The Arizona Cardinals got themselves a win on Thursday Night Football thanks to a big, game-changing series of plays toward the end of the second quarter. But the victory did not come without controversy.
Just before the Cards ripped off a stretch where they scored three touchdowns in less than two minutes of game time (two of them on pick-sixes), they faced a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The play clock ran all the way down and they weren't going to get the play off in time, so they were forced to call timeout.
As quarterback Kyler Murray walked toward the sideline to chat with head coach Kliff Kingsbury about what to do once they got back to the line of scrimmage, Murray could be very clearly seen on the Amazon Prime Video broadcast barking at Kingsbury to, "Calm the f--k down!"
Murray and Kingsbury continued in a heated, animated discussion until they were broken up by wideout DeAndre Hopkins, who calmed Murray down and directed him back toward the huddle.
The TNF cameras picked up some K1 frustration after the Cardinals burned their last timeout of the half. pic.twitter.com/59iY5Nvmsg
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) October 21, 2022
Both quarterback and coach downplayed the incident following the game.
"He's real animated over there on the sideline sometimes," Murray said, per The Athletic. "It's . . . 'Calm down, we're good. We're going to make it right.' We ended up scoring, so that was good, but that's all I was saying. Just chill out."
Kingsbury echoed the same sentiment. "He said I didn't look good on TV, acting that fiery," Kingsbury said.
Hopkins mostly declined to discuss what was said between the two. "That's undisclosed information," Hopkins said, apparently jokingly. "Both of those guys want to win. I love to see that. Honestly, I love being a part of two people that are dedicated and that focused on winning. Obviously, you're going to butt heads. I'm not married, but from what I hear, that's like a marriage."
The Cardinals got off to a 2-4 start to the season during Hopkins' six-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, and the offense did not look very good during that stretch. The star wide receiver had a big game in his return with 10 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, but Arizona did still need two defensive scores to get past a New Orleans team playing without several of its own top offensive options. The people involved in this spat may be calm for now, but if things continue in the direction they have been going, that may not last for long.
