LANDOVER, Md. — This wasn’t a football game. It was a series of unfortunateevents.

The Washington Redskins and Arizona Cardinals seemed poised to set footballback for decades Sunday with bad penalties and bonehead mistakes. Since theRedskins had the only thing resembling a normal scoring drive, it seemedappropriate they were the winner, 21-19, although they finished the day withonly 160 total yards and survived a 55-yard field goal attempt that was barelywide left with two seconds remaining.

Arizona’s Neil Rackers missed what would have matched the longest field goalof his career. The attempt was set up when the Cardinals recovered an onsidekick following a touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion.

No one expected a classic. The Cardinals showed up with a one-armedquarterback and two backups who barely knew the play book, while the Redskinshad to patch together a starting offense after injuries to three linemen lastweek.

That didn’t do much to explain the combined 15 penalties for 128 yards. Orthe blocked punt by the Cardinals. Or the blocked extra point by the Redskins.Or the fact that the Redskins let the Cardinals back into the game by committingneedless dead-ball fouls after twice stopping Arizona during a long drive thatresulted in a touchdown.

Oh, by the way, three of the game’s six touchdowns were the product ofinterceptions.

The box score will show Clinton Portis had a pair of short touchdown runsfor the Redskins (4-2), who, after this effort, can’t be too excited aboutplaying unbeaten New England next. The Cardinals fell to 3-4 despite pullingthat wacky maneuver of using three different quarterbacks in the waning crucialseconds.

Kurt Warner, who started despite a torn elbow ligament that made it awkwardto hand the ball off, drove the Cardinals from Arizona’s 29 to Washington’s 1.Then — surprise — Tim Rattay entered the game and threw a 1-yard touchdown passto Leonard Pope to pull his team within two with 21 seconds to play.

Needing a 2-point conversion, the Cardinals snapped the ball directly toreceiver Anquan Boldin in shotgun formation. Boldin scrambled to the right, andwith nowhere to run, threw feebly toward Larry Fitzgerald. Safety LaRon Landrybroke up the pass.

Still, the Cardinals recovered the onside kick and marched to the 37 beforeRackers, who ended the first half by getting into a face mask tug-of-war withcornerback Carlos Rogers after the blocked extra point, nearly ended the gamewith a winning kick.

Warner, wearing a bulky black brace on his elbow, was 27-of-41 for 282 yardswith two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned 27 yardsfor a touchdown by London Fletcher.

The Redskins were outgained more than two-to-one without center CaseyRabach, out with a strained right groin, and several other linemen who weren’t100 percent. Washington even used a defensive lineman, Lorenzo Alexander, as anextra blocker near the goal line.