What We Learned from Cardinals' Upset Win vs Steelers
The Arizona Cardinals took a commanding 24-10 victory against the defensively elite Pittsburgh Steelers.
From a game that spanned over four hours due to multiple weather delays, here are the main takeaways of the Cardinals' first road victory since November 13, 2022.
The Murray-McBride connection is growing
We've been banging the McBride drum for weeks now, but today was the first game that looked like QB Kyler Murray was in near-perfect sync with his big tight end.
McBride had another excellent performance, once again leading the Cardinals air attack. McBride hauled in eight of his nine targets, going for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Pushed back to their own one yard-line, McBride was an instrumental part of Arizona's 15-play, 99-yard touchdown drive. The second-year TE brought in four catches for 49 yards and the score, including three third-down conversions.
After McBride caught a pass in the end zone for an initially-called touchdown, replay review made a questionable decision to reverse the call. McBride promptly caught a five-yard pass at the goal line for the touchdown, his second of the season.
Even after some excellent games from McBride, it seemed like he and Murray had been on different pages in the previous few weeks. Today showed the beginning of an excellent duo, as he was a reliable, clutch target for Murray when the Cards needed it the most.
James Conner Shines in Homecoming
This is as much of a James Conner point as a Drew Petzing one, but following a game in which Conner was only given 6 carries, and Kyler was terrorized in the shotgun all game, Petzing did what was necessary and came at the Steelers with a better game plan.
With Murray under center more frequently, and Marquise Brown going down with an injury, Petzing relied on his offensive weapons. RB James Conner was given plenty of opportunities to run under center. Although stuffed by a solid Steelers front seven in the first half, the veteran back exploded in the second half, finishing with 25 carries, for 105 yards and two crucial scores.
Conner essentially iced the game, taking six carries for 50 yards on the final drive alone. This allowed Arizona to run out the clock and avoid giving the Steelers a final opportunity.
The Pennsylvania born, Pitt-grown former Steeler had a massive game in his return to his hometown stadium.
Paris Johnson Jr. Kept T.J. Watt at Bay
Paris Johnson Jr. has looked like a potential franchise tackle all season. Sure, he hasn't been perfect, and he's had some weaker showings, but he's handled the pressure of star pass rushers fairly well, and today was a great example.
T.J. Watt is an absolute menace. Asking anyone to block him is a tall task, but Johnson held him to a relatively minimal impact. Watt logged just 3 solo tackles and half a sack, one of his only two QB hits in the game.
Johnson appeared to win many of his reps against the DPOY candidate,
Murray was protected decently well from the menacing Pittsburgh pass rush. The QB was sacked twice and hit five times. Against a defensive front like the Steelers, the Cardinals will absolutely take a performance like that from their offensive line.
Penalties continue to plague them, but keeping Watt and co. off his QB for the majority of the game is a praiseworthy effort by the rookie tackle.
QB Kyler Murray was Efficient, not Eye-Popping
The QB was 13/23, for 165 total yards, a touchdown and 0 turnovers. He was sacked twice.
This is the type of game that is rough on a QB's reputation. Kyler Murray was very solid all game. He was accurate, and made seemingly zero bad decisions. He missed a good amount of throws early on, but hit his men in clutch situations and was able to escape pressure. However, the stats won't show a solid game.
It's delusional to not admit Murray hasn't been playing at an all-pro level since his return. Sure, there are tons of factors at play - OL and WR struggles, play calling, etc--but the unfortunate truth is that he's looked a bit shaky since that Atlanta victory.
That being said, there were multiple big plays left on the field today. Early in the second quarter, Murray fired a beautiful deep shot to WR Rondale Moore. Despite placing the ball perfectly beyond the double coverage, Moore dropped the pass, which hit him in the hands and led to an eventual Arizona punt.
Early in the fourth quarter, Murray pulled off another incredible play. Escaping the pressure and running to his right, Murray fired deep into the back of the end zone, targeting Moore once more. Moore, standing at a mere 5-foot-7, snagged a Moss-like catch over the top of former Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson.
Unfortunately, a questionable offensive holding penalty brought the play back. If these two perfect plays by Kyler Murray had counted, he could have easily surpassed the 200-yard mark with multiple passing touchdowns.
Murray was able to keep the team rolling, even on third downs. Arizona was 10-17 on third down conversions, partially thanks to the Murray-McBride connection.
Ultimately, Murray made the necessary plays, and was not responsible for any turnovers or game-altering negative plays. While the Cardinals haven't seen elite QB play from Murray, and conversations may arise about who they should draft, the offense was set up for him to succeed, with less pressure for the young QB to play hero ball in his fourth game back from injury.
With Some Added Talent, This Defense can be a Force
Credit to both Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis: An Arizona defense that has had major issues in both the talent and depth departments. While they didn't exactly face an offensive Goliath today, the fact that they were able to lock down the Steelers offense, down multiple starters, and hold them to just one near-garbage time touchdown says a lot about how hard this unit plays.
They held both Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky to a combined 187 passing yards, and although the run defense was beat up early, they were able to force Pittsburgh into passing situations and play a relatively clean game defensively.
The Cards defense was able to turn the Steelers away at the one-yard line, stopping RB Najee Harris short on fourth down. The ensuing drive was a 99-yard touchdown drive.
When your defense does your offense favors, and the offense is able to cash in on those favors, that's a recipe for the success of the unit as a whole.
Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis deserve praise for the way they handled this team today. Not once did they look unprepared or on their heels, even when the defense allowed some yards.
The Cardinals showed who they could be today. And with an injection of talent and the continued development of this young core, this is the type of performance that can keep fans excited for the potential. The Steelers are far from a write-off squad, even if their offense has struggled.
It feels good to win again.
