LAS VEGAS — After hardly taking part in within the first half, Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons got here up with the largest play of the sport in extra time to assist Arizona to a 29-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Simmons, who knew all week his position could be drastically lowered whereas he improved on his apply habits, knocked the ball out of the palms of Raiders broad receiver Hunter Renfrow earlier than it was scooped by cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who returned the fumble 59 yards for the profitable landing.
“Every little thing was a blur,” Murphy stated. “I simply noticed the tip zone. ‘I gotta get to the tip zone to finish this recreation,’ that is the very first thing I used to be pondering the entire time.”
However a recreation filled with drama wasn’t with out some within the last seconds. Murphy’s landing was reviewed to see if he let the ball out of his hand earlier than he crossed the end line. Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury waved his workforce to the locker room through the evaluation, joking afterward that he instructed his gamers to get on the bus.
After a prolonged evaluation, the landing was upheld, giving Arizona its first win of the season.
At first, Murphy thought the evaluation was “a bit of questionable.”
“However now that I’ve seen that, I am taking that ball all the best way to the home, to the crib, again to Arizona,” Murphy stated.
It will be a studying expertise, Kingsbury stated.
“Fortunately, he isn’t a meme for the following 30 years of his life,” Kingsbury stated.
Arizona’s win, nonetheless, wasn’t attainable with out quarterback Kyler Murray, who practically single-handedly led the Cardinals to extra time.
The comeback began with the Cardinals down 20 at halftime and ended with them profitable by six. They scored 16 unanswered factors within the fourth quarter.
“I do not even know,” Raiders defensive finish Maxx Crosby stated. “It is loopy.”
It was how Arizona acquired to the additional interval that confirmed how beneficial Murray, who signed a mega five-year extension this offseason value as much as $230.5 million, is to the Cardinals. And it was a masterclass in Murray’s capability to maintain performs alive after which make performs along with his toes.
The Raiders knew they’d him contained within the first half, however within the second, Murray “was simply operating round,” Raiders security Duron Harmon stated. Murray threw for 277 yards with a landing and an interception on 31-of-49 passing. He additionally ran for 28 yards and a landing on 5 carries.
That landing pulled the Cardinals inside 23-21 after Murray scored from the 3-yard line as time expired. Nevertheless, it was a 2-yard run by Murray on fourth-and-1 with 2:28 left within the recreation that saved Arizona’s hopes alive. He acquired the primary down, and the Cardinals’ game-tying drive continued.
“He is a particular expertise,” Kingsbury stated of Murray. “You may see when he is in a position to do his factor, that is what he does, and he had some great performs, and the numbers is probably not nice, [but] we do not care about numbers.”
With time expiring and the Cardinals down 8 factors, Murray stepped up within the pocket because the Raiders’ go rush closed in round him after which took off to the left and received a foot race to the far left nook of the tip zone to make it 23-21. Murray then hit A.J. Inexperienced on the following 2-point conversion with no time on the clock in a play that additionally went by means of a prolonged evaluation. It was additionally upheld, resulting in the additional interval.
The Cardinals pulled the play off after Murray had to make use of a delay-of-game penalty to get extra time after Arizona could not get lined up popping out of a timeout. There have been points with the Cardinals’ substitution after which getting receivers the place they had been speculated to be. Murray took the penalty, which moved the Cardinals again to the 7-yard line, after which he hit Inexperienced.
“I did not need to danger [it],” Murray stated. “The sport was too essential. I believed it was smarter to take the delay of recreation. I do not need to waste this play and provides them a free one, as a result of we weren’t prepared or all of us discombobulated on the finish.
“I did not assume that was sensible.”
Murray additionally pulled off a novel 2-point conversion earlier within the fourth quarter to get Arizona able to tie. After Murray hit broad receiver Marquise Brown for a 24-yard go down the left sideline to provide Arizona the ball on the 1, operating again Darrel Williams pushed it in for a landing, pulling Arizona to inside 23-13.
On the following 2-point conversion, Murray ran 84.9 yards, in accordance with NFL Subsequent Gen Stats, as he scrambled, backpedaled and moved round earlier than operating the ball into the tip zone, chopping the Raiders’ result in 23-15.
The play did not appear lengthy to only these watching. It felt “fairly lengthy” to Murray, too.
“I need to say they dropped 9, had two folks dashing. I knew they weren’t going to have the ability to deal with me,” Murray stated. “It was nearly, hopefully, yard soccer at that time, looking for anyone, transfer, get open and make a play.”
Kingsbury joked that he gave a “tremendous inspirational and transferring” halftime speech to spark the comeback, however, finally, it merely got here right down to Arizona executing its offense higher.
Though that is what the Cardinals wanted to do to come back again from a 20-point deficit, it led to a tense second half.
“There’s so many do-or-die performs, I misplaced depend, the place we needed to have this cease, needed to have this 2-point conversion, needed to rating, needed to have the fourth down,” Kingsbury stated. “And guys simply saved preventing. I imply no person blinked. At halftime it was simply, ‘Hey, we acquired to settle in and do what we do.’
“We performed about as unhealthy as you would the primary half and did not play nice the second half, however the effort was unimaginable.”
Leaving Vegas a winner on a Sunday was a unique feeling for Kingsbury.
“I used to be telling these coaches, often I’ve simply misplaced and I am tremendous hungover on Sundays in Vegas, so it is a good changeup,” he stated.
The second Murphy crossed the purpose line, mayhem ensued on the sphere. The complete Cardinals bench emptied on the sphere to have a good time, and the celebration carried over into the locker room.
“It is loopy to see simply us celebrating, the 53 guys and coaches and employees after which the entire stadium is lifeless silent,” left guard Justin Pugh stated. “That is essentially the most stunning factor in sports activities.”
