Rams get winning field goal blocked, lose on 99-yard punt return in OT

Patrick Peterson of the Cardinals breaks free from the grasp of Chris Chamberlain of the Rams on a 99-yard, game-winning punt return in overtime during Sunday's game in Glendale, Ariz.
Patrick Peterson of the Cardinals breaks free from the grasp of Chris Chamberlain of the Rams on a 99-yard, game-winning punt return in overtime during Sunday's game in Glendale, Ariz.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The St. Louis Rams seemed to have victory sewn up. All they needed was a fourth field goal of the day from Josh Brown as time expired.

The 42-yarder was well within the reliable kicker's range. But Arizona's 6-foot-8 Calais Campbell soared to block the kick and send the game to overtime. Then rookie Patrick Peterson put a stunning end to the game with a 99-yard punt return and the Cardinals won 19-13, snapping a six-game skid.

"It is probably the toughest loss I have had since I have been in the league," said Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who was back after missing two games with a high left ankle sprain. "I felt that for the most part we controlled this game. At the end with the opportunities we had in their territory and to possibly go ahead and not convert, it is tough."

The Rams (1-7) were coming off their first win of the season, a 31-21 upset of New Orleans. They dominated the first half statistically Sunday, yet led just 9-6. Still, after two Arizona safeties on consecutive offensive plays, St. Louis led 13-6. Even after the Cardinals rallied, the Rams seemed to be in position to still pull it out.

"You are going to have games like this where you feel like you did everything right to win the game but couldn't finish out," Rams linebacker Brady Poppinga said. "Give Arizona credit. They held in there until the final play and they made the play. They made one more play than us."

That play was a stunner, one that went totally against what a punt returner is supposed to do. Nobody fields a punt at his 1-yard line - except the confident, talented rookie from LSU.

"On conventional wisdom, I am sure that his coaches, when he caught it, were saying, "You're supposed to let it go,'" St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "So it's where we wanted to kick it. It was a gutsy play by a really good player. I don't know what else to say. I don't think we did anything wrong."

Peterson became the first player in NFL history to have three punt returns for scores in his first eight games. His was the second touchdown punt return in overtime in NFL history; the other was 86 yards by Tamarick Vanover of Kansas City to beat San Diego on Oct. 9, 1995.

"He's a special young man," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "I'm glad that we have him on our football team - my new son."

John Skelton, starting in place of Arizona's Kevin Kolb, gave up safeties on consecutive plays in the third quarter, then threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald with 4:51 to tie the game 13-13.

Brown had field goals of 48, 37 and 41 yards.

Steven Jackson rushed for 130 yards in 29 carries and Sam Bradford was 23-of-36 for 255 yards. Skelton was 20-of-35 for 222 yards for the Rams.

Donnie Jones twice pinned the Cardinals inside their 10-yard line in the third quarter to set up the safeties. The first punt was downed at the 2. Arizona moved it to the 5, then James Hall burst through for a sack for a safety that boosted St. Louis' lead to 11-6. Arizona got the ball at its 9 the next time, and Skelton was called for intentional grounding on a rollout pass, giving the Rams a 13-6 lead.

It was the first time a player yielded two safeties in a quarter since Aaron Rodgers did it against Minnesota on Nov. 9, 2008. The last player to have safeties on consecutive plays was Kordell Stewart of Pittsburgh against Jacksonville on Oct. 3, 1999.

The safeties marked the first time in NFL history a team had scored a total of four points in a quarter.

With Kolb out with a turf toe, Skelton, a 2010 fifth-round draft pick out of Fordham, brought the Cardinals back with a no-huddle offense. He completed 5-of-7 passes for 47 yards and scrambled twice for 28 on a nine-play, 84-yard drive for the game's only touchdown on a leaping grab by Fitzgerald in the back of the end zone.

The Rams took the subsequent kickoff and drove to the Arizona 32, where they had third-and-1, but twice Jackson was stopped for no gain, the first time by O'Brien Schofield, the second by Darnell Dockett. St. Louis chose to go for it on fourth-and-one rather than let Brown try a 50-yarder.

St. Louis got another chance.

Bradford's 23-yard pass to Austin Pettis moved the ball to the 42, then a 5-yarder to Pettis moved it to the 37. Cornerback Michael Adams was injured on the play and had to be carted off. St. Louis tight end Lance Kendricks and wide receiver Greg Salas had been taken off on carts earlier.

The pass interference penalty on Peterson - against Brandon Lloyd, who caught five for 80 yards - moved the ball well within Brown's range. The Cardinals had lost four games by four points or fewer and they seemed headed for a fifth, until Campbell, with a generous shove from Dockett, knocked the kick away.

"It's one of those ones that stings extremely deep to the soul of a competitor," Poppinga said. "We had every opportunity to win, and just couldn't as a team finish it out."

Salas probably is out for the season with a broken leg. The Rams also lost Kendricks with a sprained foot, Josh Hull with a hamstring injury and Brandon Gibson with a hip injury.