Bad teams often catch bad breaks. Calls tend to go against them and the ball bounces the wrong way. It has felt like that for the Cardinals for much of the season. However, they got several breaks in their 34-33 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury spoke about it with the team after game in the locker room, as the team shared on social media.
“The first month, the ball did not bounce our way one time,” he said. “Guess what? It’s starting to turn for us. The harder you work, the more you prepare, the more it turns.”
There were four moments specifically where things went their way that easily could have gone the other way.
Missed extra point
With 1:53 left in the game, the Falcons scored a touchdown and it appeared they would tie the game with the extra point. Byrant missed it wide left. The 44-year-old had only missed seven extra points in his entire 19-year career.
That isn’t something anyone expects to happen. It did, and the Cardinals won.
How did it happen? “I just hit it too high on the ball, and that’s why it goes left like that,” Bryant explained after the game. “I missed it.”
Trent Sherfield’s catch wasn’t ruled incomplete
Sherfield had a 38-yard reception at the sideline that was ruled a catch. There was some question as to whether he got down inbounds. The play was never reviewed because the Falcons never challenged and the Cardinals ran their next play before they could. Replays showed it might have been incomplete.
Damiere Byrd’s 58-yard catch could have been a fumble
Byrd had a 58-yard catch and was ruled down at the one-yard line. The ball was stripped and recovered by the Falcons in the end zone. The Falcons challenged the play and there was apparently not enough evidence to overturn the call. It did, though, look like a fumble.
Kingsbury wasn’t sure. Byrd said he wasn’t sure. “I definitely got lucky on it.” he said after the game. “Luckily, him ruling me down and not letting that play continue n the moment, that really helped.”
Quarterback Kyler Murray and receiver Larry Fitzgerald believed it was a fumble.
“I was already on the sideline,” Murray said. “I thought he fumbled the ball.”
“I was getting some water and sat down already and seeing what were going to do next series, honestly,” said Fitzgerald. “It’s great to have that go our way, they haven’t been going our way like that so it’s nice to have that.”
Kyler Murray’s game-clinching run
The Cardinals needed a first down on 3rd-and-5 with under two minutes to go so they could run out the clock. Murray scrambled and got just to the marker and went out of bounds. It was close. The spot was reviewed but it wasn’t enough to overturn. Murray said he was “kind of” worried it would get overturned because of how long it was taking to review it. Kliff Kingsbury only would say “it was close” and that he felt confident that it could not be overturned.
Now the Cardinals got their breaks. They got a win. Now they need to build on this momentum to continue to improve.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
