And in the 11th week of the NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals rested. And it was good.
So good.
Remember all that talk of maturity when the 2024 season began? Maturity in quarterback Kyler Murray. Maturity in a young coaching staff that got its feet wet last season in new roles. Maturity in a group that believed it was ready to take a big step forward after a second consecutive 4-13 season.
The jaw-dropping plays from the Cardinals’ 31-6 win against the New York Jets at State Farm Stadium on Sunday were plentiful, from Trey McBride’s hurdle to Marvin Harrison Jr’s TD catch to Murray’s two TDs runs and Budda Baker’s vice-like ankle tackles.
But the lasting vibe of this win was singular. The Cardinals took care of business on Sunday, just as they did against the Bears, effectively crushing the souls of two teams desperately trying to stay in the playoff chase.
In so doing, Arizona displayed a maturity that playoff worthy teams display. A maturity to stay in the moment as their coach always preaches. A maturity to avoid looking past a struggling opponent to the bye week. A maturity whose architects were as plentiful as the aforementioned plays.
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Murray was as masterful in the first half as he was resilient, completing 17 of 19 passes for 199 yards and a TD. When the day had finished, he went 22 of 24 for 266 yards, one passing TD and two rushing TDs.
With his final last completion, Murray set a franchise record with 17 straight completions, breaking the previous mark set by Carson Palmer over two games in 2017.
That seemed appropriate since Murray was channeling the ghosts of Palmer and Kurt Warner, whose playoff performances victimized the same Aaron Rodgers whom Murray outplayed on Sunday. Murray even threw a desperation, Carson-eqsue heave across the field to Trey McBride, who couldn’t quite author the same sort of finish that Larry Fitzgerald did against the Packers.
“I think the quarterback was the best player on the planet today,” coach Jonathan Gannon said.
Even when Murray took a blind shot to the back from Jets linebacker Quincy Williams that sent his helmet flying, he popped back up, laughed, and then threw a perfect rainbow to Marvin Harrison Jr. three plays later for a 9-yard TD and a 21-6 lead, making the Cardinals a perfect 16 for 16 in goal-to-go situations this season.
“I was actually kind of glad it happened; felt good,” Murray said of the sack. “I don’t get hit too often so it was kind of an Adrenaline rush. It’s a physical, violent game. It’s part of the game. I appreciate it.”
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Not to be outdone, the defense bent on the Jets’ first two drives, but when it came down to brass tacks, it held New York to a pair of field goals while the offense was rolling up touchdowns.
When the Jets came out for the second half, trailing 24-6 on what was likely their last-ditch drive to stay alive, Xavier Thomas recorded a strip-sack on fourth down and Kyzir White recovered to all but seal the game.
Despite its deficiencies, and despite a laundry list of injuries — BJ Ojulari, Darius Robinson, Bilal Nichols, Justin Jones, Dennis Gardeck and Jalen Thompson among them — the Cardinals defense has not allowed a TD in its past three games in Glendale, a feat the franchise had not accomplished since 1926.
“We’re doing a great job of just trusting one another and not trying to overdo our parts,” cornerback Garrett Williams said. “It’s not even about the success part. It’s about the fact that we’re having fun.
“When you take the seriousness out of it and you just go back to realizing that you’re playing a kid’s game with people that you enjoy being around, it takes all the pressure off.”
While the defense was bucking the odds, the offense was so efficient that it looked like offensive coordinator Drew Petzing had finally received those two footballs for which he petitioned the league to get everybody their touches. Seven players caught passes from Murray in the first half, keeping the Jets’ second-ranked pass defense continually off balance.
“Drew was dialing it up, offensive line was blocking, Kyler was dicing it, receivers were making plays and the backs played hard,” said running back James Conner, who became just the seventh active player with 5,000-plus rushing yards and 2,000-plus receiving yards on Sunday. “We just came to work.”
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect way for the Cardinals to head into the bye week.
With this performance, and despite the 49ers’ overtime escape in Tampa, the Cardinals have set themselves up beautifully for the final seven games of the season. They are 6-4, in first place in the NFC West, and they have two weeks to prepare for a big division game in Seattle in which they have the opportunity to play grim reaper to a third team’s hopes.
With the bye week at hand, Gannon may have to revise his one-week-at-a-time mantra, but only slightly. His players are not only preaching his words, they are embracing them.
“There’s no secret to it,” Gannon said. “It speaks to leadership in the locker room. What I say and what the coaches say, they take to it, and they know that that’s what they need to do to give themselves a chance to win.”
Gannon and the players will never say it, but we’ll go ahead. The Cardinals are firmly in the playoff chase, and they have earned that place through 10 games. That said, there is plenty of work to be done.
“Not satisfied,” Murray said. “I told y’all last week I feel like our record could be better than this. I feel like I expected to be here. I feel like the team expected to be here. We’ve just got to keep going.”
Top photo via Getty Images: Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison and Paris Johnson Jr. celebrate a touchdown
