Marvin Harrison Jr. couldn’t have drawn up a better start to his Week 2 performance than what he did in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday’s 41-10 blowout victory.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Harrison reeled in four receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first 15 minutes after only having one catch for four yards in his debut with the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.
“You can never get too high, never get too low,” Harrison said. “Last week, I know I couldn’t get too low. This week, I’m not going to get too high on a successful day. You just try to approach each game with the same mindset, have the same preparation, same routine, no matter how the results are.”
His first catch of the game was an incredible 23-yard touchdown reception in which he somehow managed to get both feet down in the back of the end zone.
MARVIN HARRISON JR.'S FIRST NFL TOUCHDOWN HAS ARRIVED pic.twitter.com/EFquDWaM8V
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 15, 2024
Statistically, Harrison made his first touchdown catch in improbable fashion.
Kyler Murray's 23-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. had a completion probability of 13.7%, the most improbable touchdown of the 2024 season so far.
Harrison had 0.7 yards of separation and was 0.7 yards from the sideline when the pass arrived.#LARvsAZ | @AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/ERuPcplRRM
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 15, 2024
On the very first play of the next offensive possession, Harrison found himself wide open for a 60-yard touchdown.
This monster first quarter kickstarted a historic game by Kyler Murray, who became the first quarterback this season to finish with a perfect passer rating, as he completed 17-of-21 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
Even with Murray’s brilliance, Harrison noticed a little something wrong with Murray’s stat line that he mentioned right away when asked about his breakout performance postgame.
“It was solid. I think the offense played a good game, definitely executing the run game and in the past game as well,” Harrison said. “I’m not gonna lie to you, I think I saw Kyler’s stat line. He had four incompletions, all were to me, so I’m not very happy about that. We definitely gotta get that fixed, but we continue to build on our chemistry, and as the season goes on.”
Harrison did not record a single catch after the first quarter, but was still able to prove to everyone what he can do after his less-than-memorable NFL debut. Murray elaborated more on their relationship.
“The personalities, I think we see things the same way. Obviously, we got to continue to get better together,” Murray said of him and Harrison. “There’s some mishaps there that I think we both feel like we can be better on, especially myself, but personality, man, and just the love for the game, I think those are two components that really allow us to just kind of be seamless.”
Even after Week 1, Harrison said the team was not in a “bad place.” Following this stellar Week 2 outing by the whole team, Harrison is ultra-confident in Arizona’s offense.
“Within the building, we think we have the best offense in the NFL, just from a talent standpoint, who the coaches are,” Harrison said after the win. “Obviously with 1 (Murray) back there, we can do anything. I think we got to continue to show that, improve that on a weekly basis, and we’ll continue to get better.”
Cardinals players elated after Week 2 annihilation over Rams
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
