In the Arizona Cardinals’ 38-13 Week 1 over the Tennessee Titans, the biggest performances were from quarterback Kyler Murray and linebacker Chandler Jones. Murray threw four touchdown passes and rushed for another in the win, while Jones had five sacks and two forced fumbles.
They got the most attention, but others had fine games as well.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar found some of the more underrated performances of the week and wrote about the “secret superstars” for Week 1.
Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries was one of them.
Farrar goes through his early career and struggles and cites his fantastic play last season. He gave up just two sacks and 23 total pressures on 695 pass-blocking snaps.
That level of play showed up again in Arizona’s 38-13 opening win against the Titans. Humphries allowed no pressures of any kind on 37 pass-blocking snaps. and was strong in run-blocking on 32 more snaps. Kyler Murray completed four of six passes of 20 or more air yards for 107 yards and a touchdown, and a big part of that big-play success was Humphries’ ability to keep Tennessee’s pass-rushers (especially Bud Dupree) at bay.
Humphries has become one of the league’s best tackles. He has not gotten recognition for it, but if he keeps it up, a Pro Bowl is in his future.
His play will help determine how good the Arizona offense is in 2021. If Week 1 was a preview for what it could be, the league better watch out.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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