THE STORY: The ending, for what it was going to be, was what the Cardinals wanted.
The season? Not so much, but it’s a building block.
“We didn’t reach our goals,” quarterback Kyler Murray said, after the Cardinals overwhelmed the San Francisco 49ers, 47-24. “But I know we’re heading in the right direction.”
The Cardinals won, beating what was left of the 49ers at State Farm Stadium. Murray played well, as did Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. and Greg Dortch. The defense did well enough to hold old friend Joshua Dobbs under wraps — including two interceptions.
The Cardinals finish 8-9 in Jonathan Gannon’s second season. They already knew they were third in the NFC West this season, ahead of the 49ers (6-11). They knew their postseason chances were done a couple of weeks ago, but as Herm Edwards once meme’d, you play to win the game.
“We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to accomplish this year, and that stings,” Gannon said. “But I’m proud of them. … It was good to see us close out this year at home with a win.”
Murray threw a season-high four touchdown passes without a turnover or sack. That was done despite having rookie Christian Jones starting at right tackle, the fourth different starter at right tackle Murray had this season – “New guys in the lineup, that’s real for a quarterback,” Gannon said. 49ers Pro Bowl defensive end Nick Bosa only played the first half, but he lined up across from Jones most of the time, unable to get home.
Murray ended up completing 25-of-35 passes for 242 yards and a 128.5 passer rating, by far his best game since the bye.
Asked about his season on a personal level, Murray called it “solid,” before pausing.
“It wasn’t what I wanted,” he added.
Two of his TD passes went to Dortch, while McBride (7-65-1) set an NFL record for most catches by a tight end in his first three seasons (221) and Harrison tied Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin for the most TD catches by a rookie in franchise history with eight.
“I mean the records are whatever,” said McBride, whose 111 catches were four short of the franchise mark. “I think it’s just more important for us to get a win. This is a great team and a win going into the offseason, this is what you think about the whole offseason.
“So now, over the next four or five months, all we can think about is this last game. Just to end it on a really good note.”
Sean Murphy-Bunting and Kei’Trel Clark had the interceptions, although Murphy-Bunting was ejected soon after following a heated scuffle with 49ers wide receiver Jajuan Jennings, who was also ejected. Jennings had tangled with Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas V the play before.
“You heard them talking and you knew what it was going to be,” safety Budda Baker said with a smile. “I told him it was not smart, but at the end of the day, we’re all human.”
Baker was one of the players that, at one point, was going to be entering the unknown of this offseason. But then he signed a contract extension last month, and said Sunday he believes Gannon is building something special.
“I’m very excited for the next year to come,” Baker said.
Gannon wasn’t going to talk future, not yet, although noted “the work will start tomorrow.” Exit interviews come first as the players clean out their lockers. The expectations of next season – and there will be lofty ones, with the way GM Monti Ossenfort and the front office have worked hard the past two years to reconfigure the roster – will be high.
The Cardinals don’t want to be playing Week 18 like this again.
“Just because we were close this year doesn’t mean you’ll be close next year,” Murray said. “That’s why you put the work in.”
