THE STORY: BUFFALO, N.Y. — For awhile, the Cardinals were doing exactly what they wanted to do.
They controlled the clock, minimizing the time the defense was on the field, and Kyler Murray was accurately finding the right receiver every time. The offense leaned on running back James Conner. Defensive tackle Roy Lopez had a strip-sack that led to points. It was 17-3 at Highmark Stadium and the Cardinals looked ready.
But the Bills are a playoff team and they have a top-three quarterback in Josh Allen, and that eventually showed up in the Cardinals’ 34-28 loss to the Bills on Sunday to open the 2024 season.
Allen rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two others. The Bills averaged 6.2 yards per play.
Rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. only had one catch for four yards.
DeeJay Dallas provide late fireworks when he returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, the first Cardinals’ kickoff return for a score since David Johnson did it in 2015. The lead was sliced to three, but the Cardinals were unable to do anything with two subsequent possessions.
The Cardinals did reach the Buffalo 29 at the end of the game, but a fourth down deep shot to Greg Dortch fell incomplete.
More to come on azcardinals.com.
