The Arizona Cardinals (5-2) had to pull every trick they could out of the proverbial hat on Monday night to beat a struggling Baltimore Ravens (1-6) team, 26-18. Cardinals running back Chris Johnson, one of their best ever, did much of the work as he rushed for 122 yards on 18 carries and scoring a much needed Arizona touchdown.

Johnson just continued to run down the Ravens defense all night long, reports The Los Angeles Times. Johnson was a late signing by the Cardinals as the 30 year old running back had been recovering from an off season gunshot wound. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco tried desperately to rally his team late. He drove them to the Cardinals’ four yard line before being picked off on an attempted pass deep in the endzone. That has been the way the Baltimore Ravens season has been going.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer had a highly effective night going 20 of 29 for 275 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Cardinals led 26-10 with little over four minutes left to play when Baltimore blocked an Arizona punt which set up a Joe Flacco touchdown pass to pull the Ravens within a touchdown. The Ravens defense then held and Flacco, once again, led the offense down the field only to be thwarted with the endzone interception to end the game.

For Joe Flacco, he had a solid night once again going 26 for 40 and 252 yards with a touchdown pass and one interception. But Chris Johnson seemed the star of the night. On his 26 yard touchdown run, early in the first quarter, he took a handoff and got stopped at the bunched up line. He shifted directions, escaped a pair of tackles, and then just outran everyone for the touchdown.

Johnson showed the magic once again in the fourth quarter. He took the handoff from Palmer and drove into the line. It looked as if he was down but had actually landed atop a Ravens lineman. Johnson rolled off the lineman, twisted, and raced toward the goaline for what looked like another brilliant touchdown run. He was caught, however, and dragged down at the 8 yard line after a run of 62 yards.

NFL WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS

New England Patriots (6-0)

Green Bay Packers (6-0)

Cincinnati Bengals (6-0)

Carolina Panthers (6-0)

Denver Broncos (6-0)