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FINAL SCORE: Cardinals beat Titans 38-13 behind Kyler Murray's 4 TD passes

The Arizona Cardinals sent a message in Week 1. Traditionally a team that struggles in road games in the early time slot, they came out and never allowed the Tennessee Titans a chance. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead and never relented, rolling to a 38-13 win.

Quarterback Kyler Murray threw four touchdown passes and rushed for one, while linebacker Chandler Jones burst out of the gate with five sacks and two forced fumbles.

They are 1-0 and come home to play the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2.

The recap of the Cardinals’ win is below.

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Cardinals 3, Titans 0

The Cardinals forced a three-and-out as the Titan began the game with the ball. Chandler Jones had a tackle for loss and then the Cardinals took over.

DeAndre Hopkins started it with a 38-yard catch and A.J. Green had a 21-yarder as well. But the drive was marred by penalties. They had three, including two when they were in goal-to-go.

They settled on a Matt Prater 34-yard field goal.

(Almost) a big guy touchdown

Chandler Jones sacked Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, forcing a fumble. Defensive tackle Corey Peters recovered it and appeared to dive into the end zone to get a defensive touchdown.

However, on review, he was down at the one.

Cardinals 10, Titans 0

Taking over at the one, the touchdown wasn’t easy. Tight end Darrell Daniels was flagged for the Cardinals’ fourth penalty of the game but Kyler Murray found DeAndre Hopkins in the back of the end zone on third down to pick to score Arizona’s first touchdown of the year.

Cardinals 17, Titans 0

The two teams traded punts and the Titans picked up their first first down of the game but it came on a fake punt. It didn’t hurt the Cardinals because they forced the Titans to punt after three more plays. Tanner Vallejo got his hand on the punt for a tip and the Cardinals took over.

DeAndre Hopkins picked up his second touchdown of the game with a nifty spin move.

Cardinals 17, Titans 6

The Titans finally got on the board. The big play was a flea flicker to Chester Rogers to get them to the 11. They got to the one and the defense stuffed Derrick Henry twice before Ryan Tannehill took it in himself for the touchdown. Michael Badgley missed the extra point.

Cardinals 24, Titans 6

The Cardinals scored a third touchdown before the half to take a 24-6 lead on a two-yard touchdown run by Kyler Murray.

The highlight of the drive was when Murray had to run to one side of the field and then the other to avoid pressure. He flicked a throw to rookie Rondale Moore for a first down.

Christian Kirk had a 22-yard catch to get into the red zone and plays by Chase Edmonds and James Conner got them to the two, when Murray took it in for the score.

Missed FG

The Titans threatened with their two-minute offense but Badgley missed a 46-yard field goal wide left.

RT Kelvin Beachum leaves with rib injury

To open the second half, on the Cardinals’ second play, right tackle Kelvin Beachum went down with a rib injury. He was taken to the locker room. Justin Murray entered the game to replace him.

Cardinals 24, Titans 13 after Kyler Murray INT

The very next play after Beachum left with the rib injury, Murray threw an interception. He attempted to connect with tight end Demetrius Harris but instead, Titans safety Kevin Byard picked off the pass.

The Titans needed only two plays to score. Tannehill completed two passes to A.J. Brown, the last of which was a 13-yard touchdown

Cardinals 31, Titans 13

Kyler Murray threw his third touchdown pass of the day, making up for the interception on the previous drive. On 3rd-and-3, the Titans blitzed and had no help for slot cornerback Elijah Molden. Christian Kirk got behind him and Murray lofted the ball up and into Kirks arms in the end zone for the score and to give the Cardinals an 18-point lead.

Isaiah Simmons get the INT

The Cardinals got their second takeaway of the game when second-year linebacker Isaiah Simmons picked off a Tannehill pass that was tipped.

Chandler Jones has 4th sack!

Jones’ monster game continued in the third quarter with his fourth sack of the game. He forced another Tannehill fumble that Markus Golden recovered. It was the Cardinals’ third takeaway of the game. It led to another touchdown.

Kyler Murray throws 4th TD pass

After Jones’ fourth sack of the game, Murray found Christian Kirk again for another touchdown. This one was an 11-yard touchdown for Murray’s fourth scoring pass of the game and Kirk’s second touchdown catch of the game.

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