Category: Cardinals vs. Falcons

Seahawks’ Jason Myers is NFC Special Teams Player of the Week over Matt Prater

Matt Prater’s performance vs. the Falcons was overshadowed by Myers’ game against the Commanders.

Arizona Cardinals kick er Matt Prater had a fantastic game on Sunday in Week 10. He made four field goals, two that were longer than 50 yards, and he hit a game-winning 23-yard field goal as time expired. He made an extra point as well.

It seemed like he would be an ideal candidate to win the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award for Week 10.

He did not win it. Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers won the award, and understandably so. He made five field goals and two extra points, scoring 17 total points and hitting a game-winner as time expired.

Prater deserved it but so did Myers.

All the players of the week for both the NFC and AFC are below.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Reacting to Kyler Murray’s return, Cardinals’ win over Falcons

Jess Root and Seth Cox react to the Cardinals’ win and Kyler Murray’s play in the latest edition of the podcast.

The Arizona Cardinals won on Sunday, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 25-23 at home in the return of quarterback Kyler Murray, snapping a six-game losing streak.

In the latest edition of the podcast, Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and I break down and react to the game. We talk about Murray’s performance in his debut, more positives from the game, some of the negatives and then predict how many games we think the Cardinals will win with Murray back in the lineup.

Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!

Times and topics:

(1:00) Reactions to Kyler Murray’s return and play

(18:39) Positives in the win over the Falcons

(34:30) Negatives from the win

(47:26) How many wins will the Cardinals have with Murray?

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Cardinals part of historic NFL weekend with last-second wins

In Week 10, there were a record six game-winning field goals as time expired.

The Arizona Cardinals snapped a six-game losing streak with a 25-23 home win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. It took a game-winning drive from quarterback Kyler Murray in his first game of 2023 and ended with kicker Matt Prater making a 23-yard field goal as time expired.

The win was part of NFL history.

On Sunday, five games were won with a field goal as time expired, the most in any week in the NFL.

On Monday night, with the Denver Broncos’ last-second win over the Buffalo Bills, that number grew to six.

What were the game-ending game-winners?

  • Dustin Hopkins hit a 40-yarder to give the Cleveland Browns a 33-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
  • Matt Ammendola made a 38-yarder to give the Houston Texans a 30-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
  • Prater hit a 23-yarder to give the Cardinals a 25-23 win over the Falcons.
  • Riley Patterson nailed a 41-yarder to give the Detroit Lions a 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
  • Seattle’s Jason Myers made a 43-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 29-26 win over the Washington Commanders.
  • Denver’s Wil Lutz, given a second chance after missing a 41-yarder because Buffalo had 12 men in the field, nailed the 36-yarder to give the Broncos a 24-22 win over the Bills.

Four of the six game-winners came on the road. Three — the wins by the Browns, Cardinals and Broncos — were trailing by one and would have lost the game if they had missed the kicks.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Cardinals’ Week 10 offensive snap counts, observations vs. Falcons

Check out how the Cardinals’ 65 offensive snaps were split up on Sunday.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 25-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, they played 65 offensive snaps.

How was the playing time divided up?

Below are the individual snap counts for every player who got in the game offensively.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Clayton Tune has a new role on offense

It sounds like we can expect him in the game for quarterback sneaks or apparent quarterback sneaks like on Sunday against the Falcons.

After rookie quarterback Clayton Tune made his first career start in Week 9, it appeared that he would quietly move back into an invisible role as backup quarterback who gets no snaps.

After all, Kyler Murray was coming back and, for the first eight games of the season when Josh Dobbs started, he did not log a single offensive snap.

With Murray back, though, Tune appears to have a greater role than he did when Dobbs was the starter.

He played two offensive snaps, lined up twice for what would appear as a “tush push” quarterback sneak, a play in which the quarterback snaps take the snap under center and pushes forward with the help of his teammates in the backfield.

One was the sneak in which Tune scored a touchdown. The other was a fake sneak and toss to James Conner for the first down.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon suggested that Tune will continue to come in for those plays.

“We like the play type with Clayton in there,” Gannon said after the game.  “He’ll continue to have some certain plays up each week and he did a good job executing. That’s not easy to do coming in a game cold and getting a snap and scoring.”

Tune is 6-foot-3 and 220 lbs, making him a little better fit for that quarterback sneak play, as opposed to the 5-foot-10, 207-lb Murray.

With the Cardinals running both types of plays on Sunday, converting on both, teams will have to account for both options.

Tune played terribly in his start against the Cleveland Browns. He was sacked seven times, turned the ball over three times and had only 58 passing yards in a 27-0 loss.

Gannon was impressed with how Tune responded.

“He had a great week of practice — a really good week of practice,” he said. “He came back the right way after getting beat up a little bit, and that’s how coaches and players need to respond when you get beat up a little bit. It shows your true character.”

