Wells, Peterson, Acho bright spots in Cardinals win

Beanie Wells and Patrick Peterson came up huge for the Cardinals on Sunday in a key divisional matchup in St. Louis against the Rams. 

Wells had a franchise record 228 yards rushing on 27 attempts, and Peterson tied an NFL record with his fourth punt return for a touchdown this season, as the Cardinals continued their dominance over the Rams in Missouri, with a 23-20 victory. 

Arizona has won seven straight games at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Cardinals would need every bit of help from Wells and Peterson on the scoring end of things, because quarterback John Skelton struggled once again. Skelton was 12-of-23 for 114 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Skelton was also sacked three times. 

As Skelton went, so did the entire Cardinals passing offense. Larry Fitzgerald three catches for 55 yards to lead all wideouts. 

Back to Wells…

He broke off runs of 71 yards and 53 yards in route to the record setting performance. His lone touchdown came in the third quarter. He completed a six-play, 28-yard drive with a seven-yard scoring run, which was setup by a Lance Kendricks fumble, which was caused by defensive end Darnell Dockett and recovered by linebacker Sam Acho. 

Acho was extremely active on the defensive end. He had three tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. 

Peterson stuck another dagger in the hearts of the Rams with his 80-yard punt return in the third quarter, which gave the Cardinals a 20-10 lead at the time. 

“I was actually very, very surprised,” Peterson said. “I just told the guys to be patient, that we’d get one sooner or later.”

For the Rams, quarterback Sam Bradford had another so-so day. He was 17-of-31 for 203 yards and one touchdown. 

The Cardinals defense did a great job of keeping Steven Jackson in check. He had just 64 yards rushing on 17 carries. 

Arizona had 374 total yards to St. Louis’ 272. Both teams weren’t very efficient on third downs. The Cardinals were 4-of-12 and the Rams were 3-of-13. 

The red zone is where a lot of drives ended for Arizona. They were 1-for-4 for the game. 

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 4-7 on the season, and sweep the season series with the Rams. Arizona is now 2-2 against teams in the NFC West division. 

The three game road trip is over, and now Arizona can look forward to some good ‘ole home cooking for the rest of the season. The team has four of its last five games at home, starting with the Cowboys this coming Sunday in Glendale.