Kyler Murray is out today for Arizona, meaning the Cardinals have turned to Colt McCoy at quarterback in their NFC West clash with the 49ers.
So far, though, that absence has been mitigated by solid play on both sides of the ball; San Francisco is scoreless, and the Cardinals have opened a 14-0 lead. That’s in no small part due to this trick play call from Kliff Kingsbury.
Just a little late Trick or Treating pic.twitter.com/GDV8WO38Vd
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 7, 2021
There are multiple cool things going on there, not least of which the fact that it looks almost like a choreographed sequence. McCoy’s little fake flat throw/pitch back to Christian Kirk, who is running almost straight backwards, is the kind of movement that you almost never see during an NFL play, to the point that it stands out.
The play design didn’t end there, though; Kirk probably could have picked up yards running, but when you have the chance to throw a touchdown pass as a receiver you’re almost always going to take it. That’s what Kirk did, too, lofting it deep, even if the completion ended up short of the goal line. Arizona would punch it in on the next play to take the 14-0 lead.
this is a great wrinkle, and shows how Kliff is planting long game seeds these days. Arizona ran this flip reverse in the preseason, which SF no doubt saw and scouted and then today dialed up a reverse pass off of it. (Also, great toss by Christian Kirk.)https://t.co/u5DoaZhwS9 https://t.co/kzZfy2Xsjk
— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) November 7, 2021
That’s next-level trickeration, and we’re very here for it.
