The Arizona Cardinals offense was a spinning pinwheel for three-plus quarters Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks.
Kyler Murray and crew couldn't boot up, unable to find paydirt until under six minutes left, trailing 20-6 in the fourth quarter. When they finally logged in, Arizona made a furious comeback to tie the game, 20-20, with 28 seconds remaining. They watched as Sam Darnold calmly marched Seattle the other way for the game-winning score for a 23-20 final.
"We've got to make more plays. We've got to show up, be ready to go. It's like s--- is loading, you know what I mean, and it's taking too long," Murray said. "Obviously, the resilience of the team, you love to see it, and you feel like you give yourself the chance to win the game at the end, but it's just too late."
The Cardinals generated 115 total yards, eight first downs and 3 points on their first eight drives, two of which ended in Murray interceptions. On their final three drives, Arizona put up 138 total yards, 10 first downs, 17 points -- field goal, touchdown, touchdown.
Falling to 2-2, the Cardinals lost on the final play of regulation in two straight games four days apart.
Glitching early only to find their stride down the stretch mirrored the play of second-year receiver Marvin Harrison Jr..
In the first half, the 2024 No. 4 overall pick looked lost in his own head. At some points, it appeared as though he and Murray had never played together before. Harrison caught one of five first-half passes for 8 yards. Murray targeted the wideout on both of his interceptions, one of which clanged off Harrison's hands to be swooped up by a defender.
Harrison's blunders and the offense's ineptitude led to boos from Cardinals fans going into halftime.
Murray said after the loss that the struggles wouldn't stop him from going to Harrison.
"He needs me, I need him," Murray said. "This is a team sport, four-quarter game, and I understand he's not coming out of the game. I don't want him to come out of the game. So, we've got to get this going. And that's really just what it is. Just conversations on the sideline, keeping his confidence up."
Harrison turned things around in the second half, catching all five of his targets for 58 yards and a touchdown. Following the score, Harrison, who didn't talk to the media after the game, looked like a giant weight had been taken off his shoulders.
"I love the way that he fought back and continued to play hard and continued to make plays," Murray said. "Obviously, he's probably going to go home thinking about that s---. But at the end of the day, again, it's football. We all make mistakes. But he continued to battle. I'm excited."
Harrison's struggles to open the season have been evident. They were on display for a national audience in prime time on Thursday night. His drops, flubs and lack of chemistry with Murray have stalled the Cards' offense.
"I'm not worried about Marv at all," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. "He's going to be just fine. He's resilient, just as this whole crew is."
After Harrison's character finally fully loaded in the second half on Thursday, the hope is that he stays in the game, and, perhaps, the Cardinals offense can take off.
