Postgame party atmospheres are reserved for wins, so hearing the bass rattle the walls just outside the Cardinals locker room after Sunday’s dramatic win over the Falcons, that wasn’t really a surprise. But the win was so much more than just the 25-23 score, or snapping a losing streak. Kyler Murray’s return made it more, because of not just what it meant in the moment but what it meant perhaps for the future.
That Kyler Murray? That’s a player a team can build around, especially factoring in the inexperience he has in the current offense and knowing some of the hiccups can be massaged out. Knowing GM Monti Ossenfort will continue to improve the roster.
“It’s a big victory for us,” said running back James Conner, himself making a triumphant return from injury. “How else would it be for him to come back off a knee and have to go lead us down the field and make the plays he made on that drive specifically for us to put the game away. Beautiful.”
The Cardinals have moved to third in the live draft order, and my guess is they will continue in that direction. Murray makes a dramatic impact – Jonathan Gannon’s team is simply different with K1 behind center – and the Cardinals match up differently now.
Next week’s game against the team of which they also hold the first-round pick for in the Texans gets pretty interesting too.
But that’s next week. For Sunday night, the Cardinals celebrate. A win. A returning quarterback. Hope.
“I was a little late, you know, had a couple interviews after the thing but I got in there and music was loud,” McBride said. “Guys are jumping around and dancing. You know, it was fun. It’s fun and it felt good to be back. It felt awesome.”
— Antonio Hamilton went through some things at the end of Sunday’s game. The veteran cornerback was called for a crucial 32-yard pass interference that set up the touchdown allowing the Falcons to take the lead with 2:33 left. But he also made a fantastic tackle on Drake London on the Falcons’ two-point conversion, driving London sideways out of bounds before he could cross the goal-line and making sure a field goal could win the game for the Cardinals.
“I think that was a bit of a test of my faith, whether I would fold under pressure or step up,” Hamilton said. “The call happened … I knew I couldn’t stop playing. The two-point play came, they threw the ball at me again, and I knew I had to make a play. I stopped it, and Kyler and (Matt)…
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