Arizona’s Kyler Murray ran to his left, outrunning a Chargers defender to score an impressive 44-yard touchdown, casually holding the ball in one hand like it was a game in the backyard.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon acknowledged that this isn’t how his players are taught to secure the ball.
However, Gannon also noted he didn’t teach Murray to run like that. “Until he fumbles, I’ll let him ride,” Gannon said with a smirk. “That was a pretty spectacular play.”
Murray scored the important touchdown early in the fourth quarter and then guided the Cardinals on a drive that led to Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time ran out, helping Arizona win 17-15 against Los Angeles on Monday night.
Cameron Dicker made his fifth field goal of the night, this one from 40 yards, giving the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 remaining. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly got into field goal range, helped by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.
Arizona then had a strong 33-yard catch and run by James Conner, who finished with 101 rushing yards and 51 receiving yards. Conner’s big play set up Ryland’s short field goal, leading to a celebration for the Cardinals. Conner gave an inspiring speech to the team on Sunday night and backed it up with his performance on Monday.
“That’s just the way the season’s been going,” Conner said. “As a captain on this team, that’s the job description. Just tried to rally the troops.”
It was a tough night for the Chargers’ offense, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t score a touchdown. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards. This was coach Jim Harbaugh’s first loss on Monday night, bringing his record to 6-1 for his career.
Dicker kicked field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47, and 40 yards, with the first one tying a franchise record for distance.
The Chargers entered the game with one of the best defenses in the NFL and performed well again, but the offense often struggled when it was most important. Los Angeles has now gone 16 straight offensive drives without scoring a touchdown.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, but we’ve got to score points in the red zone,” Herbert said. “That’s the biggest takeaway from tonight’s game. We’ve got an amazing kicker, but we’ve got to do a better job for our defense and special teams. We’ve got to score points.”
Murray scored his impressive touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving the Cardinals a 14-9 lead. It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he had a 50-yard run against San Francisco.
“It’s a good feeling, just putting the ball in the end zone,” Murray said. “Wish we could have done that more tonight, but a win’s a win.”
This was also Murray’s 20th career game where he had both a touchdown pass and a touchdown run. Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
Dicker’s 28-yard field goal late in the third quarter gave the Chargers a 9-7 lead. Los Angeles got the ball after stopping Cardinals backup quarterback Clayton Tune on both third-and-1 and fourth-and-1. The Cardinals sometimes use Tune in short-yardage situations because he’s bigger than Murray.
Arizona scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Greg Dortch in the second quarter, taking a 7-6 lead into halftime. This was Dortch’s first touchdown catch of the season.
Dicker made two field goals in the first half for the Chargers, including the 59-yarder, which was the longest kick of his career after he had already made two from 55 yards. Los Angeles lost two great chances early in the first quarter.
On Arizona’s first drive, Murray threw a pass that was deflected by Khalil Mack and intercepted by Teair Tait. The 304-pound defensive lineman started running but was tackled from behind by Conner, and then Arizona’s Michael Wilson recovered the fumble.
Then, on the Chargers’ first drive, Herbert threw to Jalen Reagor for a 42-yard gain, but Arizona’s Starling Thomas knocked the ball loose, and it rolled into the end zone for a touchback.
“It was a game of a lot of near misses and close calls,” Harbaugh said. “Both teams played well. Came down to a lot of details, not just one play.”
