Arizona's wild, comeback overtime win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday provided the Cardinals a peek within themselves, revealing who can be counted on to battle through adversity in a young season.
"It's kind of one of those things that gives you a sense of 'Who are you in the foxhole with?'" left tackle D.J. Humphries said Tuesday, via the Arizona Republic. "It's kind of that feeling of like, 'I know who I'm fighting with. I know I'm fighting with a bunch of guys that will take it to the deep end and they'll stay down there as long as they have to come out on top.' That's a good feeling.
"I'd just rather see us be able to get the fast start and produce like we know we can, like how we do when we're battling back. But knowing the guys who you're in the foxhole with and knowing you're in there with a bunch of guys who are scratching and clawing to get that W, that's definitely a good feeling to have."
The Cardinals overcame a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 29-23 in OT in Week 2, the fifth-largest comeback win (20 points) in team history. Arizona had been 0-90-1 all-time (including playoffs) when trailing by 20-plus points at the half. Sunday's victory tied the fourth-largest fourth-quarter comeback win (16 points) in team history.
Arizona's defense stepped up in the second half, allowing just three points and 48 total yards to the Raiders, and Byron Murphy won the game with a scoop-and-score fumble recovery in OT.
After a wayward first half, the offense also woke up, with Kyler Murray spearheading three TD drives, including two in the fourth quarter, and miraculously converting two two-point conversions.
After getting down big in its first two games of the season, Arizona doesn't want to make comebacks a habit. Ahead of Week 3, the focus in the desert is quicker starts as they get set to face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
"I'd love to see it from the start every week," Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "I think that's the ability and the talent that he has and I've got to do a better job of getting our offense off to a quicker start. There's no doubt, but we've seen (Murray) do that before and he can make it go when he wants to."
