It was a busy football night in the NFL, as we saw dozen preseason matches last Thursday. But the most attractive one took place at Glendale, where Arizona Cardinals met the Los Angeles Chargers. The home team won, but what was the biggest deal was Kyler Murray’s debut for the Cards.
The No.1 picks from this year’s draft was one of the best on the field, and despite not playing too much, he showed excellent composure and high quality.
Murray was included in just one drive, during which he played almost perfect, recording 44 yards, and six completed passes in seven attempts. Unfortunately for the youngster, despite his desire, he couldn’t lead the team to a touchdown.
At one point, he even consulted the coach to get in the game and try to finish the drive.
“I wanted to score. I wanted to go back in. I was definitely itching for more,” Cards’ starting QB told after the match.
However, coach Kingsbury didn’t want to risk anything, so he decided to avoid leaving the rookie in the game. The fans were not very thrilled, but the newly appointed coach stood by his decision.
He reached three first-downs, and the team looked very fluid on the field. Though, Murray didn’t show his running abilities; his debut was looking just fine.
“I thought it was smooth. I was anxious to get out there, move around and throw it a little bit,” Murray said.
The first quarter didn’t saw any points, and the teams were still looking rusty from their preseason activities. But as soon as the second period started, the show kicked in. Justin Jackson rushed for 4 yards with less than a minute and a half since the start of that part of the game. It was 7-0 for the guests after Mike Badgley’s extra-point conversion.
The result stayed until half a minute before the halftime, when Trent Sherfield caught a pass from Brett Hundley 22 yards long. Hundley was playing a solid game and collected 104 yards with 10 completions in 14 attempts.
Zane Gonzales made the conversion, and after that had a 55-yard field goal, to bring the edge to the home team. It was the middle of the third, and stayed like that until the end of it.
Arizona sealed the game at the start of the last sequence, with Wes Hills’ 7-yard rush.
The chargers tried to come back, but unsuccessfully. The only thing they did was to add one more TD, and it was a 31-yard run of their third QB Easton Stick, who ignited the crowd. In the meantime, Anthony Lynn tried all the QBs Chargers have, including Philip Rivers and Tyrod Taylor, who will be backing up Rivers in the future.
The Arizona Cardinals are opening the regular part of the season against the Detroit Lions at home, on September 8. Meanwhile, the Chargers are hosting the Indianapolis Colts, who are predicted to be one of the better teams in the NFL this year.
