The Cardinals’ opening drive Sunday served as a checklist of sorts. In 10 plays, the team went 48 yards, spread the ball and capped it with a touchdown, the first in the 30-15 win over Washington.

Quarterback Kyler Murray started it off by finding Larry Fitzgerald, ensuring as early as possible that Fitzgerald’s catch streak (now at 245 games) will continue. From there, it was a roll call. Running back Kenyan Drake got the next touch. Murray kept it himself. As the Cardinals kept moving, Murray connected with Chase Edmonds and DeAndre Hopkins, all before finding Hopkins very much open for the four-yard touchdown.

A would-be touchdown run by Murray nearly ended the drive a few plays earlier, but was called back for holding. Wide receiver Christian Kirk also had a catch that was negated by an illegal block. Dan Arnold was targeted, and while incomplete, let the record show that coach Kliff Kingsbury was thinking about his tight ends from the start. Even offensive lineman Justin Murray was eligible on a play, as nearly everyone on the offense got in the mix. 

Kingsbury often talks about his role when it comes to getting players in rhythm. He finds that is most imperative for a quarterback, but he accounts for his other players, too. It dictates how he coaches, especially at the start of each game. 

“I try to script that way,” Kingsbury said Monday. “It doesn’t always go as you would want it, but throughout the week, I’ll try to script it where I’m getting guys touches early. And then kind of riding the hot hand, as that goes.

“…But I want to kind of spread it around early play-call wise, and hopefully everybody’s getting involved, and then we go from there. But throughout the season, you realize different guys show up at different times.”

Let Drake serve as example. Drake had 52 of his 86 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, a nice contrast for Murray, who had the bulk of his yards on the ground in the first. 

There were a few factors at play. The Cardinals were up 20-0 by halftime, so there wasn’t exactly a sense of urgency to get the starting running back going. And as Hopkins set a league record for most receptions in the first two games with a team (20), it was clear that Arizona had options.  

But Kingsbury has also gotten a better feel for Drake’s style, and he incorporates that into his planning. 

“We really feel like Kenyan gets stronger as the game goes on,” Kingsbury said Monday. “He’s been great at closing out games, having some tough runs late.” 

That’s not to say that Drake’s runs will be siloed into the fourth quarter; He had 11 carries earlier in the game Sunday, starting on that opening drive. But two games in, Kingsbury has the flexibility of knowing that different players can peak at different times throughout the game. And not only can he anticipate that to a certain extent, but he can capitalize on it. 

“We want to play with tempo and have that effect on teams when we do have the ball late, and if we need to close it out, we can do that,” Kingsbury said.

“Obviously, we’d like to have some bigger runs in the run game early, but it’s worked out the last couple of weeks that he’s had the ball in his hands late, and done a great job of kind of putting those games away.”

Kingsbury has said often that his challenge now is to spread the ball, and to a new extent this season. Even if the number of touches varies greatly from player to player, so far, the Cardinals have been identical in their answer: No one seems to care about stats as long as they win. They are not the first team to say this, but it sounds a little nicer when undefeated.

Hopkins led Cardinals receivers with 68 yards on eight catches. Fitzgerald had seven catches, good for 50 yards, but after that, the receptions were a bit more spread out. 

Kirk and fellow receiver Andy Isabella finished with two catches each and both were on the receiving end of downfield dime from Murray. Kirk had just one reception the previous week, and Isabella was not targeted. Murray, who threw for 286 yards Sunday, recognizes that a breadth of options, in turn, presents some individual limitations. 

“I love both of those guys,” Murray said Sunday after the game. “You want to get everybody the ball, it’s hard to do. We just have so many weapons I feel like. When they touch the ball, something could happen at any moment. …

“Obviously, not everybody is going to be able to touch the ball, but I hope to get those guys more touches. I hope to get everybody more touches.”

Johnson activated, Williams to IR

The Cardinals have activated wide receiver KeeSean Johnson from the Reserve/COVID-19 list and have placed tight end Maxx Williams (ankle) on injured reserve. Johnson was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on the Friday before the season opener. 

Arizona has also signed tight end Justin Johnson to the practice squad and has placed running back D.J. Foster (quadricep) on the practice squad injured reserve list.

Many injuries around the league

Monday brought a slew of injury updates for prominent players around the league, including some on upcoming opponents for Arizona. Panthers star running back Christian McCaffrey is expected to be out four to six weeks with a high-ankle sprain. The Cardinals face the Panthers in Carolina Week 4, following the upcoming game against the Lions. 

“They say four to six weeks,” McCaffrey told Carolina media. “Well, that’s a challenge to me. And I’m gonna attack it, like I attack anything else.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-356-6407. Follow her on Twitter @kfitz134.

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