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The Cardinals’ offense hasn’t fired all cylinders this season, and signs of the team’s strain were evident late Thursday night in the second quarter.
Quarterback Kyler Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury had animated verbal exchanges after the team took a timeout when the game clock ran out in a first-and-goal game. Murray could be seen saying “calm that fk down” as he moved to the sidelines, and Kingsbury returned fire until wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins got between the men.
The Cardinals scored in the next game and tied the game. They would take the lead in back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns before halftime and end the night in a 28-14 win. That made it much easier to downplay the tensions that boiled over in the first half.
“He’s really animated over there on the sidelines sometimes,” Murray said of TheAthletic.com’s Doug Haller. “It’s . . . ‘Calm down, we’re fine. We’re going to make it right.’ In the end we scored, it was good, but that’s all I wanted to say. Calm down.”
Kingsbury said Murray told him he “didn’t look good on TV because he was acting so fiery,” and said he thinks the intensity of everyone involved is a good thing.
“Yeah, I mean it’s good,” Kingsbury said. “I think we’re working as an offense on where we want to be and what we want to do and you have competitors with such intensity. I think that will continue to push us forward.”
Offense is still a work in progress but Hopkins was productive on his return and they endured a long run of bad luck at home. We’ll see if these things give a positive impetus to the team’s further development.