The Arizona Cardinals move to 6-0 on the season - winning despite the absence of head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19; Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with a calf injury
Monday 18 October 2021 06:26, UK
The Arizona Cardinals remain the NFL's lone undefeated team after a 37-14 hammering of the Cleveland Browns moved them to 6-0 on the season.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray put in another stellar performance at the quarterback position, completing 20 of his 30 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns.
As for Cleveland, a squad that was already riddled with injuries - playing without starting running back Nick Chubb and tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills Jr. - leave this contest with further concerns, as quarterback Baker Mayfield, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and running back Kareem Hunt all sustained injuries.
Both Mayfield and Beckham did at least return to the game despite shoulder complaints, though for Hunt the prognosis looks much bleaker as he was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with a calf injury.
Mayfield finished 19 of 28 for 234 yards and two touchdowns - including a stunning 51-yard Hail Mary to Donovan Peoples-Jones to end the first half - but the Browns QB also had three costly turnovers (two fumbles and an interception.
Peoples-Jones had four catches for 101 yards and two TDs for the Browns, while DeAndre Hopkins too hauled in a pair of scores as part of an explosive Arizona aerial attack.
This was the Cardinals' fifth-straight win against the Browns and moves them to 6-0 on the season - despite the absence of head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19. Cleveland, meanwhile, drop to 3-3 after a second-consecutive defeat.
Cardinals
Browns
The Cardinals dominated the game right from the start, scoring with each of their five first-half possessions.
Murray found Christian Kirk with a 21-yard touchdown pass to cap their first series, and then picked out Hopkins for a 13-yard score to end their second and see Arizona quickly up 14-0.
The Cardinals were a little guilty, however, of not quite putting a sloppy Cleveland side away. Mayfield's first sack-fumble of the day and an interception thrown to Robert Alford resulted in only Arizona field goals - Matt Prater successful from 36 and 51 yards out to see the lead stretched to 20.
Mayfield finally got the Browns on the board with an 11-yard touchdown to Peoples-Jones and then, following a third Prater FG, he ended the half with a stunning 57-yard Hail Mary score to the same receiver to cut the deficit to 23-14.
After both teams opened the second half tentatively on offense, Arizona began to streak clear after Mayfield coughed up his second fumble of the day, Murray cashing in with a second strike to Hopkins.
Cleveland tried to answer back, but a fourth-down pass from the Arizona seven-yard line was dropped by Beckham and Murray ended the game with his fourth touchdown pass - a 14-yard toss to A.J. Green - with just under five minutes remaining.
The Cardinals (6-0) have a good chance of extending their unbeaten streak as they face the Houston Texans (1-5) at home next Sunday, while the Browns (3-3) have a short week and look to get back on track at home to the Denver Broncos (3-3) - themselves in the midst of a three-game losing run - on Thursday night.
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