It would appear that Tune can officially be someone for fans to have on their radar for fantasy and prop bet purposes.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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There was just something different about the Cardinals with Kyler Murray

Players and coaches all noted a different energy with Murray back on the field and in the lineup.

The Arizona Cardinals snapped a six-game losing streak on Sunday, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 25-23 on a last-second field goal. Quarterback Kyler Murray led the team on the game-winning drive in his first game since his season-ending knee injury last December.

There was something palpably different about how things felt with Murray on the field.

The players and coaches noted it.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon called it “a jolt of energy” that Murray brought.

Kicker Matt Prater, who booted four field goals in the win, including the 23-yarder that won it as time expired, noticed it.

“It was great, it was so exciting having Kyler back,” he said postgame. “It was just a different energy, I know it’s a big team game but when you have someone like Kyler coming back who’s special. When they went up and we had two minutes left, I knew we’re going to get a chance to kick one or score. It’s so much fun playing with Kyler.”

Safety Budda Baker noted the “juice” Murray brought.

“Franchise QB — anytime without having that, it’s definitely a hard game overall,” he said. “Just having him back brought a lot of juice to the team, even our fans. I thank all the fans for coming and happy we got a win.”

Tight end Trey McBride, who had a huge game with eight catches for 131 yards, added his thoughts.

“I think just the energy this week, we had James Conner back, we had Kyler back. The energy, the vibe. Everything was good,” he said. “We were coming into this game with a lot of confidence, we knew this was a good game for us, Kyler’s coming back, we’re playing at home. We’re all juiced up, excited and we wanted to play good for him. He’s been out for a year. He’s been grinding, working hard to get back and we just wanted to play hard for him. He deserves it, he’s our franchise guy here, so we wanted to play hard for him and I think we did exactly that.”

We have to see if the extra edge continues as the Cardinals finish the final seven games of the season.

At least for one game, it was clearly different.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Studs and duds in the Cardinals’ 25-23 win over Falcons

There were three studs and a couple of duds in the Cardinals’ 25-23 win over the Falcons on Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals snapped a six-game losing streak on Sunday with a  25-23 last-second win over the Atlanta Falcons at home. It came in the 2023 debut of quarterback Kyler Murray, playing in a game for the first time since tearing his ACL and meniscus last December.

They got big performances from some and some dud performances from others.

Who were the studs and duds from the game on Sunday?

We have them below.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

TE Trey McBride makes history for Cardinals in win over Falcons

He became the third tight end in franchise history to have 100 yards in a game. The last game happened 34 years ago.

The Arizona Cardinals picked up a big 25-23 home win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, snapping a six-game losing streak in the 2023 debut of Kyler Murray.

However, perhaps the player of the game was second-year tight end Trey McBride, who caught eight passes for 131 yards.

The production was somewhat historic.

It was only the third time in franchise history a tight end had at least 100 receiving yards and the first time since Rob Awalt did it 34 years ago to the day in 1989.

“I thought that crazy,” he said about learning of the 34-yard drought after the game. “I wasn’t even thought of. That was still 10 years before I was born.”

He was grateful for the opportunity.

He came close a couple of weeks ago with 10 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens.

“I hope that drought doesn’t last that long again,” he said.

Neither do Cardinals fans.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals 25, Falcons 23: Full highlights from Week 10 win

Check out every big play from the Cardinals’ 25-23 win over the Falcons on Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals were victorious on Sunday, defeating the Atlanta Falcons at home 25-23 on a 23-yard field goal from Matt Prater as time expired.

It snapped a six-game losing streak and marked the return of quarterback Kyler Murray, who made his 2023 debut, playing for the first time since he tore his ACL last December.

He rushed for a touchdown. Tight end Trey McBride had eight catches for 131 yards. Rookie linebacker BJ Ojulari had two sacks.

Atlanta had big plays, too. Running back Bijan Robinson had 95 rushing yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw a touchdown pass and Desmond Ridder came in and gave the Falcons a lead with a nine-yard rushing score.

But the Cardinals made a few more plays when they needed to.

You can see the full highlights from the game in the below video.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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WATCH: Kyler Murray’s top plays in 2023 debut

Kyler Murray had a rushing touchdown, 249 passing yards and led the Cardinals on a game-winning comeback drive in his first game back.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray made his 2023 debut on Sunday with a 25-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons at home in State Farm Stadium.

He finished with 249 passing yards on 19-of-32 attempts. He was picked off once and did not have a touchdown pass. He also rushed six times for 33 yards and a touchdown.

While he wasn’t perfect, missing a couple of throws he would like to have had back, and he was intercepted on a miscommunication, but he looked as electric as ever.

He moved around well and, at the end of the game, led the Cardinals on a game-winning drive after the Falcons took a 23-22 lead with 2:33 to go.

You can see every big play he had in the game in the video below.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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