TEMPE — There were plenty of make-or-break plays in the Arizona Cardinals’ 17-15 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.
Quarterback Kyler Murray’s touchdown run (midplay celebration included), running back James Conner’s explosive catch-and-run in the fourth quarter and cornerback Starling Thomas’ punchout were among the biggest standouts.
Then you have the “Tune Push,” which got a lot of attention for the opposite effect on primetime. And I’m not talking about the successful one in the second quarter.
With less than seven minutes in the third quarter and a chance to extend a 7-6 lead, Arizona opted for the Tune Push on third-and-one at the Chargers’ 45-yard line.
When that fell short, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing went back to the well once more.
Same formation, same result.
Instead of keeping the drive alive and putting points on the board, the Cardinals watched the Chargers take the lead with a(nother) Cameron Dicker field goal.
Had the Cardinals taken the L at home, the sequence of events from the missed Tune Push attempts would have been pointed to as one of the biggest turning points in the game, especially given how dominant the run game had been behind Conner.
But that’s not how the game played out, and Petzing doesn’t appear to be ripping it out of the playbook anytime soon.
“It’s a play I’m almost always going to feel good about,” the Cardinals offensive coordinator said Tuesday.
“It’s something we’ve executed at a high level a number of times throughout the last year and a half. Especially when you have two downs, I feel really good about our guys going and getting that yard one or two ways. Felt really good about it.”
What went wrong with the failed Tune Push attempts?
Looking back at the tape, the failed Tune Push attempts came down to two reasons in Gannon’s eyes.
“I thought we got the one early. The movement was there, the surge was there,” Gannon said Tuesday. “I thought the next time we did it, Clayton slipped — well kind of — his foot came out from under him which you need the surge there.
“I was comfortable with running it again and they made a good play, so it’s a learning experience for us. We’ll be better from that and learning from it. We’ll keep getting better.”
