The Arizona Cardinals once again Sunday let a certain victory slip through their hands as they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 37-31, in overtime.

This game turned out to be one of the better games of the day as the two teams combined for 926 yards of total offense but it was a defensive play that ended the game.

With a little over five minutes left in overtime, Warner was hit by Ronald Fields and fumbled in the Arizona end zone, and Tully Banta-Cain recovered for a touchdown. The win over the Cardinals ended the 49ers’ eight-game losing streak. The 49ers are 2-0 this year against the Cardinals and 1-8 against the rest of the league.

The Cardinals wasted a phenomenal performance by Warner as he completed 34 of 48 passes for 484 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted twice early. His completions included a desperation 47-yarder to Larry Fitzgerald to put the Cardinals (5-6) ahead 21-17 as the half ended.

The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to win the game in overtime as Warner hit Sean Morey with a 62 yard pass as Morey raced deep into 49ers territory. Three straight rushes by Edgerrin James left the Cardinals at the 12 yard-line of the 49ers.

Game over – Drive home safely please. 

Not so fast – remember this is the Arizona Cardinals we are talking about. I mean, come on, all the Cardinals had to due was hit a 27-yard field goal to win the game and position themselves nicely for a run at the playoffs.

Nice snap, good hold, kick straight through the uprights. Cardinals win and take over the last wild card spot in the NFC heading into week 13. Sounds great except for one thing. The Cardinals were flagged for delay of game (Arizona had two timeouts left) and the ball was moved back five yards.  

Let’s try it again. Nice snap, good hold, and the kick is wide left. No good. Rackers and the Cardinals are bitten by the curse once again.

The game should’ve never went into overtime. Poor clock management by the Cardinals and the worst timeout I have ever seen taken in an NFL game cost the Cardinals a chance to win the game in regulation. 

Trailing 31-28 with a little over a minute left, Warner completed five straight passes for 84 yards in the final 1:11. His last went 30 yards to Bryant Johnson, who slid out of bounds inside the San Francisco 1 with 6 seconds left.

The Cardinals had one timeout left and were literally inches away from the goal line. The clock was stopped on Johnson’s reception. A perfect place to run a quarterback sneak.

Game over – Drive home safely please.

Not so fast – remember this is the Arizona Cardinals we are talking about. The Cardinals for some reason take a timeout, their last one, with the clock already stopped. Being left without a timeout, the Cardinals were forced to throw the ball and Warner’s pass to Johnson fell incomplete.

Rackers kicked a 19-yard field goal as time expired to sent the game into overtime.

To date, with the overtime loss, that Cardinals record stands at 460 wins and 674 losses since the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association in 1920.

In pro football, your record is there for everyone to see. And the Cardinals have had the worst record out there since the very beginning of the game.

The curse lives on in Phoenix.