Arizona Cardinals rookie QB Skelton makes strong debut (azcentral.com)
Skelton Shines (AZCardinals.com)
Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham Fordham quarterback John Skelton enjoyed a successful NFL preseason debut, completing five of six passes for 84 yards, leading Arizona to two late touchdowns as the Cardinals defeated the Houston Texans, 19-16, in Glendale.
Skelton completed the cardinal comeback from a 16-0 deficit as Arizona scored 19 unanswered points in the final quarter for the victory. On the game-wining dive he completed four of his five pass attempts, including a short pass to Jason Wright which turned into a 15-yard scoring play with 1:53 remaining to provide the winning margin.
Skelton got a rude awaking to the NFL on his first pass attempt, completing a 20-yard pass to Stephen Williams in the fourth quarter before taking a late hit from a Texan defender which tacked another 15 yards on to the play. He then threw an incomplete pass to Williams but Houston was flagged for interference on the play, giving the Cardinals a first and goal at the six. On the next play, Skelton pitched the ball to Alfonso Smith who took it in for the score but a two-point conversion pass from Skelton to Williams failed and the Cardinals trailed 16-12.
On his second drive, Arizona took over on its own 33 and Skelton threw a perfect pass to a diving Max Komar for a gain of 36 yards. Three plays later, the Cardinals were facing a fourth-and-seven from the Houston 28 when Skelton found Andre Roberts with a ten-yard pickup. After a Smith rush picked up three yards, Skelton completed a short pass on the left side to Wright and Wright brought it to the end zone for a 19-16 Arizona lead.
Skelton finished with game with a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating. He also helped defeated a team in which his uncle, Javier Loya, is a minority owner. His parents, uncle and about 15 other family members, were in attendance at the game.
The Cardinals will next face the Tennessee Titans in a preseason game in Nashville on Monday, August 23rd at 8:00 PM in a game that will be televised live on ESPN.
