Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr. wants to clean it up after 130-yard game vs. Rams
Sep 15, 2024, 6:52 PM | Updated: 8:09 pm
GLENDALE — It’s wild what a week can do. After being held to just one catch in Week 1, Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. lived up to his first-round billing in Arizona’s dominant 41-10 win at home over the Los Angeles Rams.
Nearly tripling his targets from a week prior, Harrison finished as the game’s leading pass catcher with four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. The next closest was tight end Trey McBride with six catches for 67 yards, while the rest of Arizona’s wide receivers room accounted for 42 yards on four catches combined.
The stats don’t tell the full story, either, with Harrison’s first score of the afternoon sporting a completion percentage of just 13.7%, per Next Gen Stats. He had just 0.7 yards of separation and was 0.7 yards from the sideline when he caught the ball. The 23-yard strike currently ranks as the most improbable touchdown of the year so far.
Talk about a bounce-back effort.
But while Harrison is deservedly getting his flowers after a huge home opener, the wideout seems more concerned with the plays he left out on the field than the ones he made. He did after all do all of his damage in the first 13 minutes or so.
“It was solid. I think the offense played a good game. They definitely executing in the run game and pass game as well,” Harrison said postgame. “I’m not going to lie to you. I saw (quarterback Kyler Murray’s) stat line. He had four incompletions, all of them were to me.
“I’m not very happy about that. Definitely gotta get that fixed and continue to build on our chemistry as the season goes on.”
He’s not wrong. While Murray walked out of State Farm Stadium with a perfect passer rating (158.3) behind 266 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-21 throwing, the signal caller’s only misses of the night were Harrison’s way.
It’s been a roller coaster beginning to Harrison’s NFL career. He went from nonfactor to unguardable in the span of a week.
But even with the peaks and valleys, the wideout remains even-keeled.
“You can never get too high or too low. Last week, I knew I couldn’t get too low. This week, I’m not going to get too high after a successful day,” Harrison said Sunday. “I try to approach each game with the same mindset, have the same preparation, the same routine. No matter how the results are.
“Obviously, if things are going bad, I have to change some things. I’ve never had a lack of confidence in myself or the rest of the team, so we will continue to get better each and every week and continue to grow.”
