Kyler Murray made his first start since tearing his ACL in Week 14 of the 2022 season and led the Arizona Cardinals to a 25-23 victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Here’s what you need to know:
- After the Falcons took the lead on a 9-yard Desmond Ridder touchdown run, Murray led the Cardinals on an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard Matt Prater field goal in the final seconds.
- Murray picked up a key first down with a 13-yard scramble and completed a 33-yard pass to tight end Trey McBride to set up Prater’s game-winning kick.
- Murray finished 19-of-32 for 249 yards passing with one interception as well as 33 yards and a touchdown rushing.
- Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke suffered a hamstring injury and was removed from the game after being tackled by Zaven Collins on an 8-yard run with 13:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.
NFL Week 10 live updates: Scores, schedule, standings, predictions, odds, injury latest and news
Evaluating Murray’s performance
Always cautious (at least publicly), Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said he had no expectations for Murray’s return. Maybe so, but this went better than expected. To have Murray take the field in the final minutes, needing at least a field goal to win — and have him deliver? This was a jolt the entire Arizona organization needed. Murray had the key play — a 13-yard scramble on third down that set up the winning field goal. He had not played in 11 months but for one moment, he looked like the old Kyler.
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Nothing was settled Sunday. The Cardinals still are a poor football team. They still are stuck in a rebuilding maze. And Murray still has to prove himself to a first-year GM who has two 2024 first-round draft picks. But the quarterback’s performance was the first positive since the Cardinals beat the Cowboys in Week 3. For a team that had lost six in a row, it was desperately needed. — Doug Haller, senior Arizona writer
GO DEEPER
Kyler Murray's return to the Cardinals came down to one play — and it was encouraging
Required reading
- Falcons enter their bye with a lot to figure out, starting with quarterback
- What we learned in NFL Week 10: Vikings’ positive trajectory, Patriots’ plummet and more
- The Kyler Murray conundrum: How the next 8 games will shape the Cardinals’ future
- NFL second-half predictions for all 32 teams: Keep an eye on Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray
(Photo: Mike Christy / Getty Images)