Unfoldable Cards

Count Arizona Cardinals doubters as a dwindling breed.

The NFL’s last unbeaten team stayed so in emphatic fashion Sunday with a 37-14 thrashing of a vaunted Cleveland Browns team. They improved to 6-0 with the win to remain the NFL’s only perfect team after claiming the mantle in Week 4.

They did it on both sides of the ball against a Browns team that’s pegged as an AFC contender. Once again, quarterback Kyler Murray took center stage on a four-touchdown day. 

The Cardinals opened the game with a 20-0 second-quarter lead. The Browns threatened to make a run with a 57-yard Baker Mayfield Hail Mary to Donovan Peoples-Jones to end the first half trailing, 23-14. But a battered Browns team had no answers in the second half as the Cardinals ran a 14-0 shutout after halftime to secure the dominant victory.

Murray finished the day completing 20 of 30 passes for 229 yards with four touchdowns and no turnovers. The Cardinals outrushed the Browns 144 yards to 73 and held a 34:59-25:21 edge in time of possession as they milked the clock after building the big early lead.

The Browns dropped stood little chance of mounting a rally as injuries on offense continued to pile up. Cleveland started the day down down No. 1 wide receiver Jarvis Landry, starting tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills Jr. and No. 1 running back Nick Chubb. They got more bad news in the fourth quarter when No. 2 running back Kareem Hunt left the game on a cart with a calf injury. 

The good news for Cleveland is that Baker Mayfield was able to continue playing after landing hard on the same left shoulder that suffered a partial labrum tear in Week 2. But he was seen with his arm in a sling after the game with his status moving forward unclear. The Browns drop to 3-3 and enter a short week with a Thursday game against the Broncos looming and a slew of injury concerns. 

The Cardinals will look to improve to 7-0 next Sunday against the Houston Texans.