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ARIZONA CARDINALS

Kyler Murray’s 88-yard TD throw to Andy Isabella reignites Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals got a spark late on Thursday night against the San Francisco through an unlikely source at wide receiver, Andy Isabella.

Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers ...

Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFL football game at State Farm Stadium on October 31, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

(Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

The Arizona Cardinals were mostly lifeless and down 11 points midway through the fourth quarter of a Thursday night loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Then on their own 12-yard line in need of points to keep the game alive, quarterback Kyler Murray faked a handoff to Kenyan Drake and made arguably his best throw of the season, an absolute dart just far enough away from the outstretched hands of cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to rookie Andy Isabella.

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Isabella did more than enough to make a great play on the ball, but then he turned up the sideline into some space.

From there, Isabella found even more room in the middle of the field and cut it back. That’s where Isabella’s true speed that played a part in Arizona selecting him in the second round showed, as he took it all the way to the end zone.

The Cardinals picked up the two-point conversion, making it a three-point game, 28-25, with under five minutes to go.

Isabella entered the game with only two catches for eight yards, not getting snaps for a majority of the season, with a percentage of those coming on special teams. He was selected with the No. 62 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the pick the Cardinals received in the Josh Rosen trade.

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Despite Isabella’s pedigree being selected there, he has been low on the depth chart throughout the season behind sixth-round pick KeeSean Johnson and veterans Damiere Byrd, Trent Sherfield and Pharoh Cooper in the competition for catches beyond Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk.

The touchdown for Murray put him at 241 yards passing, and he would end at that mark, as the 49ers would kill off the rest of the clock on their ensuing drive. Murray completed 17 of his 24 pass attempts for two touchdowns.

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Kellan Olson Suns reporter and co-host of Arizona Sports at Night

Kellan Olson is ArizonaSports.com's beat writer for the Phoenix Suns and a co-host of the Empire of the Suns podcast, as well as the intermittent night show Arizona Sports at Night. You'll also catch him covering other teams and frequently filling in… Read more

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