Sunday’s 30-17 win over the New England Patriots was shaping up as another inconsistent day for the Arizona Cardinals offense, fueled in part by spotty success on third down.
Leading 16-3, the Cardinals gained possession with one play remaining in the third quarter after an interception by cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. Prior to that, the Cardinals had converted four of their nine third downs.
On the five misses, all from six yards to go or less, quarterback Kyler Murray completed 1-of-4 passes for one yard (on third-and-4) with the three incompletions targeted for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. The other miss was a 2-yard run by Murray on third-and-4. Two of the others had six yards to go and one had five.
Something changed when the fourth quarter began and the result was two touchdown drives in which all five third-down plays were successful.
Let’s review:
*9 plays, 55 yards, 4:52 off clock
*Third-and-4 from Patriots 49: 29-yard pass to tight end Trey McBride
*Third-and-3 from the 13: 12-yard pass to running back James Conner
*Third-and-goal from the 1: Conner touchdown run after a Conner run and shovel pass to McBride each went for no yards. Cardinals lead 23-3.
*9 plays, 70 yards, 4:47 off clock after New England scored to cut the lead to 23-10
*Third-and-4 from Cardinals 36: 9-yard pass to McBride
*Third-and-4 from Patriots 49: 26-yard pass to McBride
Three plays later, Conner scored again from the 1-yard line and the Cardinals led 30-10
During those two possessions, Murray was 4-for-4 for 76 yards on third down with McBride totaling 64 yards on three of the receptions. Call it coincidence, but Harrison was not targeted on any of the third-down plays.
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said Tuesday, “We got some different looks. One of them was, just off the top of my head, one was versus big zone. We hit the shallow route to Trey. We hit one versus man to him. We had an off-schedule (play), hit James in the flat, broke a tackle. So many different things go into converting in those situations.
“Whether it’s a guy making a guy miss in space or a great block up front to extend the play to let Kyler get out of the pocket or winning our one-on-one matchups out on the perimeter. It’s a number of things. It took everybody on the field to execute those late in the game, which was critical to the victory.”
When asked how much of the success was Murray throwing the ball where it should go while noting it’s not easy as it might look making quick decisions to find the right place to go with the ball, Petzing said, “Absolutely. Especially in those situations where they know you’re throwing the ball. You’re usually under a little bit more pressure than you are in other areas.
“I think that’s probably the most important part of the passing game is making sure the ball’s going to the right people at the right times. And accurately, under duress in tight windows. I thought late in the game, he did that at a really high level.”
For the game, McBride caught nine of his 10 targets for 87 yards and afterward Murray said, “I continue to say I think he’s the best. He’s got all the intangibles, all the traits, the athletic ability, loves the game, plays hard as hell. There’s nothing that he doesn’t or can’t do. He’s a mismatch.
“As much man as they were playing, I feel like that’s a favorable matchup for us. Zone, he finds spots in the zone. He’s a great player. Obviously, getting more confident every week.”
Murray added to that two days after the game when he talked about McBride on TikTok and said simply, “There’s 3 things in life that’s certain. Death. Taxes. And 85 gonna always be open.”
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