Kyler Murray: ‘I honestly don’t know’ what happened on Cardinals’ disastrous final play vs. Packers
of their 24-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers.As wild wins add up, resilient Packers show they’re a top Super Bowl contenderAaron Rodgers’ reaction to hit on Thursday Night Football became an instant meme
The rise and fall of the Red Sea, at least for one week, happened in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
Arizona showed why it’s the NFL’s best team at stopping opponents on fourth down when linebacker Devon Kennard caused Green Bay’s turnover on downs after he batted down Aaron Rodgers’ pass from the Cardinals 5.
The Cardinals’ faithful was ready to explode and wave their fan towels with joy as the team drove 94 yards to the Packers’ 5, down by 3.
They were poised for an epic comeback from down 24-14 early in the fourth quarter. But with 12 seconds to play, Kyler Murray threw the ball toward A.J. Green, who ran a go route but never turned his head toward the ball. The veteran wide receiver looked confused as he slowed up, and spun around with his hands up wondering how his defender, cornerback Rasul Douglas, tipped and intercepted the pass to seal the Packers’ victory.
The Cardinals’ chance of going 8-0 for the first time in franchise history evaporated.
Kingsbury said he wanted that play, but it was a “miscommunication, obviously” and he didn’t know what happened between Murray and Green.
“I honestly don’t know. Just a miscommunication,” Murray said. “I couldn’t tell you, but we just gotta be better.”
Murray said that he didn’t talk to Green about the errant play after the game.
“I know he’s hot. Emotions running high,” Murray said. “Obviously, after the fact that it’s … we both know we weren’t on the same page and it cost us. But we’ll be better because of it.”
Murray looked sullen as he walked with his head down exiting the press conference.
Cardinals running back James Conner took the high road about the mishap.
“We’re not gonna put this on one guy. We’re not gonna do that,” Conner said. “We’re just gonna get back to it. Not much to say. When you lose, you just take it and bounce back and see what you can do to learn from it. You refocus, but not a lot of room for talking.”
It’s not ideal for how the Cardinals want to begin their four-day break before they return to practice on Tuesday.
They have much time to refocus on their Week 9 road game against the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 7.
“I’ll enjoy these couple days, for sure,” Cardinals ILB Jordan Hicks said. “Playing two games in five days isn’t easy, not on anybody’s body. We’ll definitely enjoy it. Obviously we’ll wish we had a win going into that. But it’s an opportunity for us to get healthy. It’s an opportunity for us to settle down and learn from the mistakes we made this game, really refresh our mind and get back to work.”
The Cardinals’ reset over the next week is much needed as team has been marred by injuries and COVID-19.
Even though the way they lost on Thursday was baffling, if they regroup and make the playoffs for the first time in six years, or win the tough NFC West division title, the Cardinals locker room will be partying harder in January.
And that would be sweet music to Cardinals fans’ ears.
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