A game that was supposed to be easy took some difficult turns, but the Arizona Cardinals left Florida undefeated after a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It was not pretty, but the Arizona Cardinals took on the Jacksonville Jaguars and survived another week to go 3-0.
Offensively, the Cardinals racked up another 400-plus yards and have now surpassed 30 points in every game of the 2021 season. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray spread the ball around to his receivers and two of them, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk, finished with over 100 receiving yards.
The Cardinals‘ defense had some iffy moments but ultimately played well and helped secure another victory, even shifting the momentum with a Byron Murphy pick-six.
While the Cards left with a win, there was plenty of sloppy football and cause for concern before taking on what looks to be a Super Bowl-contending Los Angeles Rams team next week on the road.
With some great moments, and some concerning ones, what were the five biggest takeaways from the Jacksonville road trip?
Hopkins doesn’t make or break the Cardinals offense
Dealing with a rib injury, DeAndre Hopkins did not play a major role in the Cardinals’ offense, and they still won.
Since becoming an Arizona Cardinal in 2020, Hopkins has played 19 games with his new team. In those, he has had over 100 receiving yards 7 times.
On Sunday Hopkins finished with only 3 receptions and 21 yards, a low for him as a Cardinal. Even so, Kyler Murray finished with over 300 yards passing to his other pass-catching options such as A.J. Green and Christian Kirk who both finished over 100 yards receiving on the day.
In fact, Hopkins is 4th on the list of receivers for the Arizona Cardinals with 158 yards through 3 games while Green, Kirk, and Rondale Moore all have more than 180 yards.
Taking away this game due to the injury Hopkins was dealing with, it should be encouraging that the Arizona Cardinals offense is still functioning without him having to take the majority of the target share. Murray has looked much more comfortable finding other options, which has, in turn, made him less predictable for the defenses covering Arizona’s receivers.
Now, it is important to note that while Hopkins might be more of a luxury than a necessity compared to 2020, he is absolutely crucial for success against top-tier opponents such as the LA Rams and Cleveland Browns both of whom the Cardinals face in the next four weeks. Wins against those teams will require the best players for Arizona to show up in a big way.
Murphy just keeps getting better
The surprise retirement of Malcolm Butler before the season caused fans to ask, “Who is CB1?” Well, Byron Murphy has stepped up in a major way and has seemingly solidified himself as the top cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.
A second-round pick in 2019, Murphy struggled some in his rookie year after being thrown outside after Patrick Peterson’s six-game suspension. He returned to his comfortable spot in the slot in 2020 and showed improvement, but his improvement this year has shown he is a more than capable NFL starter.
On Sunday, Murphy might have singlehandedly turned the tides of the games with an interception off Trevor Lawrence that he took 29-yards to the house for a touchdown that put the Cardinals back in the driver’s seat with a 24-19 lead.
He is currently second in the NFL for interceptions and interceptions returned for touchdowns and first in passes breakups with 5 through 3 games. He is ranked 10th among cornerbacks in coverage grades with an average of 77.4 according to PFF.
The growth of Byron Murphy could be one of the top storylines of the 2021 season for Arizona Cardinals fans to track.
Arizona’s run defense is still an enigma
After starting the season strong by shutting down Derrick Henry, the Arizona Cardinals defense has struggled against the run in their last two games.
In Week 2, Dalvin Cook game Arizona fits in the first half, and in their most recent game, James Robinson had some bursts that came close to keeping the Jaguars in a game in which they had no business. Robinson put together an impressive drive in the third quarter with 6 rushes for almost 65 yards that ended in a 4-yard rushing touchdown in which the defense looked completely hopeless.
Both weeks saw adjustments from Vance Joseph that improved the run defense throughout the game, but it continues to be a point of concern particularly before facing a run-happy Sean McVay offense in Week 4.
The Cardinals have a giant gap between their pass and rush defense. Against the pass, the Cards are 8th in the league, but against the run, they rank near the bottom at 29.
In order to continue their winning ways, Joseph and the Cardinals front seven will have to work hard to close that gap and keep their team in positions to win even against run-heavy teams.
Murray is starting to show some of the classic “gunslinger” traits
Before the start of the season, it would have been strange to compare Kyler Murray and Brett Favre in any way. But after three games, Murray is showing some of the traits that made Favre one of the best and one of the most unpredictable.
The early years of Favre’s career in particular saw him make some amazing throws and cause some head-scratching turnovers due to a supreme amount of self-confidence. Murray has repeated some of that pattern through the first three games of 2021 including in Jacksonville.
He threw for over 300 yards for the third straight game, putting his total over 1,000 passing yards with 14 games left to play. He has also started the second half of each game with an interception which in Jacksonville was a pass intended for Kirk that Andrew Wingard picked off and returned for 23 yards.
Murray and Favre are about as different as they come in terms of personality and most of their play style, but one area they have in common is their willingness to send the ball in dangerous situations. Sometimes those plays result in magic like we have already seen from Murray many times this season, but they can also lead to costly turnovers.
In a weird game, Arizona still found a way to win
The 2020 Arizona Cardinals started the season 2-0 before dropping games against the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers, both games they should have won.
In a hopefully encouraging sign of what is to come, the Cardinals faced adversity against a team that by all metrics they should beat, and rather than folding and giving in to the trap game, fought through it all and emerged with a win.
GM Steve Keim has made it clear that his offseason focus was on bringing in veterans who could teach the younger players how to overcome adversity and fight complacency. That veteran leadership was on display Sunday when the Cards fought back after a weird 109-yard kick-six that could have broken the backs of many younger teams.
Hopefully, that same situation doesn’t arise again this season, but if it does it is encouraging that this Arizona Cardinals team is showing signs of mental fortitude that they lacked in a disappointing 8-8 season a year ago.
The mental game is just as important as the physical and this team seems better equipped to withstand the craziness of an NFL season than teams past.