Lopsided loss proof Arizona needs Murray, Hopkins back
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Maybe the Cardinals need Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins after all.
Arizona’s second go-round without its two main playmakers on the field didn’t go nearly as well as the first. Carolina whipped the shorthanded Cardinals 34-10 on Sunday, building a 23-0 halftime lead before cruising to the easy win.
Arizona (8-2) still looks like one of the NFL’s top teams, but there’s little doubt the Murray-Hopkins combo has to stay healthy in the season’s second half. Murray has been hobbled by an ankle injury, Hopkins has a hamstring issue.
Kelvin Beachum said the team wasn’t going to let one very bad day change what has been a very good season to this point. The right tackle added that there’s “no reason to think the sky is falling.”
“Everything is not going to be peaches and cream,” Beachum said. “It is not going to be pleasant. Sometimes you’ve got to find a way to battle through the adversity. We haven’t had a lot of adversity this year and we haven’t been dominant at home. Those things got exposed today.”
The Cardinals have one more game before their muchanticipated bye week over Thanksgiving. Arizona travels to Seattle next Sunday.
“We’ve got to get some stuff cleaned up,” Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “There is no doubt.”
Backup quarterback Colt McCoy played so well in the previous Sunday’s win against the 49ers, it might have lulled Arizona into a false sense of security against the Panthers. McCoy completed 22 of 26 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown at Levi’s Stadium.
Things unraveled quickly against the Panthers.
McCoy fumbled after being sacked on the third play of the game and the Panthers were able to turn that into a quick touchdown when Cam Newton ran for a 2-yard score.
Newton’s return appeared to give Carolina an edge in energy that the Cardinals simply couldn’t match. The 2015 NFL MVP signed with his former team last week. He ran for a touchdown and threw for one.
McCoy finished 11-for-20 passing for 107 yards with one interception.
“We just dug ourselves a giant hole we couldn’t get out of,” McCoy said. “A lot of that starts with me. I have to play a lot better.”
No offense to McCoy, but it’s probably better if the 35-yearold isn’t playing much at all.
If he’s on the sideline, that probably means Murray is back on the field. The 24-yearold QB has thrown for 2,276 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. He also has run for three touchdowns.