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Sooners in the NFL: Kyler Murray Leads Cardinals to Major Road Upset

The former Oklahoma quarterback was the star of the show on Sunday.
Ross Lovelace|
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma Sooners

After two straight deflating losses, the Arizona Cardinals are back on track — largely thanks to Kyler Murray’s heroics. Murray and company pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Week 5 action on Sunday, marching into San Francisco and knocking off the 49ers 24-23.

“Man, the locker room felt it,” Murray said after the big win. “We hadn’t played our best ball in the first half and we understood that. We rallied around each other at halftime and knew we were going to come out here and play our game, stick to it. 

“That’s a great team over there. In a hostile environment, we came out here, we executed second half, we got it done.”

Murray' guided the Cardinals to a dramatic comeback from a 23-10 third-quarter deficit. He finished the afternoon with 195 yards and a touchdown through the air, completing 19-of-30 passing attempts. He did serious damage on the ground, too, rushing seven times for 83 yards and a touchdown. His longest run was a dazzling 50-yard sprint that he took all the way to the end zone.

Murray orchestrated Arizona’s go-ahead drive with wizardly only he could pull off. On the team’s most important play of the afternoon, a fourth-and-5 with just under three minutes left on the clock, Murray ignored the all out blitz a lobbed it up to Marvin Harrison Jr. in single coverage for a first down. He continued marching with his legs and let it fly through the air to set up a game-winning field goal.

His playmaking abilities were on display all afternoon long, and it’s clear his legs are fully under him again after his ACL injury in 2022. On his 50-yard touchdown run, Murray hit a top speed of 21.27 mph, which is the fastest speed by a quarterback over the last eight seasons, according to Next Gen Stats.

On the season, Murray now has 972 passing yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He also has 247 yards and a score on the ground. The Cardinals move to 2-3 with a crucial win over a division rival, and the team has momentum heading into next week’s matchup in Green Bay.

Murray looked like his college self on Sunday, willing the Cardinals to victory. He could be leading one of the NFL’s surprise teams if Arizona keeps trending in the right direction.

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Ross Lovelace
ROSS LOVELACE

Ross has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma Sooners since 2018. He's made guest appearances on various radio stations and the Sooners On SI podcast. Ross enjoys public speaking and has done so at multiple churches and high schools across the OKC metro area. In addition to writing, Ross has been the Play-by-Play announcer for Crossings’ basketball and football programs since 2020. In high school, Ross started with Thunder Digest, where he discovered his passion for writing. From there, he worked for the OU Daily as a women's basketball reporter and worked for Sooners On SI and Thunder On SI. Ross holds a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and a minor in Communication from the University of Oklahoma. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Ross played basketball and wrote for his own Thunder blog at Crossings High School in OKC. He enjoys reading, New York Jets football and a week at the beach. Ross and his wife live in New Orleans, where he is a Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator at the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee. His Twitter handle is @Rosslovelace.

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