Cardinals dazed and confused by uneven game, miraculous catch

Budda Baker said a few weeks ago that after a Cardinals win, he likes to sip on some tequila. The Cardinals safety says that yes, of course, tequila will be his drink of choice again this Sunday.

“It’s gonna be tequila with a slight bit of ice, and slight bit of, what do I use? Pineapple juice,” he mulled aloud. “So I’m gonna be sippin’ on that a little bit, and just glad we got the W, and gonna be chillin’ at the house.”

It will be one of the few chill things about Sunday. 

The Cardinals’ 32-30 felt like a slow sip to start as the teams mainly traded field goals before it pivoted to shots, no chaser, in the fourth quarter. A 43-yard touchdown plucked by DeAndre Hopkins through three defenders ultimately left the Bills feeling salty, as the Cardinals moved to 6-3. 

It was a frenzied and dizzying end, and quarterback Kyler Murray said at that point, he was seeing black spots. 

“It’s funny, all I saw were black gloves arising from everybody,” he said. “It was a group of four people, and all I saw were black gloves, so I’m just glad he caught the ball.”

Hopkins likened it to dunking on opponent and to a walk-off. But to get to that wild finish, first it was a battle of kickers. 

Six of the first seven scores were field goals. Bills kicker Tyler Bass was good from 54, 55 and 58 yards out, in that order. Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez went shot for shot, until he eventually edged him out, with four on the day. But the field goals were indicative of something bigger: Both teams struggled to find the end zone for the 30 minutes. At halftime, it was 16-9. 

“We got down there, and we were just kicking field goals and not finishing drives, putting ourselves in tough situations, putting the defense in tough situations,” Murray said. “They get a stop, and we were just not playing good complimentary football, but we understood that we had to just keep going.”

The first passing touchdown of the vaunted quarterback showdown between Murray and Josh Allen came from Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. Allen found himself on the receiving end. 

Eventually, two touchdown runs by Murray, one of one yard and one of 15, got the Cardinals into the end zone. The game finally had more life. 

Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins (10) breaks a tackle from Bils’ Dane Jackson (30) after a catch at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Nov. 15, 2020.

 (Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)

But the fourth quarter seemed like a case of a nap and rally after an afternoon of tailgating. Murray’s 15-yard touchdown run came just before the third quarter closed, putting Arizona up 26-23. Then, neither team scored again until there were 34 seconds left in the game. 

The Cardinals’ first drive of the fourth quarter ended on an interception. Their next two drives, they went three and out. Sandwiched between those failed drives was an interception that gave Arizona the ball back after just one play. Murray then had two incompletions and was sacked for a loss of six. When the Bills got the ball back with 3:35, it felt like a relapse to previous losses. 

But Murray, who threw the first Hail Mary of his career, said the Cardinals’ confidence hadn’t wavered at any point Sunday. 

“I think we knew what we had all game,” Murray said. 

When asked specifically if perhaps the game was on drugs, Kingsbury entertained the idea.

“That’s kind of how I feel. That’s a good way to describe it. It felt like it was some back and forth with both teams kind of sputtering at times,” he said. “Not putting it in the end zone.

“And then it went crazy at the end. It’s just nice to come out on top of a game that goes that way.”

Kingsbury says they’ll ride this high for a few hours before gearing up for a Thursday night game in Seattle. Of course, there are a couple side effects to a game of this sort. By the time Murray spoke to reporters, he had already seen highlight after highlight of the Hopkins catch that put the game on ice. He’ll toast to that, since in real time, it was a blur. 

“I really don’t remember, it happened so fast,” Murray said. “It happened so fast, but I knew once it left my hand, it had a good chance.”

Reach the reporter at kfitzgeral@gannett.com or 480-356-6407. Follow her on Twitter @kfitz134.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.