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RECAP: Cardinals win big in Vegas, Kyler Murray is who we thought he was

The defense gave up 20 first half points to the Raiders and the offense put up 23 in the second for a thrilling overtime win.

NFL: Arizona Cardinals at Las Vegas Raiders Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals didn’t seem concerned coming off of their 44-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

There was talk of how bad the team was and how much they needed to improve the week before and the team, in a much needed game to avoid coming out 0-2 came out...pretty flat.

Arizona looked completely lost on both sides of the ball entering the game. The Raiders moved the ball easily and while JJ Watt was making impact plays, the Cards turned it over, struggled and had over 100 yards in penalties on the game.

In fact, the comments came in about how Arizona looked worse than pretty much every single team in the league:

Kyler had 53 yards total in the first half.

And in the second half...Murray Magic took over.

He finished with 2 TD’s (one through the air and one on the ground) and 277 yards with a INT and two clutch two-point conversions.

It was one of the most improbable wins of the year.

Drops by AJ Green, Hollywood Brown and two failed 4th down plays (one an Ertz drop/errant Murray throw on the run and one by Hollywood Brown) put the game in the Raiders’ hands.

Yet, Arizona did not go down. They gave up only a field goal after being outscored 64-21 in the previous 6 quarters of action and showed grit, tenacity and established a dominant form of play and high level in the second half.

Kyler’s legs was THE difference in the game. He scored a rushing TD in the most improbable way on 4th down and on a 2 point conversion where Arizona needed it to keep it a 1-score game.

It felt like Lady Luck was on their side.

The coin toss fell to them in overtime, and there were two fumbles and a near INT in overtime.

But at the end of the day...Kyler Murray carried this team.

And the Cardinals came to maybe the most improbable win they’ve had since a certain 2019 Lions game...or a 2020 Seahawks game...or the Hail Murray.

Alright, Cardinals.

You have our attention. Maybe this win will mean a bit less of a heart attack moving forward.