The Cardinals reached a milestone on Sunday. A rite of passage.
They are officially a good football team.
Following a 28-27 thrilling road win over the Dolphins, the Cardinals have won consecutive games for the first time since 2021. They are a .500 team suddenly in contention for a NFC West title, a confident team surging into a soft stretch of schedule.
Go ahead. Dare to believe.
What makes this victory different was their pathway to victory, and the maturity required. On a day when the Dolphins stuffed James Conner into a locker for most of 60 minutes, the Cardinals found an alternate route. Kyler Murray played elite football, finally elevating a passing game previously full of low-flying birds.
It started with Murray’s patience in the pocket and in his progressions. He is clearly trying to manage his quick-twitch nature to better suit developing routes. On Sunday, those efforts led to a real connection with prized rookie Marvin Harrison, who produced six catches in seven targets, many of them spectacular, and many of them pivotal.
On a day when Conner was mostly nullified, the Cardinals produced a pair of 100-yard receivers. Playing in MIA, Harrison was no longer MIA. His performance paired with rising star Trey McBride like the perfect bottle of wine.
The Cardinals won this game on resilience. They survived the emotional tsunami that came with the return of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who carved up Arizona’s defense in the early going. And despite any whiff of a legitimate pass rush to test the concussion-prone quarterback … despite the Dolphins dominating on third-down conversions … the Cardinals kept competing. They kept hitting hard every time they had the chance. Budda Baker was beastly, as ferocious as I’ve seen him in years. And it all paid off in the end.
The Cardinals trailed 27-18 in the fourth quarter when they decided to plant their flag. Harrison came up with a gutsy diving catch, so improbable that it was initially ruled incomplete. After a touchdown, the Cardinals defense came up with a pivotal stop on demand, generating pressure with a pair of risky, timely and very smart blitzes. And then Murray led his team on a game-winning drive for the second time in as many weeks.
The ending was breathtaking and inspiring. Kicker Chad Ryland was hoisted on the shoulders of joyous teammates. Earlier in the day, his 57-yard field goal helped the team extract three points from an unenviable 2nd-down-and-30 situation. His final kick was his third game-winning effort since joining the team, capping a drive in which the Cardinals shook off a damaging holding penalty.
It was a snapshot of a football team that had launched their star rookie, leveled their record and accomplished something very important on the road.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.
