Four Takeaways From Cardinals' 26-16 Win Against Panthers

The Cardinals came back to life in their win against the Panthers and received contributions all across the board during the second half.

The Arizona Cardinals would give their fans a rollercoaster of emotions in Week 4 as they defeat the Carolina Panthers on the road by a score of 26-10. Arizona would get their second win of the season.

It wasn't pretty at the beginning for the Cardinals. For the fourth straight game, they came away with zero points in the first quarter. They're still the only team to have no points in the first 15 minutes of a game.

The Panthers were up 10-3 in the first half, with their lone touchdown due to a Kyler Murray pick-six into the hands of Frankie Luvu. 

As for the second half, well that's a different story. That will be discussed more as we get into the Cardinals' key takeaways.

Four Takeaways From Cardinals' 26-16 Win Against Panthers

Offense Comes Alive in Second Half

After being down 10-3 at halftime, the Cardinals would have 23 unanswered points in the second half. 

Murray accounted for all three of his team's touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. He finished the game 23-of-32 passing for 207 yards. There was an emphasis on the quarterback running the football as he ran a season-high 11 carries for 27 rushing yards. 

Zach Ertz and Marquise Brown both had six receptions and a touchdown each. 

It seemed like Kliff Kingsbury's offense was in sync as Arizona had 21 minutes of time of possession in the second half.

Allen & Gardeck Show

Defensive lineman Zach Allen and outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck both had sensational games. 

Allen totaled six tackles, one sack, tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and a career-high three pass deflections. Gardeck had his first-career interception that set the Cardinals up in scoring position. He also finished the day with a sack.

Murray & Kingsbury Beef?

It wasn't always peaches and cream during Arizona's victory. After burning a second timeout early in the fourth quarter, FOX's TV cameras showed Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury being animated. 

That left the Cardinals with only one timeout for the rest of the game. 

The Cardinals just burned their 2nd timeout and Kyler/Kliff going at it. pic.twitter.com/5LOtkq1t40

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) October 2, 2022

It was clear that Murray was upset over the timeout decision. Murray's frustration could've also been due to the offensive struggles beforehand. 

Either way, both parties' emotions shown in the fourth quarter won't likely linger past that point.

Give It Up for Vance Joseph 

After surrendering 44 points to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, Vance Joseph's Cardinals' defense has shown strides.

Arizona has given up 32 points in its last 10 quarters with several forced fumbles and pass deflections leading to turnovers.

Baker Mayfield was in disarray as he threw two interceptions. The defense held Christian McCaffrey to 27 rushing yards on eight rushing attempts.

In the Week 4 win, Joseph got contributions from Zaven Collins, who was off-and-on earlier in the season. He had some great stops early in the game and was the team's leading tackler with a combined 8 tackles.

The Cardinals did face a Panthers offense that was a below-average unit heading into Week 4.

But that shouldn't take away from the fact that Joseph has slowly made the defense better, as the unit had question marks heading into 2022. 

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