Carson Beck leads 96-yard TD drive in Arizona Cardinals preseason debut

Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Carson Beck made his preseason debut on Thursday in the Hall of Fame game and his second drive of the game was an impressive march down the field for the first points of the game on a 96-yard touchdown drive.

Beck through two drives was 8-of-9 for 81 yards, with one carry for four yards as well. He finished 15-of-19 for 188 yards with one touchdown in the two-and-a-half quarters he played, and the Cardinals lost 33-30.

Beck’s first drive included two completions of four and five yards in hitting his open first read, while an incompletion came on a quick slant that had the catch contested by a defender. A first down came on a scramble up the middle for four yards after Beck didn’t see anyone open among his initial options.

Drive two was jammed inside the five-yard line on a punt, and after two incremental gains on the ground from Bam Knight, Beck on third-and-7 tossed a strong ball down the sideline to an open Jalen Brooks on a double move with a pump fake from Beck.

The completion gained 35 yards.

Beck then had a rollout off a fake handoff for a three-yard completion before another similar play. On second-and-5, Beck laced a strike over the middle to Brooks for 15 yards, a tight window with the receiver fairly covered.

It was then another first read open for five yards that had some slight sidearm release to it.

On first-and-10 in the redzone at the 13-yard line, a handoff for four yards was followed by an eight-yard completion right at the goal line over the middle. Arizona then punched it in on a carry for one yard to open the game’s scoring early in the second quarter.

Once the offense got the ball back, Beck got right back to it.

On the first play, Brooks beat his man in 1-on-1 coverage and Beck found him open for a gain of 49 yards. And then on third-and-4, Beck made his best throw of the day, a perfect back-pylon floater to Simi Fehoko for a five-yard touchdown.

Near the end of the first half, it was Arizona’s third straight scoring drive, with Beck completing one pass for 14 yards on a possession dictated by the running game.

The rookie started the second half, and nearly ended his night with a bang, but a fourth-and-5 attempt deep down the sideline to Reggie Virgil was punched out of his hands. That would be Beck’s last snap of the night.

Beck was replaced by Kedon Slovis, the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, in the mid-third quarter.

The Cardinals sat both Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew for the preseason opener. They were among a large contingent of key Arizona players to not play. That list included running backs Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love, wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson and tight end Trey McBride.

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