Cardinals reserves shine in preseason 20-17 opener win over Chiefs

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GLENDALE – Saturday’s preseason opener was shaping up to be an ugly game for the Arizona Cardinals. With two turnovers in the first five minutes, Arizona quickly fell behind by double digits to the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs. However, once both teams put their reserves in, the Cardinals scored 14 points unanswered and swing the game into their favor.

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Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett lifted the team after the slow start, throwing 5/8 from the field for 81 passing yards and two touchdowns. RB Emari Demercado was the receiving yard leader with 56, while a late surge 51 yard surge by RB Zonovan Knight made him the rushing leader.

Despite the offense slowing down in the 2nd half, the 2025 rookie class for Arizona showed out in a major way to limit Kansas City to only three second half points. The Chiefs 113 penalties yards was another reason for the lack of scoring but the Cardinals defense still held them to 249 total yards and forced two turnovers in the 20-17 win.

1st Quarter:

Arizona couldn’t have drew up a worst start to the preseason. WR Greg Dortch fumbled the opening kickoff, which Kansas City was able to recover and score a touchdown three plays later via QB Patrick Mahomes one-yard pass to WR Jason Brownlee. RB DeeJay Dallas copied Dortch by fumbling the subsequent kickoff but was able to recover and avoid another turnover.

However, it was a bad omen for the Cardinals first offensive drive, as Murray led the offense down to the Chiefs redzone and threw a terrible interception to Jaden Hicks. The 28-year-old didn’t see Hicks lurking underneath WR Marvin Harrison Jr.’s route, making it two turnovers for Arizona early in the 1st quarter.

After just one throw, Mahomes day was over. Kansas City would go with backup QB Gardner Minshew, which gave Arizona’s defense some life. The Cardinals were able to quickly force a stop, giving Murray and the offense another shot at redemption.

2nd-year RB Trey Benson was the engine for the offense towards the end of the first, tacking up 13 rushing yards and 15 passing yards to drive his team towards the Chiefs redzone.

2nd Quarter:

Benson got stuffed on a third-and-one on the first play of the 2nd quarter, forcing Arizona’s Chad Ryland to kick a 33-yard field goal was good. After the rough start, the Cardinals offense seemed to find a groove and keep them close with the AFC champions.

Minshew’s second drive under center for the Chiefs was much more effective, as the seven-year NFL veteran made all the right plays. On a third-and-seven, the former Pro Bowler absorbed the Cardinals pressure to find rookie WR Jalen Royals for a big gain. Minshew cut through Arizona’s secondary like butter and lead to a goal line I-formation for the 29-year-old, which allowed him to roll out to the left untouched for the touchdown, making it 14-3.

Backup QB Jacoby Brissett would make his debut in the following drive, which ended quickly as a three-and-out because of the suffocating Kansas City pressure. Saturday’s opener was shaping up to be a slaughter in front of the home fans.

However, Chiefs would put in third-string QB Bailey Zappe, who quickly gave the Cardinals life with an ill-advised throw that was intercepted on a great play by CB Darren Hall. The play brought life to State Farm Stadium and quickly led to third-year back Emarin Demercado to score on a 41-yard RB screen to cut the deficient 14-10.

Hall nearly got another interception on Kansas City’s next offensive drive, but Arizona’s defense still forced another three-and-out to give the offense a two-minute drill before halftime.

A defensive pass interference penalty Chiefs CB Nazeeh Johnson, gift wrapped the Cardinals with stellar field position deep in opposing territory. Arizona had four shots inside the Kansas City five-yard line, and with less than five seconds to go, Brissett finds WR Xavier Weaver on a one-on-one slant route to propel their team with the 17-14 lead heading into halftime.

3rd Quarter:

Arizona’s momentum 1st half quickly died with the insertion of third-string quarterback Clayton Tune, who on his first offensive possession sailed a pass high over the head of WR Tejhaun Palmer for a interception to CB Christian Rolan-Wallace.

Kansas City offense remained stagnant but the turnover placed them far enough inside Cardinals territory and allowed Harrison Butker to kick a 58-yard field goal to tie the game, 17-17.

The rookies were making stellar plays in the third quarter to keep the Chiefs out of the endzone. Third-round pick Jordan Burch caused havoc for Zappe. He recorded two sacks that were waved off due to penalties, but Burch was dominate in the trenches.

Fifth-round pick CB Denzel Burke had a great read on a WR screen that forced a 3rd-and-16, which led to seventh-round pick S Kitan Crawford to intercept Zappe’s pass in the endzone to stop Kansas City from retaking the lead.

4th Quarter:

The Crawford interception shot some adrenaline into the offense, as RB Michael Carter dragged Arizona down the field towards the end of the third quarter. The drive set up for the opening play of the fourth quarter to be a 50-yard field goal by Ryland, who nailed it to give the Cardinals the 20-17 lead.

Kansas City went to its fourth quarterback on the night in Chris Oladokun, who has massive arm power but very clearly lacked accuracy. In his opening drive, Oladokun went 2/5 and couldn’t crack Arizona’s secondary.

Outside of Demarcado’s 2nd quarter 41-yard touchdown, the Cardinals lacked much explosive plays against the Chiefs defense. However, third-year RB Zonovan “Bam” Knight got his first reps of the game and didn’t look back. In his opening drive, Knight already become the team’s rushing leader with 47 rushing yards. Arizona was threatening to score, but soon the offense stalled out after Knight was replaced by Dallas in the backfield.

The Cardinals failure to take advantage of Knight’s hot hands, allowed the Chiefs one more opportunity. Oladokun seemed to channel his own “Mahomes Magic” with some crazy exclusiveness to convert on multiple third down plays. Most notably, a botched snap that Oladokun recovered and ran around for 10 seconds before finding WR Hal Presley on third down.

Despite Oladokun’s heroics, flags plagued Kansas City with back-to-back unsportsmanlike penalties holding the offense from passing midfield. The Chiefs had a 3rd-and-20 and pressure from Darius Robinson forced Oladokun to dump the ball off short for an incompletion.

Kansas City punted the ball back to Arizona, allowing the Cardinals to run out the clock and secure the 20-17 preseason win over the Chiefs.

Cardinals will need to look out for this Chiefs rookie in preseason opener

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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports