The Arizona Cardinals entered Sunday afternoon’s game against the Falcons at 1-8 on the season, as they are in the first year of a rebuild (or, at minimum, a reset) after major roster and organizational changes in the offseason.
However, while they had the league’s worst record, they have been competitive in a number of games this season and were getting their star quarterback back under center for the first time all year. After starting Josh Dobbs for eight games, the Cardinals traded him to Minnesota where he has since, stunningly, won back-to-back games in place of Kirk Cousins. After a rough outing from rookie Clayton Tune a week ago against the Browns, Kyler Murray made his return to the field for the first time since tearing his ACL a year ago, and injected some life into the Arizona offense.
It was an up-and-down day for Murray, as one might expect in his first NFL game in almost a year, but the final drive of the game was a reminder of his talents and why he was once the first overall pick in the Draft. On a 3rd-and-10, trailing 23-22 with just under two minutes to play, Murray somehow scrambled out of trouble, circling 20 yards backwards before running for a first down as Falcons defenders chased him in vain.
Kyler ran and ran and ran until he got the first down 😳 @K1
📺: #ATLvsAZ on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/beWCv5etrq— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2023
A couple plays later, Murray let it fly downfield and got help from Trey McBride, who tracked an underthrown ball as a Falcons DB overran it, to put Arizona firmly in field goal range.
No fear from Kyler and Trey McBride to get the @AZCardinals in the red zone!
📺: #ATLvsAZ on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/6kojzIw6fY— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2023
Arizona would then run the ball and position things to set up a game-winning field goal, one of three walkoff kicks in the late slate, as Murray and the Cardinals picked up a win to boost morale a bit in the desert.
The @AZCardinals win it in Kyler's return! #ATLvsAZ pic.twitter.com/0zfhp0sGrF
— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2023
Murray finished the game 19-of-32 passing for 249 yards and one interception, tacking on 33 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries. It wasn’t his absolute best, but the way he moved was certainly encouraging coming off an ACL and one would think he gained a lot of confidence in his health moving forward the rest of the season.
