallas’ 75.

Even though the Cardinals were outgained, that number didn’t reflect how inept their offense was in the first half. In the second quarter alone, the Cardinals had -9 yards of offense. That was mainly because Kolb was sacked three times for a total loss of 20 yards.

Both defenses came to play on Sunday, as evidenced by each team’s third down efficiency. Dallas was 4-of-12 and Arizona was 4-of-13.

Linebacker Daryl Washington led the team in tackles with eight.

On the other side, linebacker Sean Lee was the Cowboys No. 1 tackler on Sunday with five.

Next up for Arizona is a date with the San Francisco 49ers, which clinched the NFC West Sunday, following their 26-0 win over the St. Louis Rams. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. next Sunday.

The Cowboys have a huge division matchup with the New York Giants next Sunday night in Arlington, Tex.