Kyler Murray hit Lions rookie Jeff Okudah with the hesi-stepback
Sep 27, 2020, 3:06 PM | Updated: 6:04 pm
Twice last week, Kyler Murray froze defenders playing for the Washington Football Team to break loose for touchdown runs.
The Arizona Cardinals quarterback was at it again in a Week 3 matchup against the Detroit Lions, but the move he put on rookie cornerback and 2020 No. 3 pick Jeff Okudah might have outdone either of those runs.
Arizona lined up with a heavy run package that included an extra tackle, and Murray faked the handoff up the middle to running back Kenyan Drake.
A keeper put the elusive quarterback on the perimeter against Okudah, who appeared to have things under control. But Murray two took hard steps inside before hesitating and stepping backward, out of the reach of the whiffing defensive back, before streaking to the pylon for a diving score.
“We were trying to get him one-on-one in space,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said of the play-call. “That’s what ended up happening. We thought the corner would sink down a little more, but he did a good job reading it and Kyler made a heck of a move to get into the end zone.”
Kyler Murray with the SAUCE😱
— PFF (@PFF) September 27, 2020
FOX Sports play-by-play man Dick Stockton had a more colorful description of the play.
RELATED STORIES
“What a dance he put on to get into the end zone,” he said after Murray scored from one yard out, putting the Cardinals ahead 13-10 late in the second quarter.
Murray’s move very much looked like either a fencer going in for a jab and stepping out of harm’s way or, perhaps, like a basketball player hesitating and then stepping back to separate himself for a jumper.
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” color analyst Brady Quinn said. “I don’t know what you tell Jeff Okudah, who is out in space trying to make a tackle. He can barely put a hand on him. (Murray) is dazzling.
“I need to see him on a basketball court.”
Here it is from another angle.
KYLER DROPPED JEFF OKUDAH 😱
(via @AZCardinals)pic.twitter.com/zdQSIE8nqN
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 27, 2020
Okudah got Murray back in the third quarter, picking off a pass on 3rd-and-12. It was Murray’s third interception of the game to that point.
