Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon insisted that it wasn’t purely by design that rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. did so much damage early in Arizona’s resounding 41-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
There was a lot of speculation over what went wrong in Harrison’s NFL debut in Week 1 after the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft caught one pass for a mere 4 yards in a loss to the Bills. Worse yet, Harrison led the Cardinals in routes run, yet he had only three targets -- and had one obvious drop.
Harrison put that talk to bed quickly Sunday. In the first three-plus minutes of Sunday’s game against the Rams, Harrison exploded for touchdown catches of 23 and 60 yards, thrilling the State Farm Stadium crowd in his home debut in the regular season.
The first showcased his grace and feel. The second displayed terrific speed and explosion. But Gannon swore this wasn’t a concerted effort by the Cardinals to get their big-play rookie going.
“Honestly, you guys are gonna think I’m a liar,” he said. “The ball went where it should go.”
Gannon said the Rams threw “some curveballs” defensively, which compelled Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray to throw to the advantageous matchup. And the rookie delivered.
By the end of the first quarter, Harrison had four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Amazingly, all of Harrison’s catches came in that first quarter -- and specifically, the first nine-plus minutes.
“Just thought it was a good plan in place,” Gannon said, “and 18 got going today.”
Harrison became the first rookie with four or more catches and two or more touchdowns in a first quarter since – incredibly – his father did it in 1996 with the Indianapolis Colts. And Harrison Jr. was even able to get one over on dad, totaling more receiving yards (130) in that first quarter than the elder Harrison had in any game as a rookie in 1996.
Harrison downplayed his performance, calling it “solid.” He praised the offense as a whole but found himself irritated at something he noticed on the box score.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I saw Kyler’s stat line,” Harrison said. “(Murray) had four incompletions; all were (thrown) to me, so I’m not very happy about that.
“We’ve got to get that fixed. But we’ll continue to build our chemistry as the season goes on.”
Murray tried to hit Harrison on a deep shot later and missed. They also were unable to connect on a red-zone target early in the fourth quarter before the starters came out. Nonetheless, it was the kind of breakout game the Cardinals were thrilled to see.
“They’re just gonna get better and better the more they play with each other,” Gannon said. “And I know they want some plays back. You guys saw a couple plays they want back that we need to convert. Everyday on the practice field they’re going to get better. Everyday in the meeting room, they’re going to get better.”
Murray said his favorite throw to Harrison was the first touchdown, lobbing a 23-yard score in the back of the end zone.
“It was big for him. His first touchdown,” Murray said. “Obviously after last week, to get the jitters out last week and put everything to rest, just come out here and play hard, play together and get a win, it was good.”
Harrison said he made sure not to dwell on his tough first game, and it paid off Sunday, as the Cardinals evened their record at 1-1.
“You can never get too high, never get too low,” he said. “Last week, I knew I couldn’t get too low. This week, I know I can’t get too high on a successful day. You just try to approach each day with the same mindset, same preparation, same routine no matter how the results are. ...
“I don’t think I ever had a lack of confidence in myself or the rest of the team. I’ll continue to get better each and every week, and continue to grow.”