Cardinals avoid embarrassment to defeat Jaguars in Week 3

Trailing after the first half, the Arizona Cardinals pulled it together in the second half to get a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and remain undefeated this season.

By defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals accomplished something they haven’t done in more than half a decade. The win in Jacksonville gave the Cardinals a 3-0 record for the first time since 2015, a season in which Arizona made it to the NFC Championship.

A victory over a winless Jaguars team didn’t feel too likely after a miserable end to the first half of the game by the Cardinals as they went into the locker room after the second quarter trailing 13-7.

Luckily, Arizona was able to outscore Jacksonville 24-6 in the second half and leave the field with their third victory of the 2021 season.

Arizona Cardinals remain undefeated with convincing win over Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3

With less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Kyler Murray and the Cardinals’ offense got the ball trailing the Jaguars by a score of 19-10. Five plays later, Arizona running back James Conner punched it in the end zone to cut Jacksonville’s lead to just two points.

Less than a minute later, Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. grabbed his second interception of the afternoon and returned it 29-yards the other way for a touchdown. Murphy’s pick-six put Arizona up 24-19 and they never looked back after that.

After Conner found the end zone once again in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals’ victory was sealed, and they ended up leaving the field with a 31-19 win over a feisty Jacksonville team.

Murray threw for over 300 yards once again this week, as he finished with 316 passing yards, no touchdown passes, and one interception. Despite not throwing any touchdowns on Sunday, the Arizona quarterback still added six to the scoreboard with his legs in the first quarter when he easily walked in the end zone for a one-yard touchdown.

The Cardinals’ defense looked much improved compared to last week. In addition to Murphy picking off two passes, Arizona also held the Jaguars to just 4.7 yards per play, 145 passing yards, a 20 percent conversion rate on third down, while also forcing four turnovers and racking up three sacks.

The Cardinals went out and won a game everyone expected them to. Arizona probably made things a little more interesting than they should have. But they eventually wound up with a victory and now they can prepare for a big NFC West matchup on the road against the Los Angeles Rams next week.