Marvin Harrison Jr. potentially turning corner is only hope for Cardinals’ broken offense
Marvin Harrison Jr. showed real toughness in how he fought through mistakes on Thursday, sparking a near-comeback for the Cardinals.
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Game balls are not dispensed for moral victories in the NFL.
Not in Year 3 of a painstaking rebuild in Arizona, where the Cardinals have now lost two divisional games in the span of five days. But in the wake of a 23-20 loss to the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football, let’s hope Marvin Harrison Jr. has finally turned a corner.
What else matters at this point? What other hope is left for an impotent, paper-thin offense?
For most of Thursday’s game, the Cardinals required supreme effort to move the chains. The aesthetics were painful. The playing field at State Farm Stadium never looked better, and the offense rarely looked worse.
Kyler Murray exceeded 600 consecutive passes without a 50-yard gain, the longest streak among current NFL quarterbacks. The team has an alarming lack of gamebreakers and playmakers on the edge, an issue we all saw coming months ago.
And that’s a serious problem, since we all trust general manager Monti Ossenfort to be smarter than the rest of us when it comes to roster construction.
The Cardinals were actually booed off the field in the first half, which included another brutal gaffe from Harrison. The fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL butchered another routine completion, bobbling the football into the hands of the opposition for a gift-wrapped interception. At that point, there could be no avoiding or denying the truth, that the son of a Hall of Fame wide receiver was closer to bust than the Pro Bowl.
To their credit, the Cardinals did not quit. Their defense held firm. And then Murray connected with Harrison on a touchdown pass that required real toughness and resilience and elite talent, a moment that seemed to open a floodgate of emotions for the young wide receiver.
There is a softness to Harrison’s game that remains worrisome. But on Thursday night, he showed real toughness in continuing to battle, in not giving up or giving in. His touchdown sparked a comeback and unleashed a different look and rhythm to the Cardinals offense. And if this game was a revelation and a turning point for Harrison, then it might be well worth the cost of defeat.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
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Comments
66 Comments
With all so respect, I think that's short sighted. There are maybe 5 QBs in the league who are good regardless of the team they are on. The rest are dependent on what's around them. Kyler can perform at a top 10 level given a good team around him. We have seen that year after year. Beginning of the year, healthy team, Kyler has been almost elite. The cards are a bum of an org that drafted horrible and had no depth. Injuries happen, Kyler performance dropped. Cards are finally build a team with depth. To move off Kyler purely because it's year 7 would be a mistake given the context of his career (keeping a garbage org barely afloat9.
NOw, I think they move On because you can't build a good team around a qb making 50+ million a year. Very few QBs are worth that money and Kyler is not one of those. If he takes a darnold contract or a baker contract, sign me up for that. Otherwise, draft his replacement and move on.
I am staring at the bugs. Kylers contract is already dropping significantly according to league standards. We can emulate similar success the bucks have had with baker. I think Monty has done well. So we shall see!
If Kyler wants top QB money, bye bye.
Again, skimming your post. Hero ball, calling some a midget (that would absolutely destroy you)....yeah you a) don't know what you are talking about b) don't get to call anyone immature.
LOL