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Rolle's career game leads Cardinals past bumbling Bengals

Nov 18, 2007 - 11:09 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Cornerback Antrel Rolle returned two of his three interceptions for touchdowns to lead the Arizona Cardinals to a 35-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Rolle picked off Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer and returned it 55 yards in the first quarter, then took an interception back 54 yards in the closing moments of the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 35-27 lead.

Rolle's final interception came in the final minute and sealed the win for Arizona (5-5).

"On the first pick, coach told me to bait him a little bit," Rolle said. "He told me when T.J. (Houshmandzadeh) is in the slot to sit down and then make a break on the ball. On the second we were in a zone and I was just looking for their best receiver and I read Palmer's eyes."

"I have to see that, pull the ball down and run with it," Palmer said. "He made a couple of good plays."

Palmer completed 37-of-52 passes for 329 yards, but was also intercepted a career-worst four times.

"It will be tough to forget about this one," Palmer said. "Any time you throw a pick it's frustrating. When you throw four and don't give your team a chance to win, it just feels horrible."

On the other side, Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner completed 16-of-28 passes for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Bengals opened the scoring with their first touchdown in five quarters when Palmer found T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the right corner of the end zone with 10:14 left in the opening quarter.

After Rolle's first touchdown knotted the score, Arizona went ahead, 21-13, at the half on two touchdown passes by Warner.

The first was to wide receiver Anquan Boldin from 44 yards, then Warner hooked up with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on a 5-yard scoring connection.

The latter touchdown closed out the half with Warner under pressure making some acrobatic plays. He flipped one to J.J. Arrington while being tackled and completed a pass lefthanded to Leonard Pope for 22 yards.

"I got by with one," said Warner, who is playing with torn ligaments in his left arm. "I knew there was no one behind J.J. but he reached with those long arms.

"That whole drive was a bunch of guys making plays. Sometimes it's not pretty. It's not the way you draw it up but you have to do it."

Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby intercepted Palmer and returned it to the Cincinnati 24 to set up a 1-yard plunge by Edgerrin James to put the Cardinals ahead, 28-13, early in the third quarter.

Cincinnati rallied back to pull within 28-27. Palmer hooked up with wide receiver Chris Henry for a 37-yard scoring pass, then reserve running back De De Dorsey blocked Mike Barr's punt and returned it 27 yards for a score to make it a one-point game.

But the Bengals' final hopes were dashed by Rolle's third and final interception.

"I just threw it right to him," Palmer said. "I feel like I let our team down."

"I can't say enough about our offense or the way the defense stepped up," first-year Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We start with a horrible series on offense and they went down and scored. But we came back. When the momentum shifted we found a way to respond."