Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins find togetherness in mistakes vs. Eagles

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins have pushed one another.

At a point during a 1-4 stretch this year, it could be questioned whether their heated sideline talks were unhealthy or needed.

Everyone asked about it within the Arizona Cardinals locker room thought it was the latter.

So when Arizona came away with a 33-26 win over the Philadelphia Eagles leaning on that duo Sunday, the progress of their relationship showed in their self criticism — even as Murray set a career high with 406 passing yards and Hopkins had his best game as a Cardinal with 169 receiving yards.

Hopkins, whose 44-yard catch-and-run and 20-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter broke a 26-all tie, said Murray and he talked about focusing on playing in the moment.

Because they each had their mistakes Sunday.

Hopkins fumbled in the red zone on the first possession of the game, and Murray threw a pick in the end zone with 5:43 left in the third quarter. Murray also lost his own fumble in the middle of the second quarter that led to an Eagles touchdown.

“I started off pretty hot. Unfortunately, the interception really had me … obviously, I just have to let it go,” Murray said. “Just as far as throwing the interception and the timing, in that moment when we are about to be able to put the game away you or try to … just can’t do that, that’s not playoff football.”

While the Cardinals saw plenty to work on after the game Sunday night, there was also a theme of togetherness.

Might it be a sign of progress that Hopkins and Murray echoed one another so much on Sunday?

“I’m pretty sure Kyler, if you know him … he beats himself up, man, on a lot of stuff,” Hopkins said. “I feel like that’s something that we all got to work on, even myself. When I don’t get the ball in crucial situations, just moving on past that and playing the big play. Sometimes I think we might let that kind of stick in our head going into the next possession.

“I think that’s the next step for us.”

In practice, they took a step forward against Philadelphia.

Murray’s career high came on 27-of-36 passing with three touchdowns. He rushed eight times for 29 yards and another score.

He targeted Hopkins late to pick on a secondary missing starting cornerbacks Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox.

“I thought he was great all night,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Murray recovering from his mistakes. “Had the fumble early, which was a bad play-call into a corner blitz. You’ve got to give them credit.

“I’m not sure what he saw (on the interception). Obviously, he’d like to have that ball back, but that happens. I like that he’s playing aggressively and to get the ball when you have to go win it, go down, that’s what this league is all about.”

The Cardinals defense also got stops late while facing a surprisingly aggressive passing attack. Eagles rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts recovered from an early safety and constant pressure from Arizona to finish with 338 passing yards and four total touchdowns in his second career start.

On Philadelphia’s second-to-last possession, Arizona tensed up in the red zone. Sacks by Dennis Gardeck and Leki Fotu, plus two batted down passes in the end zone, got the Cardinals offense back on the field for a brief period.

The Eagles moved the ball into Arizona territory with one final possession and had three more shots in the end zone that were deflected by the Cardinals.

“In the course of the season, there’s always going to be games like this,” Arizona linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “As a team, trying to do what we’re doing and trying to get where we’re trying to get, you’ve got to be able to pull these types of games out.

“Especially as a defense, I know it feels good to finish it the way we did.”

Some of Sunday resembled the Cardinals’ Week 9 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Then, Miami rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa found traction in his second start as the Cardinals relied on undrafted rookie Jace Whittaker and recent signee De’Vante Bausby at cornerback.

The Dolphins got an early strip-sack of Murray that led directly to a touchdown. Murray recovered to score four touchdowns — but Arizona went scoreless in the fourth quarter and Hopkins finished with three catches for 30 yards.

Also unlike that 34-31 loss, Arizona on Sunday was the team that found late momentum by picking on an injury-hit secondary.

With Philadelphia tying the game having been down 16-0 after the first quarter, the Cardinals turned to their best players with their backs against a wall.

“The first thing we said (after the game) is we made it more exciting than it should have been,” Hopkins said.

For now, it was a step in the right direction, especially for the quarterback-receiver duo. And a crucial win to keep the Cardinals in playoff contention.

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