By Doug Haller, Jourdan Rodrigue and Lukas Weese
After making only one catch for four yards in a disappointing NFL debut, Arizona Cardinals rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. showed Sunday why he was one of the top draft prospects in the 2024 class in the team’s 41-10 trouncing of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.
Harrison exploded for 130 receiving yards and two touchdowns while Cardinals (1-1) quarterback Kyler Murray had a standout performance himself, finishing with a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Marvin Harrison Jr. we love you pic.twitter.com/GE6a9vVabw
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 15, 2024
The Rams (0-2), however, saw no such fortune. Los Angeles struggled to possess the ball offensively, with its only touchdown coming on a Kyren Williams run in the second quarter. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp also exited Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and was ruled out in the fourth quarter. He left the locker room in a walking boot postgame.
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Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr. dismayed after poor Week 1 debut
Harrison’s Week 1 performance was a topic around the NFL. It wasn’t just the one catch for four yards. It wasn’t even the dropped pass. It was that the Cardinals did so little to get him involved. Harrison was targeted only three times. No rookie is expected to dominate in his first start, but more was expected from Harrison. More was needed.
Consider this addressed. Against the Rams, Murray threw incomplete to Harrison on Arizona’s first play. Then he hit him for completions of 23, 60 and 32 yards — two for touchdowns — all in the first quarter. (He was targeted six times.)
Harrison’s big-play ability — something Arizona lacked last season — changes this offense. As Murray and Harrison continue to build chemistry, this should only get better. — Doug Haller, Arizona senior writer
And it should. A dangerous receiver opens up a lot of offensive opportunities. We saw as much Sunday. But this was more than Harrison. The Cardinals dominated the beat-up Rams. In the Week 1 loss at Buffalo, the defense struggled to get off the field. On Sunday, Arizona was much better. Budda Baker made open-field tackles. Dennis Gardeck sacked the quarterback. The Rams never got into a rhythm.
Offensively, we have to go back to Harrison. A non-factor in Week 1, he exploded in Week 2. His first-quarter burst changed the game. It provided running lanes for James Conner and loosened underneath routes for tight end Trey McBride. That’s the impact everyone expected when the Cardinals drafted Harrison. — Haller
Murray also did his part. The Arizona QB was brilliant. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Murray also rushed for 59 yards. His touch on deep throws to Harrison was perfect. He forced little. In his best game since returning last season from an ACL injury, he was a quarterback in control, leading the Cardinals to scores on seven of eight possessions. — Haller
The Rams did very little well in Sunday’s game, leading coach Sean McVay to note, “There is not anything that I can take away positive from today,” during his postgame news conference.
The defense allowed 7.9 yards per play for 489 total yards, including 231 rushing yards (5.8 yards per carry) and Murray’s perfect passer rating. It could not protect quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was sacked five times including three on third down. The Rams’ offense went 2-for-11 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. It only ran for 53 yards behind a battered offensive line that got no physical movement and did not impose any will.
McVay called Sunday’s loss “humbling,” and he is correct. — Jourdan Rodrigue, Rams beat writer
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)