The Arizona Cardinals picked up a dominant 41-10 win over the L.A. Rams on Sunday at State Farm Stadium. They piled up almost 500 yards of offense and got their first home win over the Rams since 2014.
There was a lot to like offensively in the win.
What did we learn?
Another fast start
Against the Bills in Week 1, they scored three times in three possessions to take a 17-3 lead. Against the Rams, they scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, then a field goal and didn’t punt until their final possession of the first half, taking a 21-point into halftime.
Marvin Harrison Jr. involved early and often
After only getting three targets and catching one pass for four yards in the season opener, the Cardinals made sure to get Harrison involved early. Kyler Murray’s first pass was thrown to Harrison, although Tre’Davious White broke it up.
Murray then connected with Harrison for a 23-yard touchdown pass and a 60-yard touchdown pass. He finished with four receptions for 130 yards and two scores. All those numbers game in the first quarter.
Running game dominant
After struggling to get yards against the Bills, the Cardinals had no problem running the ball against the Rams. James Conner’s first two runs went for 16 and 13 yards. He finished with 121 yards and a touchdown. Kyler Murray rushed for 59 yards. Emari Demercado even added 46 after ripping off a 41-yarder late in the game. They finished with 231 rushing yards.
Kyler was magically good
Murray was in a zone. He had a “perfect” passer rating of 158.3 (it is the highest possible rating), completing 17-of-21 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He added 59 rushing yards.
Through two games, he is on pace for 34 touchdown passes and nearly 1,000 rushing yards. Those compare with the numbers Lamar Jackson had in his two MVP seasons.
And the highlights? Wow. His throw to Harrison for the first touchdown was perfect. He made an improbable throw scrambling to his left for 32 yards to Harrison on the sideline. And his touchdown pass to Elijah Higgins was vintage Murray, spinning and dodging pressure and delivering a perfect dart for the score.
Pass protection good
Murray was sacked only one time, by Kobie Turner. Last week, right tackle Kelvin Beachum was the weak link. Against the Rams, he did very well against Byron Young, who had a sack in Week 1 and eight as a rookie last season.
A complete performance
It was the best offensive performance by far by the Cardinals under head coach Jonathan Gannon. It might have been their best offensive game of football since Bruce Arians was head coach.
Murray was great. So was Conner. Harrison had a big game. Trey McBride was productive. seven different players caught passes.
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