GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer knows what his teams personality has become. And it has nothing to do with his side of the ball. "Were a tough, grind-it-out defensive team," he said. That was apparent on the first play from scrimmage against Houston on Sunday, when the Cardinals forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. It was a sign of what would come in the second half. The Cardinals turned up the defensive pressure and sent the Texans to their franchise-record seventh straight loss, 27-24 Sunday. Palmer threw two touchdown passes and Arizona held on despite a late fumble. The Texans (2-7) were without coach Gary Kubiak, who collapsed on the sideline against Indianapolis last Sunday night with what was diagnosed as a mini-stroke. Defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips is filling in as interim coach. "All in all it seems like the same theme," Phillips said. "Team is playing tremendously hard but not enough plays. One play here, one play there, and they really dominated us in the second half on their defensive side of the ball." Arizona (5-4) got off to a quick start when linebacker John Abraham knocked the ball out of quarterback Case Keenums arm and Matt Shaughnessy returned it 6 yards for a touchdown only 14 seconds into the game. The Texans led 17-14 at the break, but managed just 41 yards in the final two quarters "As a defence, we just told ourselves 17 is the max," linebacker Daryl Washington said. "No more points to be scored. Lets play nasty, lets play dirty." Keenum threw three touchdown passes, two on remarkable catches by Andre Johnson. J.J. Watt forced two fumbles, recovering both of them for Houston. The second one set up Johnsons 5-yard TD catch that cut the lead to three with 4:34 to play. "We made good adjustments," Arizona coach Bruce Arians said of the second half. "The running game was kind of gone. We felt if we could get them in a one-dimension game we could get after the quarterback, and we were able to do that." Palmer completed 20 of 32 for 241 yards. Keenum was 22 of 43 for 201 yards no interceptions, but was just 7 for 17 for 42 yards in the second half. Arizona reeled off 13 consecutive points and Palmers 19-yard touchdown pass to Andre Roberts put Arizona up 27-17 with 6:42 to play. The Cardinals, coming off a bye, had trouble holding on. Rashard Mendenhall was stripped of the ball by Watt in a crowd on a run up the middle and the standout Houston lineman recovered at the Arizona 5. On third down, Johnson gathered in Keenums pass and was able to get both feet inbounds for the touchdown. He had scored on a similar catch in the first quarter. "Those were two of the best catches I have ever seen in my life," Keenum said. "You cant even describe it. You have to watch it to see how awesome those catches are. " Houston got the ball back with just over two minutes to play but, at third-and-3 at the 35, Keenum threw two incompletions. Jerraud Powers knocked the ball away from receiver DeAndre Hopkins on fourth down to seal the win. After his first-play miscue, Keenum completed 4 of 4 for 44 yards in an eight-play, 49-yard drive. Johnson got his left foot down then barely dragged his right foot inbounds on a 7-yard touchdown catch and it was 7-all. Arizona regained the lead with its only touchdown drive of the first half. Recently signed tight end Jake Ballard had a 15-yard catch, his first reception since 2011, and Rob Housler got his first pro touchdown catch on a 12-yard screen pass to put the Cardinals up 14-7 with 13:57 left in the half. It was Palmers 200th career touchdown pass. But Keenum responded, going 5 for 6 for 55 yards in a nine-play, 80-yard TD drive. Keenum threw 2 yards to wide open tight end Ryan Griffin for the touchdown that tied it at 14-14 with 9:37 left in the half. Arizona was pinned deep in its own territory after the subsequent kickoff and Palmer tried to throw long to Housler. But D.J. Swearinger intercepted, setting up Randy Bullocks 48-yard field goal that gave Houston its first lead, 17-14, with 6:31 to go in the half. Arizona committed another turnover late in the second quarter. With less than a minute left in the half, Watt knocked the ball out of Palmers hands and recovered at the Cardinals 22. Houston couldnt move it from there, and Justin Bethel blocked Bullocks 40-yard field goal attempt. Bethel has two blocked field goals this season. Arizona tied it at 17 on Jay Feelys 35-yard field goal with 6:06 left in the third quarter. Palmers 26-yard pass to Housler gave Arizona a first-and-goal at the Houston 5 in the final seconds of the third quarter. Feelys 21-yarder put Arizona back on top 20-17 entering the fourth quarter. NOTES: The Texans were without running back Arian Foster and wont have him the rest of the season after he decided to undergo season-ending back surgery. During the game, Houston lost starting cornerback Kareem Jackson (ribs), Griffin (concussion) and backup cornerback Elbert Mack (hamstring). ... Arizona lost wide receiver Michael Floyd in the first half with a shoulder sprain. Swell Water Bottle Nz . Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake Superior community. Swell Bottle Wenge Wood . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. http://www.swellwaterbottlenz.com/swell-...sale-17-oz.html. Jesus Navas bookended yet another huge home win for City by scoring after 14 seconds and again in second-half stoppage time, with Sergio Aguero also netting in each half to add to an own goal by Sandro and a brilliant strike by Alvaro Negredo. Swell Bottle Brush NZ . Levante, which had lost five straight including a Copa del Rey game last weekend, fell behind at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium when Ionut Sapanura opened the scoring for Elche in the 26th minute. Swell Bottle Wholesale . The third-ranked Buckeyes were down eight points to Notre Dame with less than 2 minutes to play and their offence was nowhere to be found.LONDON, Ont. - If the time to the MasterCard Memorial Cup felt long for the host London Knights, it felt even longer for goaltender Anthony Stolarz. The Knights had five weeks to kill between their second-round elimination in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs and Fridays Cup opener against the Val-dOr Foreurs. It was over seven weeks for Stolarz because of an eight-game suspension for slashing a Windsor Spitfire in a first-round game March 25. Jake Patterson finished out Londons playoff run, which lasted six more games. The OHL waived the final two games of Stolarzs suspension so he could play in the Memorial Cup. "To be honest, I just want to go out there and compete," said the 20-year-old from Jackson, N.J. "Obviously not playing, I think it was 56 days, was a little bit of a challenge, but I think over the last three and a half weeks of practice weve competed and battled and we couldnt be any more ready for this tournament." Stolarz backstopped the Knights to an OHL title in 2013 with a 13-4-1 post-season record. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect posted a goals-against average of 2.53 and a save percentage was .923. But the 19-year-old Patterson, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., played more games for the Knights this season. Stolarz represented the U.S. at the world junior hockey championship in January and was then sidelined for 17 games with a severe leg laceration. Patterson went 22-9-0-3 in the regular season and 2-4 in the playoffs. Pattersons experience combined with Stolarzss lack of recent games made Londons goaltending situation hazy for the Memorial Cup, until Knights coach Dale Hunter confirmed he would go with Stolarz as his No.dddddddddddd 1 again. "It was a tough decision, but Stolz is the guy," Hunter said. "Both of them have been very good in practice. "Stolz has been solid for us before he got hurt, and in the playoffs. Suspension and injury put him back, but three or four weeks have honed his game up really good." Stolarz and Patterson both have previous Memorial Cup experience. Stolarz started last years tournament in Saskatoon, but the six-foot-six goalie appeared to tire after the long playoff run. Patterson finished the tournament giving up one goal in a tiebreaker win over the host Blades and stopping 32 of 34 shots in a 2-1 semifinal loss to Portland. So if Stolarz cant recover his game quickly, Patterson is waiting in the wings. "You have to prepare for anything," Patterson said. "If Stoles were to get sick during the season or if I were to get sick and he had to start last minute, Im sure both of us would be ready. Its kind of the same situation right now." Hunter recruited former NHL goaltender Jeff Hackett to work with both goaltenders in their Memorial Cup preparation. "We did a lot of game-oriented drills where wed focus on plays that happen so often, rebounds, tips from the point," Stolarz said. "Working on things like that got us really prepared for the tournament." ' ' '