A change in the head coach failed to do much for the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon. Taking over for Josh McDaniels, interim coach Eric Studesville lost his NFL coaching debut to the Arizona Cardinals, 43-13. Whether it was the six turnovers by the Broncos or Jay Feely's 25 total points, this game may just be the one for Denver to visit rock bottom.
Revisit Jay Feely for a moment. The Arizona kicker was successful on five of his six field goal attempts (his longest was 55 yards). That's 15 points there. He also had a touchdown run on a fake field goal. Six points plus the other 15 makes 21 in total. With the extra point he kicked after his own touchdown and the other three he kicked in the fourth quarter, he had four more points. Four plus six plus fifteen comes out to 25 points. Jay Feely outscored the Denver Broncos by 12 points.
Kyle Orton had his second consecutive bad game. He followed up last week's 9-of-28, 117-yard performance with a 19-of-41, 166-yard performance with three interceptions. The first interception eventually gave the Cardinals three points, but the second one soon thereafter set up Jay Feely's fake field goal touchdown run. Orton threw his third interception at 2:42 in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals' Daryl Washington intercepted the ball and returned it for a 40-yard touchdown (though he almost committed a Leon Lett by losing control of the ball before crossing into the end zone).
Receivers Eddie Royal and Eric Decker and Kyle Orton all had fumbles that were lost and then recovered by the Cardinals.
Running back Knowshon Moreno finished the game with 19 rushes for 81 yards and touchdown. Kicker Steve Hauschka, signed to replace the injured Matt Prater, made two of his three field goals, connecting at 30 and 32 yards but missing at 40.
For the Arizona Cardinals, rookie quarterback John Skelton was 15-of-37for 146 yards in his starting debut. Running back Tim Hightower had 18 carries for 148 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground in the fourth quarter. Larry Fitzgerald, who made six catches for 72 yards, became the Cardinals' all-time leading pass catcher when made his 587th. He moved ahead of Anquan Boldin and has 592 after today's game.
The Arizona Cardinals, who broke a seven-game losing streak, are 4-9 and last in the NFC West. The Denver Broncos moved to 3-10 and remain last in the AFC West. They visit Oakland on Sunday, Dec. 19.