A Monday night game gives those involved with a team – such as yours truly – a chance to watch all the other games on Sunday unencumbered. And one of the plays that stuck out was the dance down the left sideline Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had in San Francisco that was on all the highlight shows and gained 33 yards.
It was fancy, sure. But Kyler Murray took the left sideline to a different level Monday night. He scrambled, like Mahomes, but flew by Chargers linebacker Junior Colson at such a tight angle yet stayed true to the boundary for his 44-yard TD. Held the ball out like he did on his TD run in San Francisco. Slowed up at the 20, knowing no one was gonna catch him. He didn't – according to Next Gen Stats – even hit 20 miles an hour when he was over 21 on his 49ers run two weeks ago. Obviously, he is slowing with age.
The Cardinals QB was just doing what he does, averaging 10.7 yards a carry on six carries in the game.
"It's a good feeling to put the ball in the end zone," Murray said. "I wish we would've done it more tonight, but a win's a win."
The Cardinals still aren't scoring as much as they need to, and they know that, although they were playing the stingiest defense in the league. They had been embarrassed in Green Bay, and Jonathan Gannon and his players talked about how their Thursday practice last week – the first of the week, with the Monday game – was chippy as heck. Murray compared it to a training camp practice. They were rightfully grumpy.
But they reset. The defense was pretty dang good. The special teams was really good. The offense did what it needed to do when it needed to do it. They have a chance – again – to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2021 when they play in Miami. It'll be another two-day trip, a long plane flight.
Meanwhile, Murray's legs are fine but the passing game still isn't where it needs to be. James Conner is a beast but there will be days when he can't do it all. The Cardinals aren't always going to keep the other team out of the end zone.
But there was something satisfying about beating the Chargers with the way these Harbaugh-Chargers play. It was a good win. With black uniforms. On Monday night. With the roof open.
-- Chad Ryland has kicked for the Cardinals for three games and already has two game-winning field goals.
"Honestly, I really had a good feeling we were getting, at least, in range, just knowing how the offense moves the ball," Ryland said. "The guys like to ball out and they did that on that last drive for sure, and I got a chance to hit a kick. Thankfully, it went through."
-- Ryland gets the winner, but the special teams star was Blake Gillikin. The punter had his best game of the season, driving long hang-time kicks – four punts all told – and not one was returned with a solid 44.5 average. All four were inside the 20, and his best was downed at the 1 in the fourth quarter (unfortunately, the Chargers were still able to turn that one into a field-goal drive.)
-- Greg Dortch isn't having the season he wanted, but he got a big touchdown catch.
-- The Chargers writers ended up getting a pool report from the officials after the two key fourth-quarter calls that ultimately went against L.A., but both seemed right in real time. There was a flag thrown on the Cardinals for pass interference on the play before the Chargers final field goal, but there was miscommunication between Justin Herbert and Simi Fehoko – the former threw it deep, Fehoko bent in short – and whatever contact was moot because the ball was 10 feet over Fehoko's head. The other was Cam Hart's helmet-to-helmet on Marvin Harrison Jr. after Harrison dropped a pass – but on the replay, it's clear Hart hit Harrison when he was defenseless.
-- Congrats to the D-line law firm of Stille, Stills and Jones for coming up with sacks.
-- Murray had his 20th game of at least one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown, which is fourth-most in NFL history.
-- The wait for Marvin Harrison Jr. to find his groove continues.
-- Bill Belichick, appearing on the ESPN Manningcast, was all-in on James Conner, reacting to Conner's forced fumble after the Murray interception. "That guy is a football dude," the former Patriots coach said. "That guy could play linebacker."
-- The plays by Michael Wilson and Trey McBride to jump on fumbles – Wilson on the Conner-forced-fumble-after-Kyler-pick and McBride on a Conner fumble – was crucial on a day in which the Cardinals ended up even in the turnover battle.
-- Looking ahead, the Dolphins have cleared quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to practice again, and assuming it goes well he should start Sunday against the Cardinals in Miami. That'll mark six weeks since Tagovailoa last played, after suffering his latest concussion.
-- Speaking of quarterbacks, the Cardinals will need to find one of their own. The Raiders, having lost Aidan O'Connell to an injury, are reportedly signing Desmond Ridder off the Cardinals' practice squad to be Gardner Minshew's backup.
-- While the wait has been on with the potential return of rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson from IR, the practice window of rookie offensive lineman Christian Jones is set to close on Wednesday. The Cardinals will need to elevate him to the 53-man roster or leave him on IR the balance of the season by then. The Cardinals currently have an open spot on the roster.
-- The last word comes from Kyler, who reflected on his early interception (and complemented Conner for forcing the fumble that the Cardinals recovered right back.)
"You're mad as hell, and then you're like, 'Oh OK, yeah.' I'm glad James had the awareness. He's a great football player, to have the awareness to go strip the guy. The dude (Teair Tart) was like 340. I was about to try and go tackle him and then, something in the back of my head was like, 'Nah.'"
That's all for tonight. It's been a minute since we've had a late one. Way past my bedtime these days.
