Kevin Kolb has done well since replacing injured Jon Skelton and passed for 218 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Arizona Cardinal to beat the St. Louis Rams 31-24 on NFL Network's "Thursday Night Football."
The Cardinal had never been 4-0 since moving from St. Louis to Arizona, but now the Cardinals are sitting at 5-0 and are in the driver's seat of the NFC West. Kolb overcame a shaky start that saw the quarterback go 3 for 12 on his first 15 pass attempts.
Kolb completed 17 of 35 for 259 yards and two downs and one interception. Larry Fitzgerald caught 7 passes for a total of 98 yards and a 7-yard touchdown for the Cardinals.
Arizona's defense kept the team in the game by sacking Sam Bradford five times and picking off an interception for a touchdown in the second quarter of the game. Arizona led 14-10 going into the halftime break.
Bradford completed 29 of 43 passes for 306 yards and two touchdown passes, one to Danny Amendola and the other one to Chris Givens. Steven Jackson led St. Louis with 128 yards on 23 carries, including a 20-yard score to open the second half of the game giving the Rams a 17-14 point lead.
Arizona got two first downs via St Louis penalties on their first drive of the third quarter that resulted in a touchdown. The first occurred on a third and long play when Cortland Finnegan was called for a 23-yard pass interference penalty. Then on the very next play, Kolb fired the ball downfield to a wide-open Todd Heap, who let the ball slip through his fingers. But Robert Quinn hit Kolb in the backfield and was flagged for roughing the passer to move the ball to the Ram's 7 yardline.
Kolb then hit Fitzgerald for a 7-yard touchdown, and Jay Feely's extra point put Arizona ahead 21-17 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Rams would come right back on their ensuing possession. Bradford hit Lance Kendricks for the go-ahead touchdown, giving the Rams a 24-21 point lead to start the game's final quarter.
The Cardinal would go on to get a Feely field goal mid-way through the quarter cutting the deficit to one point and making the game 24-23.
After both team exchange punts, the Cardinals got the ball on their own 20-yardline with just under two minutes remaining in the game and no timeouts. Kolb engineered a flawless drive that ended in a Ryan Williams' rushing touchdown to give Arizona the lead and win.
Do you think Madden NFL '13 got tonight's game right? So far the record of the simulations is an even 5-5. Read about the inclusion of real referees in Madden NFL '14 here. Comment below.
Here is a list of Madden NFL 13's simulations for prime time games so far this season...
Week 1
Cowboys Vs. Giants
Week 2
Packers Vs. Bears
49ers Vs. Lions
Broncos Vs. Falcons
Week 3
Giants Vs. Panthers
Patriots Vs. Ravens
Packers Vs. Seahawks
Week 4
Browns Vs. Ravens
Giants Vs. Eagles
Bears Vs. Cowboys
