Bengals 23, Cardinals 16
Rookie Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdowns, Mike Nugent kicked three field goals and the Cincinnati Bengals caught a late break in a 23-16 victory over the visiting Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.
Dalton threw touchdowns to tight end Jermaine Gresham and Jerome Simpson for the Bengals (9-6), who kept their playoff hopes alive by surviving a furious rally. Cincinnati will claim a wild card berth if it wins next week against AFC North rival Baltimore or the New York Jets lose their final game.
The Jets lost to the Giants 29-14 on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals (7-8) had their four-game winning streak snapped, but not before they gave the Bengals quite the scare. Cincinnati nearly blew a 23-0 fourth-quarter lead. All seven of Arizona’s wins have come after trailing at halftime - and it nearly pulled of another miracle comeback.
John Skelton, who was starting a second straight game in place of Kevin Kolb (concussion), threw touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald and Jeff King less than four minutes apart.
Jay Feely’s 26-yard field goal cut the deficit to 23-16 with 3:16 remaining.
Skelton then drove Arizona to the Bengals’ 17-yard line with 1:12 left, but the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs when a wide-open Early Doucet slipped on a sure touchdown pass on fourth-and-5.
With one last chance, Arizona reached the Cincinnati 34-yard line before time expired.