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Here’s a Kyler Murray way to show his maturity. He seemed to mean therefore long after Sunday’s game, after that loss the Cardinals shouldn’t have made. He intelligently took his time to think about what to say with each question. It wasn’t much. But it wasn’t inflammatory, although that’s how he wanted to go at the moment.
Linebacker Jordan Hicks said there was “no anger or frustration,” and maybe he was just thinking to himself, but that stemmed from the handful of post-match press conferences and DeAndre Hopkins when he pulled it out on a yard line marker as the game ended. Dolphins are better than people attribute to them, and it looks like Tua Tagovailoa has some skills. He certainly showed that “it” factor on several occasions on Sunday.
But the Cardinals are back to where they were after the Carolina game. They need a win, they need to play smarter. Regardless of the injuries and COVID losses, the defense needs to find a way for more consistency (and they face a really good offense from the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen next week).
“They did and we didn’t,” said coach Kliff Kingsbury.
– The Cardinals must hope that these injuries heal quickly, especially at the cornerback. I don’t know what Byron Murphy’s status is with COVID, or if Dr. Kirkpatrick can come back this week, but the Bills have a better passing game than the Dolphins. (Anyone asking about Prince Amukamara, namely that he was not brought up from the practice squad and that Jace Whittaker probably said something about the depth card.)
– What more can you say about Murray. He was awesome. Yes, that last shot would have been nice to have. Yes, he has to be careful and not have that early escape. But his throws were excellent – that bomb at Christian Kirk was a thing of beauty – and his running game was on point. He runs well enough that he even takes a few hits to get more yards (let’s be smart about that, right?)
– Speaking of quarterbacks who can move… the Cardinals agreed on the pass race but Tua has escaped too many times. And Allen next week is really good at that, and bigger. It’s a part of the game the Cardinals need to improve quickly. It’s not easy – Kyler proves it against any defenses he sees – but it’s necessary.
– Isaiah Simmons started the game as an outside linebacker, and even made tackles in each of the first two games. But his time quickly dwindled after that, with Markus Golden playing the majority of the time opposite Haason Reddick.
– Hopkins only had three takes but drew a bunch of flags. The passing offense for the Cardinals was pretty good, except for Murray’s latest foul. D-Hop won’t go 10-120 each week. But I’ll be curious to see how he really reacts to the first game in which he didn’t have a ton of opportunities. Especially when it turned out to be a loss.
– I know Kingsbury took responsibility for some bad calls. He’ll do that when things don’t work out. I’m not sure if I have a big problem with them (and again if you’re going to rip it up as a playcaller, what about all those calls that work?)
– The Cardinals charged Chase Edmonds with Kenyan Drake. Edmonds had 25 carries (for just 70 yards; there was little room between tackles all night) and three more catches for 18 yards. It’s been 28 keys and I’m guessing he’ll be sore. I guess they’ll be smart with training all week, especially knowing that Drake probably won’t be playing again next week.
– Tight ends made an impact. Maxx Williams scored a touchdown on his first start after injury, and Darrell Daniels’ TD catch – unlikely stealing an interception from cornerback Byron Jones in the end zone – was an incredible game. It must have felt good for Daniels, who struggled in the last game against the Seahawks.
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