Falcons’ Final Gift Is a Reprieve : NFC: Kicker gets second chance after error-prone Atlanta fumbles in overtime, and Cardinals win, 40-37.

TEMPE, Ariz. —  After Greg Davis botched his chance to beat the Atlanta Falcons in regulation, he was thinking about job-hunting when he got an opportunity to atone in overtime.

“You’re either going to make it or be unemployed, so you don’t worry about it,” Davis said Sunday after his fourth field goal, a 28-yarder 1:43 into overtime, lifted the Arizona Cardinals to a 40-37 victory and dropped the Falcons into second place in the NFC West.

Davis’ kick came on the Cardinals’ first possession of an NFL-record 20th overtime this year. It was the Cardinals’ third consecutive home overtime and their fourth in the last seven games.

“I can’t believe all of the games we’ve taken into overtime this season,” Davis added. “It’s giving me gray hair. I’m going to have a coronary one of these days.”

Dave Krieg passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns as the Cardinals--the NFC’s lowest-scoring team entering the game--ended a three-game losing streak.

Atlanta (7-5) had been tied with San Francisco for the lead in their division, but couldn’t survive a seesaw battle in which they took a 20-6 lead in the second quarter, only to allow the Cardinals (4-8) to tie it by halftime.

Krieg’s touchdown throws covered 18 yards to Rob Moore, 28 to Anthony Edwards, 22 to Wendall Gaines and two to Oscar McBride. Davis gave the Cardinals a 6-0 first-quarter lead with field goals 44 and 29 yards, and his 23-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter forced the overtime.

But he missed a 45-yard attempt low left on the final play of regulation. Seth Joyner gave the Cardinals the opportunity by picking off a pass from Atlanta’s Jeff George.

In overtime, Craig Heyward was stopped by Eric Swann and Jamir Miller on a third-down play.

On Atlanta’s punt, Harper Le Bel bounced the snap to Dan Stryzinski, and Aeneas Williams closed in, forcing Stryzinski to run. Williams’ tackle jarred the ball loose, Eric England recovered at the 10, and Arizona Coach Buddy Ryan sent in the kicking unit.

“All the way down, from Little League to high school to college, I’ve never seen that kind of luck,” George said. “But I guess that’s just the way it is. I’m kind of shook right now.”

A crowd of 33,964, the smallest since Dec. 5, 1993, watched the thrilling contest, which featured a 99-yard drive by the Cardinals’ maligned offense to tie the game at 27-27 in the third quarter.

On the next Atlanta possession, Eric Hill got his second sack of George, forcing a fumble which Clyde Simmons recovered and returned 12 yards to the Falcon six. That set up a fourth-quarter, 23-yard field goal by Davis that gave Arizona a 30-27 lead.

A 30-yard pass from George to Eric Metcalf, coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty on Joyner, put the Falcons in position for another go-ahead score--a three-year run by Jamal Anderson.

Then D.J. Johnson picked off Krieg a second time, and Andersen’s field goal made the score 37-30.

The Cardinals got the break they needed when Atlanta special teams player Kevin Ross barreled into Metcalf as his teammate was fielding a punt. Metcalf fumbled and Marcus Dowdell recovered for the Cardinals, who covered 19 yards in two passes, two runs by Larry Centers, and Krieg’s two-yard scoring pass to to McBride.

In the second quarter, the Falcons’ Andersen had a string of 92 successful PATs ended.