It didn't take long for the Arizona Cardinals to take a 7-0 lead but it took two plays longer than quarterback Kyler Murray had hoped.
On second-and-3 from the Jets' 45-yard line, Murray connected with running back James Conner on a short pass to the left and Conner raced down the sideline and was determined to have scored.
However, after a replay, Conner was found to be half a yard short of the goal line, and two plays later Conner scored a 1-yard touchdown.
The laughter erupted when the on-field referee announced that Conner's butt cheek hit the ground and the ball landed just short of the goal line.
Murray laughed when the tongue-in-cheek comment was relayed to him, then said: “Selfishly, I wanted him to reach for it, but it's all good.”
As it was, Murray completed 22 of 24 passes for 266 yards in the game and had an official passer rating of 126.7. He also finished the game with a club record 17 consecutive completions.
Had Conner scored in the passing game, Murray's passer rating would have been 140.6.
But there's more: According to BAPR (Balzer Adjusted Passer Rating), the rating should be higher because Murray's 91.7 completion percentage in the game was higher than the 77.5 percent allowed in the system introduced 51 years ago.
Adjusted for the higher completion percentage, the rating would be 138.8 for one touchdown pass and 152.4 for two.
Of course, the rating has no bearing on how good Murray and the offense were against the Jets. The Cardinals had 406 yards (7.1 average), 28 first downs and converted 5 of 7 third down opportunities in 57 games. All 31 points were scored from the red zone.
During their four-game winning streak, the Cardinals reached the red zone 13 times and scored nine touchdowns and four field goals. That's 75 out of 91 possible points.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said: “I’m sure you’ve seen his stats. I think the quarterback was the best player in the world today.”
Asked how Murray plays at such a high level, Gannon said: “I think he's doing what he's trained to do and he's got guys around him making a lot of plays.” I know that. That's good too see so he doesn't have to do everything. When he has the ball in his hands as a defensive player, you stay in control of his knowledge of every shot he takes. I thought he would be completely beside himself today.”
More milestones for Murray
With three touchdowns on Sunday (two rushing, one passing), Murray now has 30 career rushing touchdowns TDs and became the fifth quarterback ever with at least 30 rushing scores in his first six seasons, joining Josh Allen (53), Jalen Hurts ( 51 in the first four seasons), Cam Newton (48) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Otto Graham (33).
Murray is the fourth quarterback in NFL history to score at least three rushing touchdowns in each of his first six seasons, joining Allen, Graham and Cam Newton.
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