GLENDALE, Ariz. — In a matchup featuring two of the four teams in the NFL with just one loss to their record, it only figured Sunday’s game between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles would come down to the wire.

Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer connected with rookie wide receiver John Brown for a 75-yard touchdown with 81 seconds left to play and the Cardinals held off the Eagles 24-20 to improve to 6-1 — their best start to a season since going 7-0 in 1970.

Arizona’s defense set up the win by forcing the Eagles to settle for a field goal after Philadelphia had three chances to score while inside the Cardinals’ 10-yard line.

After Brown’s dramatic touchdown, the Eagles still had one more shot. Nick Foles moved them 64 yards during the final frantic minute. Foles had three chances from the 16-yard line to pull off a miraculous comeback, but it wasn’t to be.

His fade pass to Jordan Matthews in the end zone was out of reach. His throw into the corner to Jeff Maehl was batted away by rookie safety Deon Bucannon. And with one second to go, his pass to Matthews sailed too far out of the end zone and Rashad Johnson managed to break up the play to preserve the win for Arizona.

The Cardinals, who are 4-0 at home, padded their lead in the NFC West and now embrace for another powerful NFC matchup next week at the Cowboys.

Palmer was 20 of 42 for 329 yards and two touchdowns.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles completed 36 of 62 passes for 411 yards and two touchdowns, both of them to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who caught 12 passes for 187 yards.

Maclin’s second touchdown was a 54-yard bomb from Foles into the end zone and it gave the Eagles a 17-14 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter.

There was a scary collision late in the first half involving two star players. With 5:39 remaining in the second quarter, Foles completed an 8-yard pass to Maclin, who was immediately hit from both sides by cornerback Patrick Peterson and Bucannon.

Their helmets all hit and Bucannon’s flew off of his head. Peterson and Maclin suffered the worst of the hit, though, and each player stayed on the ground for some time until being helped to the sideline.

Peterson suffered a concussion on the play and did not return. Maclin was treated for a head injury and there were reports he was bleeding from his ear. He cleared concussion protocol and returned just before the half.

Maclin scored on a 21-yard pass from Foles four and a half minutes into the game, completing a nine-play, 80-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.

The Cardinals tied it up thanks to an 80-yard drive of their own on the ensuing possession. Andre Ellington capped the 13-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, his second of the season.

The drive featured a 30-yard reception from receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who finished with seven catches for 160 yards, and a 3-yard run by Ellington when the Cardinals elected to go for it on fourth and 1 from the 25.

NOTES: WR Jeremy Maclin made all the highlight reels during his third-quarter punt return in which he fielded the ball on a bounce, zig-zagged his way to the outside and his momentum sent him flying over the Cardinals’ bench and tumbling over a table holding several sports drinks. … The Eagles played without versatile RB Darren Sproles, who missed the game because of a knee injury. … With his touchdown pass to WR Larry Fitzgerald, QB Carson Palmer now has thrown a touchdown in 17 consecutive games, extending his career high. Only Kurt Warner (22) and Neil Lomax (19) have longer streaks in Cardinals’ history. … Arizona lost backup RB Stepfan Taylor to a calf injury during the third quarter and he did not return.