The Arizona Cardinals host the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon in Week 8. It appears to be a lopsided matchup with the Ravens heavily favored and playing well both on offense and defense, while the Cardinals have lost four in a row.
In a simulation of the game on “Madden NFL 24,” it is a much more competitive game than one would imagine. The Cardinals took a 14-0 lead, gave the lead up, took a 21-20 lead with under two minutes left, only to lose 28-21.
Both teams punted on their first possessions. The Cardinals scored first with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Josh Dobbs to Trey McBride. After forcing the Ravens to punt again, on the first play of the Cardinals’ next possession, Rondale Moore had an 80-yard touchdown reception.
Baltimore immediately responded with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Rashod Bateman.
The Ravens had a chance to get more points before halftime but time expired while they were in field-goal range.
The Ravens took the ball after halftime and got a 51-yard Justin Tucker field goal to close the gap to 14-10 and then took the lead after an Arizona punt with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers.
The Cardinals punted again and Tucker added a 46-yard field goal to make it 20-14.
The Cardinals responded. Dobbs drove the Cardinals down the field and found Moore for a one-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 left in the game to take a 21-20 lead.
The defense couldn’t hold. The Ravens moved quickly down the field and Gus Edwards scored from two yards out with 38 seconds remaining. A successful two-point try made it 28-21 and the Cardinals were unable to score again.
The Cardinals had 327 yards of offense compared to the Ravens’ 433.
Josh Dobbs had a good game, completing 18-of-26 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked twice.
Lamar Jackson went 26-for-29 for 318 yards and two scores. He also had 35 rushing yards.
Gus Edwards led both teams with 74 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts. Emari Demercado had 16 carries for 59 yards for Arizona.
Moore had four catches for 106 yards and two scores. Hollywood Brown caught four passes for 77 yards. Trey McBride had five receptions for 39 yards and a score.
For Baltimore, Rashod Bateman caught five passes for 101 yards and a score. Zay Flowers had five for 73 and a score. Mark Andrews had seven catches for 77 yards.
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