PFF: Cardinals’ Murray excelled, others struggled in 1st preseason game

The Arizona Cardinals won their first preseason game of 2019, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 17-14 on Thursday night.

The world got to see its first glimpse of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray when he completed his first and only drive of the game.

There was more to the game than just Murray, but he was the central focus of their first preseason game.

Taking a deeper look, Pro Football Focus gave their takeaways from Thursday night’s game against the Chargers.

They listed two players from the Cardinals that had a strong performance, with the first one being the rookie out of Oklahoma.

Murray completed six of his seven passing attempts for 44 yards and the accuracy of those throws seemed to impress PFF.

Kyler Murray‘s debut only lasted one drive, but he was able to show why he went first overall in this year’s draft. He was able to get the ball out quick with great accuracy. His only incompletion was on a scramble from the pocket, and it only fell incomplete because his receiver stepped out of bounds.

The other player that received praise was defensive lineman Terrell McClain for his two tackles and work against the Chargers offensive line.

On the interior defensive line, Terrell McClain had a good game for the Cardinals’ defense that needs quality players at his position. He showed some nice burst off the line and shot past Chargers offensive linemen with ease at times.

The eight-year veteran was signed during the offseason for depth after recording one sack and 17 tackles with the Atlanta Falcons last season.

But there were also two Cardinals players who PFF listed for having a poor performance.

Linebacker Dennis Gardeck made the list despite his seven tackles. However, he was caught out of position multiple times during the game.

Dennis Gardeck needs to make plays in order to make the Cardinals 53-man roster, and he fell short of doing that in this one. He was caught out of position several times on big plays by the Chargers offense. The good news for him is that he has three more games to try to make an impact.

The other player who PFF deemed to have executed poorly was offensive tackle Rees Odhiambo. He was battered by the Chargers throughout the game.

Offensive tackle Rees Odhiambo had a poor night on the offensive line. He gave up a sack and was beaten multiple times throughout the game.

Those fighting to land a spot on the 53-man roster will look to improve in the next preseason game when the Cardinals take on the Oakland Raiders at State Farm Stadium on Thursday.

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