JACKSONVILLE, FLa. — Down two cornerbacks and facing a roster full of big-play artists, the Jaguars' defense turned in a stronger effort on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals than had been seen in the first two games.
The problem was that it only lasted for the better part of three quarters.
After a slow start, Cards quarterback Kyler Murray, wide receivers Christian Kirk and DeAndre Hopkins and running backs Chase Edmonds and James Conner wore the Jags down with two long touchdown drives in each of the third and fourth periods in a 31-19 victory on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
The Jaguars did some good things on a sun-splashed Jacksonville day. They ended a turnover drought that dated back to the final game of the 2020 season. They held the Cardinals (3-0) to four punts and Matt Prater’s ill-fated 68-yard field-goal attempt in the first half in five possessions. They put a decent amount of pressure on Murray, and against almost any other quarterback in the league, it would have resulted in several sacks.
But with a 19-10 lead late in the third quarter, the Jags yielded a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended in James Conner’s touchdown to cut the score to 19-17, then went on an 11-play, 65-yard march that ate nearly seven minutes of game clock and ended in Conner’s 1-yard plunge with 6:54 left in the game, sealing the outcome.
Despite the Jags’ efforts, Murray led the Cardinals to their third consecutive game of 30 or more points and 400 or more total yards.
“The score dictates wins and losses,” said Jags outside linebacker Josh Allen. “But as a group, as a team, I feel like we took that next step. We just have to finish. It’s coming soon. We have the tools, we have the players, we have the pieces. We have everything we need. We just have to win.”
The defense had serious momentum going for it well into the third period.
After Jamal Agnew’s startling 109-yard return of Prater’s missed field-goal attempt to end the first half, the Jags got a stop on Arizona’s first possession of the second half when safety Andrew Wingard intercepted Murray in the end zone.
The Cards had moved to a first down at the Jags’ 43 on an unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker Damien Wilson but Wingard cut in front of Christian Kirk after Murray, operating with a clean pocket, put up a deep pass that was a tad underthrown.
It was the first interception in 92 pass attempts by an opposing quarterback, with Wingard getting the last interception, of Philip Rivers of the Colts in the final game of the 2020 regular season.
Wingard led a secondary that mixed the coverages and let the Cardinals beat them deep only once in the first half, a 28-yard pass to Kirk that led to Murray’s 1-yard touchdown run.
Without starting corner CJ Henderson and with nickel corner Tre Herndon remaining inactive, it was up to veteran Shaquill Griffin, rookie Tyson Campbell and second-year player Chris Claybrooks. They held their own for a while but Murray kept coming and finished with 28 completions in 34 attempts for 316 yards.
What Murray didn’t do was beat the Jags with his feet – other than the first touchdown, in which he completely fooled the Jags by faking a running play to the right and reversing field to walk into the end zone.
Murray had 19 yards on seven rushes.
Even Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence took note of how hard the Jags defense was playing.
“They played great … great all day,” he said.
But Allen is tired of platitudes without victories.
“Our job and for us to improve week in and week out, get better, communicate, play together more,” he said. “We played our butts off today, but today is today.”
