ESPN’s Orlovsky: The Kyler Murray-to-Marvin Harrsion Jr. miss isn’t as simple as the freeze frame

Kyler Murray did not see a very wide-open Marvin Harrison Jr. streaking down the field late in a one-score loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, making that the No. 1-cited moment for why the Arizona Cardinals fell in Week 1.

Those are facts.

Murray admitted he didn’t see his rookie wideout. But is it Murray’s fault?

If you were to watch the game on CBS, which showed a follow-up clip of only Harrison running alone in a close-up frame, you would have thought Murray messed up.

Kyler Murray danced in the pocket for 6 seconds and somehow NEVER SAW A WIDE OPEN MARVIN HARRISON JR FOR A GAME-CHANGING TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/HG5ysapKB8

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 8, 2024

Even if you were at the game, it looked egregious in real-time. A screenshot of Harrison sprinting away from two Buffalo defenders trying to recover went viral.

Life in the NFL is more complicated than that.

In the video, we have no context for where Murray was in the play, which he eventually finished by hitting Greg Dortch for a shorter gain. Was he running for his life? Did he see a better option elsewhere?

In the stillshot, we don’t know what Murray was doing just before. Did he pump Harrison’s way when, just a second prior, it looked like a corner was on top of the rookie receiver with a safety also in the area? Would he even have time to connect with Harrison if he saw his rookie in that moment?

Kyler Murray missing an open Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t explained by the stillshot

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky apparently got lots of texts about the viral screenshot, because he pulled up the all-22 view with a long explanation to show why he doesn’t put much blame on Murray for a what-could’ve-been play in Arizona’s 34-28 Week 1 loss.

I hate freeze frames pic.twitter.com/yqU1DCduow

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) September 9, 2024

“The stillshot looks like ‘Kyler Murray misses Marvin Harrison Jr. wide open, how does he miss that?'” Orlovsky said to begin a two-minute-long breakdown on X.

“The right guard, center, left guard and left tackle are going left. The back and the right tackle are (moving) left to the right. So really, rules-wise, would tell me if two (Bills) from off the ball blitzed to this (right) side, you would be hot. You would at least feel warm as a quarterback, especially if those people vacate and you have a slot receiver replacing him … so Kyler I would say, Kyler is going to throw the ball to Dortch here in this spot (vacated by blitzers). That’s the thought process.”

At this point in the play, Harrison is on the same side of the field as Dortch but still is followed by a corner in coverage.

That corner actually breaks off as Murray pumps to throw the ball to Dortch, leaving Harrison to break open. But Murray pulls the ball down worried he can’t complete the throw to Dortch.

“Kyler’s going to throw that slot, kind of replace hot. And then that defender jumps (looking like a delayed blitz). We’re in danger of battled ball, tipped ball, interception, whatever (if Murray attempts a pass to Dortch). So he goes to reset, and he goes to work his left (side). He’s still working left (as Harrison gets wide open).”

By the time Murray is back to rescanning the right side, both the Bills’ safety and cornerback have realized their errors and are sprinting to catch Harrison.

“As (Murray) retraces here, you might sit there and say, ‘Oh my gosh, how do you not see him?’ but you got to remember: You’re thinking, am I hot, am I warm? … The last thing you can do in this situation is take a sack. That’s a hard thing to see right there. (Murray) probably peeks at (Harrison) here and says, ‘Oh.’ But (he sees) two bodies running downfield. So I honestly don’t sit there like, ‘What a miss to Marvin Harrison here.'”

Consuming football is a complicated thing because TV frames don’t cover the entire field.

Even for former NFL players, it’s a tough ask with the all-22 view. If they didn’t play a position and didn’t play in that exact scheme, they’re left to guess what broke down, who was at fault and what was supposed to happen instead.

Orlovsky is doing guessing himself, but with the full all-22 video in front of him, the full context shows that it’s not as simple as Murray missing an easy throw — even if Harrison was certainly wide open.

The Cardinals have more than that to clean up.

Murray had a stellar first half followed by a 31-yard passing second half. Harrison and No. 2 receiver Michael Wilson had drops in the game. The run game outside of Murray couldn’t do much. The defense didn’t hold up on a few key possessions before and right after halftime. As in, it’s more complicated than that one play.

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