Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Trey Benson will always remember celebrating with his teammates, particularly how hard they smacked his helmet after he scored his first NFL touchdown. He gave the ball back to the referee by habit before getting it back.
Emari Demercado broke out a 53-yard touchdown at the end of the first half, which he said felt like practice with how well it was executed team-wide.
The two young backs stepped up in key moments of Sunday’s 29-9 win over the Chicago Bears, as the Cardinals overall gained 213 yards on the ground to dominate the Bears.
On victory Monday, both Benson and Demercado described how veteran starter James Conner has set the example and elevated their play as the season progresses.
“Really just being decisive, just always moving vertical, always moving forward and not going side to side most of the time,” Benson told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on what he’s learned from Conner. “I, these past couple games, have just gotten better on being more decisive. Each run I have in practice, I go to him and ask him what I could have done better on this. And he always gives me points … He’s been a great help so far.”
Benson carried the ball eight times for 37 yards and added an 18-yard reception to set a career high for scrimmage yards on Sunday.
Demercado added 59 yards on four rushes with a couple catches for 21 yards.
The second-year back had the chance to learn under Conner last season and credits the veteran for putting a jolt into this team before its three-game winning streak.
“He’s just a great leader, a great dude to follow,” Demercado told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta. “You just watch his process, you watch the way he does everything and it’s just excellent. So when you see somebody work like that, it just motivates you to work so much harder.
“He gave a speech to us a few weeks ago, and he just talked about why he plays the way he plays, his experiences when the game was almost taken from him, and it just put stuff into perspective. I think everybody took that to heart, and that’s why we’re playing the way we are.”
For Benson, he described his rookie year so far as having to stay patient while learning what he can from Conner.
Demercado said he takes pride in his role as a third down back, protecting quarterback Kyler Murray and taking his opportunities when he gets them.
Confidence grows for young players who contribute the way they did on Sunday.
“It feels great to be able to, if we want to run the ball, we’re able to run the ball in any way that we want to,” Demercado said of the run game. “It’s just a good, great feeling. I’m happy for Trey to finally get his first touchdown. So that was big for him.”
Conner has been a workhorse this year and ranks sixth in the NFL with 147 rushes through nine weeks. Sunday’s game was the most productive for the trio.
As a team, the Cardinals own the NFL’s top spot for explosive run rate (10+ yards), per Football Insights, and second in yards per carry (5.9).
