Recap: Cardinals Routed by Chiefs in Season Opener
GLENDALE -- Football season is back in the desert, but the excitement didn't last long for the Arizona Cardinals.
The Kansas City Chiefs walked into State Farm Stadium and steamrolled the Cardinals to the tune of 44-21.
After seeing their roster plagued by injury and little time in the preseason to acclimate their starters back to game condition, the Chiefs looked very much like the perennial Super Bowl contender they've proved to be in recent memory.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you'll find the Cardinals, who struggled to find any answer for what Kansas City threw at them on both sides of the ball.
It's a long season, and if anybody understands the mantra "it's not about how you start, but how you finish" it's Arizona and their fans.
The Cardinals look to quickly erase this game from their memory and move on to their first road test in Las Vegas for Week 2.
Here's how the action went down to begin 2022:
First Quarter
The Cardinals won the toss and deferred, allowing Patrick Mahomes and company to take the field first.
That might have been a mistake.
Kansas City marched down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive which ended in a Travis Kelce touchdown (perhaps you've heard that before) to open the scoring.
Arizona, playing with shortages across the board on defense, opened up their defensive personnel with three inside linebackers (Isaiah Simmons, Zaven Collins and Nick Vigil).
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph scripted plenty of pressure coming off the edge, but that wouldn't slow the Chiefs down offensively. Kansas City would go on a seven-play, 86-yard drive that resulted in a Clyde Edwards-Helaire touchdown reception.
As for Arizona's offense, little was done in the first quarter of play after the Chiefs possessed the ball for 9:46 of the fifteen minutes. Their first play from scrimmage was an illegal shift, and the Cardinals would go three-and-out to begin their 2022 season.
The only notable play was a 24-yard catch from Greg Dortch, as Kansas City outgained Arizona 11-3 on first downs in the first quarter of play. They would lead the Cardinals 14-0 at the end of the first.
Second Quarter
Arizona finally found themselves in the end zone after James Conner scored on a two-yard run, previously set up by a 21-yard scramble from Kyler Murray. That would cut KC's lead in half, 14-7.
On the next drive after initially being stopped on third down near Arizona's goal line, Mahomes would wave the Kansas City field goal unit off and keep his offense on the field, resulting in another touchdown reception for CEH and a 20-7 lead for KC.
Harrison Butker, who previously appeared to hurt himself on a kickoff, was replaced by safety Justin Reid, who would miss the extra point.
The Cardinals would again go three-and-out the next possession, but would soon find some luck after Dennis Gardeck knocked the ball loose from JuJu Smith-Schuster to give AZ the ball back.
Arizona would later be stuffed on third down, and rather than opting for a 51-yard field goal try from Matt Prater, the Cardinals would miss their fourth down play and turn the ball over on downs.
That would set the Chiefs up for a 54-yard field goal, kicked by Butker, with just two seconds left to close the half out.
Kansas City would lead 23-7 at halftime.
Murray finished the first half completing 9-of-15 passes for 88 yards. Dortch paced the Cardinals in targets with seven, effectively replacing Rondale Moore. Mahomes had 223 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Third Quarter
Murray and company received the ball to begin the second half, but didn't do much after stalling after just a couple of minutes.
True to the game's script, the Chiefs would regain possession and march down the field to score another touchdown. That would be Mahomes' fourth of the day to expand Kansas City's lead to 30-7.
Arizona, looking to do the improbable and hit the coveted 20-point touchdown play, would again go three-and-out to give possession back to Kansas City.
4:53 later, Mahomes would hit Mecole Hardman for a two-yard strike to complete a eight-play, 71-yard drive to put the Chiefs up 37-7.
It was a rather damp and slow third quarter for Arizona, who turned to the no-huddle offense on their last possession of the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
The Cardinals would find the end zone for the second time on the day, although it came with their backs against the wall on a fourth-and-goal pass to Marquise Brown. Arizona would convert a two-point conversion to draw the lead to 37-15.
According to Arizona's SVP of Media Relations Mark Dalton, it was the first time the two connected on a touchdown since Nov. 23 of 2018.
Kansas City, with Mahomes still in the game, would again march down the field, although this time it was through the legs of Isiah Pacheco, who would be responsible for 40 yards and what would be another Chiefs touchdown.
Kansas City would go up 44-15 with 7:39 remaining. To that point, 6-of-9 possessions for the Chiefs would finish with a touchdown.
Arizona would respond with a touchdown of their own after the kickoff was nearly returned for a score. Murray found Zach Ertz for his second passing touchdown of the day.
Chad Henne would take over duties for Kansas City the rest of the way as the Chiefs emerged victorious, emptying out the stands quite early in Arizona.
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