What Went Right/Wrong in Cardinals Win vs. Raiders

It was anything but pretty, but the Arizona Cardinals got a crucial win to get their confidence back. Here's what went right and wrong during the win.

Author:
Richie Bradshaw
Publish date:
Sep 19, 2022 11:34 AM EDT

In this story:

Arizona Cardinals

Las Vegas Raiders

This had to be one of the most hectic games I can remember in recent memory for the Arizona Cardinals.

It gave off some familiar vibes of the Buffalo Bills game from back in 2020. It certainly kept us on the edge of our seats up until the final play and thankfully the road team pulled off the win.

It was an ugly game, but a win is a win! There were a lot of negatives to work on, but the positives need to be celebrated, too, and that's what we're here to do as we dive into what went right and what went wrong for the Cardinals in their first win of the 2022 season.

What went right:

The defense felt like a doormat for most of the game. It was giving up silly conversions and couldn’t get a stop for the majority of the game. Before you knew it, Arizona was down 20-0 heading into halftime. After the performance the unit gave last week, it felt like it was going to be history repeating itself. However, the Cardinals dug deep within themselves and found the grit to get the stop they desperately needed. After the offense stalled out in overtime, the defense came up clutch with an Isaiah Simmons forced fumble on Hunter Renfrow. The fumble was promptly scooped up by Byron Murphy and returned for the game-ending touchdown. It truly doesn’t get more clutch than that. Props to the defense for this one. They very well gave Arizona the win after the offense stalled out.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That’s how that old saying goes and the Cardinals stepped up to the occasion and became the epitome of that saying. After being shut out in the first half down, Arizona responded by holding Las Vegas to just three second half points while scoring 23 to tie the game. Oh, and they converted two two-point attempts to get there. Kyler Murray truly answered the call of duty (see what I did there?) and became a leader when the game was on the line. This Murray is going to win a lot of football games, and when he’s dialed in like he was in the second half of this game, very few teams can stop him.

On the topic of Murray, man was he good. Despite having a silly interception on an ill-advised pass (maybe a throwaway?), Murray racked up 300 total yards of offense with two clutch scores including the tying touchdown run as the clock expired for regulation. Not only did Murray orchestrate some outstanding drives to keep the Cardinals in a game that felt lost long ago, but he converted both of his two-point conversions. Most impressively was his first conversion. Murray took nearly ~21 seconds for the play to eventually lead to him running into the end zone. If you watched it live, you were probably doing a lot of screaming at your TV. As previously said, this version of Murray is going to win the Cardinals a lot of games. This kind of play and leadership is what the Cardinals have desperately searched for years and years. Should Murray maintain the consistency to continue doing what he did today, Arizona has to be excited that the season, while young, can turn around in their favor.

What went wrong:

If the Cardinals want to be given more credit than they’re given, then they need to stop with the slow starts. The previous week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona had just seven points in the first half and allowed 23 points to Kansas City. Digging holes has been a common theme for the Cardinals thus far. These kinds of starts make it seemingly impossible to get out of and win games. The team should be thankful they pulled it off this week, because this is highly unsustainable, and if this continues to be a pattern for Arizona, they’re going to lose a lot more games than they’ll win.

Part of the reason the Cardinals found themselves in such a deep hole, to begin with, was because of the poor play of the defense. Arizona's defense has been trampled on this year and while they have played some high-quality offenses, there comes a point where we cannot continue to grant excuses. The Cardinals are struggling in the secondary with very few players stepping up their game. The pass rush has been frustrating to start the year, and the linebacker play has been subpar at best. The defense has a lot of kinks that need to be worked out soon before this season will get ugly.

After a disappointing Week 1 performance, James Conner followed it up with an equally disappointing game against the Raiders. Conner was once again under 4.0 yards per carry and is looking slow and sluggish. As if that wasn't already enough, Conner is banged up now and Arizona cannot afford to see such an important piece of their offense on the sidelines. While the running back depth is certainly there, the Cardinals are better when Conner plays well. The offense's inconsistency is no surprise when you correlate Conner's poor play into the equation. There's no need to rush Conner back from injury, but the sooner he gets back to his 2021 self the better for Arizona.

Take this win and be proud Red Sea. This was an impressive comeback full of grit and determination that should be celebrated for a good while. Good teams know how to win ugly games, and the Cardinals managed to win in ugly, but clutch, fashion.

A win is a win, and the Cardinals will head home to take on the in-division rival Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.

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