Murphy’s scoop, score complete Arizona rally
ARIZONA 29, LAS VEGAS 23 (OT)
LAS VEGAS — The Arizona Cardinals’ season appeared to be falling apart shortly after it began. One week after getting blown out by Kansas City, they took a 20-point deficit into the locker room at halftime Sunday.
But the afternoon ended with Byron Murphy Jr. scooping up a fumble and scoring in overtime for a wild 29-23 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, his Arizona teammates all sprinting behind him in a frenzy.
The Cardinals got off the brink and into the win column thanks to quarterback Kyler Murray, who made one spectacular play after another to show exactly why this team gladly gave him another $230.5 million.
“I had to take over,” Murray said. “Do whatever it took to win.”
Murphy returned Hunter Renfrow’s fumble 59 yards for a touchdown with 3:51 left in overtime, and the Cardinals rallied from a 20-0 deficit in the second half before running away with the win.
Arizona (1-1) trailed 23-7 with less than nine minutes left in regulation, but Murray led two touchdown drives capped by twopoint conversions. He passed for 277 yards, rushed for 28 more and flummoxed the Vegas defense with his elusiveness, particularly on a frantic scramble for a remarkable two-point conversion with 8:13 to play.
Murray then scrambled for a three-yard touchdown on the final snap of regulation before hitting A.J. Green for the tying twopoint conversion.
“That’s what he can do that nobody else can,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “He gave us opportunities, and we made the most of it.”
The Raiders stopped Murray on downs on Arizona’s opening drive of overtime, but Renfrow then made a catch and fumbled for the second consecutive play. Isaiah Simmons knocked it loose, and Murphy snagged the ball and sprinted down the Cardinals’ sideline.
Murphy nearly ruined his own heroics when he released the ball from his hand right at the goal line, but a video review determined he barely scored. Murray grimaced and winced at the memory of watching Murphy lose the ball an instant after it would have cost the Cardinals dearly.
“I told him, you’ve got to take the ball home with you,” Murray said. “That would have hurt.”