Final: Arizona Cardinals 17 Los Angeles Chargers 13

The Arizona Cardinals showed a little promise on offense but have a long way to go on defense

Quarterback Kyler Murray couldn’t have asked for a better debut.  The Arizona Cardinals rookie went 6-7 for 44-yards in the Cardinals preseason victory on Thursday night.

The Cardinals defense?  Yeah, they could ask for a whole lot more.  Fortunately it was just preseason week number one.

The run defense especially had a long night.  The Chargers rushed for 179-yards.  If the Cardinals defense carries that into the regular season, it is going to be a very long season.

Also playing well on offense was quarterback Brett Hundley.  By television broadcast accounts it was the best he’s looked yet as he has struggled somewhat in practice.

Guys like receiver Trent Sherfield, tight end Ricky Seals-Jones, and safety Tyler Sigler, they helped themselves.  Guys like receiver Hakeem Butler and quarterback Drew Anderson showed they aren’t there quite yet.

There were a ton of penalties as well, which is not unusual for a preseason game.  The Chargers had one play alone where they were called for four penalties, three of them holding.  That’s impressive, I don’t care who you are.

Cardinals quarterbacks were sacked twice on Thursday night but were scrambling far more than that.  The Cardinals defense got three sacks of Chargers quarterbacks.

The one they didn’t get on Chargers quarterback Easton Stick, resulted in a 31-yard rushing touchdown.  The Cardinals missed several tackles on the play, another theme on the evening.

Certainly the game showed this was every bit of the preseason but it was still fun to watch.  Everyone played hard just not always smart.  It should get better as each week progresses, at least we can hope it does.

Next Thursday night the Cardinals host the Oakland Raiders on ESPN.  They return to practice on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at State Farm Stadium.