Marvin Harrison Jr. is showing encouraging signs after the Arizona Cardinals' loss

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – This very game has frustrated the Cardinals for nearly four months.

Their $230 million quarterback dropped back and aimed for the back shoulder of their first-round rookie wide receiver. Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. together represent the future of this franchise. These were organization-shaping investments that were made half a decade apart between the first and fourth top five companies. They are still young, 27 and 22. They have incredible talent. However, both are characterized by inconsistencies. Whether either will prove the Cardinals’ wise investment remains an open question.

And no play exemplified the Cardinals’ unfulfilled vision better than the back shoulder fade. Murray tried it for the first time in Week 1 against Buffalo, when Harrison wasn’t expecting it. Since then, attempts have remained incomplete in all areas. They bounced off Harrison’s hands, sailed over his head and flew out of bounds. If he and Murray agree, the execution is halted. If the ball is well placed, the communication is not right.

So they were at SoFi Stadium on Saturday night and tried again. This time it looked exactly like the visions. Murray placed the ball perfectly. Harrison expected it. And Harrison was executed. He spun his body away from cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, located the ball and ripped it into his hands for 24 yards, which felt like a lot more.

“That was a great catch,” Murray said. “I think the physicality is so great when you come into the league from college. The guys don’t realize how physical you can be when you get into the league. I think that’s one thing he’ll realize when he talks to him naturally. Big guy who can use that ability.”

If that first catch gave just a glimpse of what this connection could be, it morphed into a complete picture as the night progressed. At the end of a frustrating 13-9 loss to the Rams, Harrison had provided a bright spot that may have been more important than the result itself. He finished the game with six catches on 10 targets for 96 yards. In every category except touchdowns, it was his best performance since a trip to Miami in October.

“When (he) got one-on-one opportunities without help — they don’t play two-on-one — he made some hay out there,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “I thought he was excellent.”

Harrison’s production came in all forms. After Murray hit him on the run, there was a catch-drag on the sideline. When a play failed, there was a deep ball over the middle. There were several crossing routes where Harrison excelled on all season. There was a quick out in the fourth quarter for an important first down.

It didn’t lead to a win — or even many points — but it did lead to a passing offense that looked more like what the Cardinals need.

Murray finished the season with a season-high 321 yards passing and completed 33 of his 48 pass attempts. When the Cardinals’ running game has been ineffective this year — as it often was Saturday behind a depleted offensive line — their passing game typically suffers. Without play-action looks or multiple tight end sets, Murray becomes ineffective.

Not on Saturday. He was 26 of 35 for 231 yards on straight dropbacks. When he threw more than 20 yards downfield, he was 4 of 6 for 87 yards. Finally explosive.

“It’s encouraging for the future,” receiver Michael Wilson said. “That the product can look like this when we are running at full speed and making connections.”

In the past, these performances were not reproducible. The last time the Cardinals faced the Rams, Harrison dominated – only averaging 33.2 yards in his next five games. The win over Miami also seemed like a breakthrough, but he bounced back again, stringing together seven consecutive disappointing games.

The Rams defense offers another caveat. They entered the game averaging 7.1 yards per pass attempt, the fifth-worst mark in the league. Seven receivers have rushed for at least 100 yards against them this season. Some are stars. Jauan Jennings, Jameson Williams and Khalil Shakir are not.

Nevertheless, Saturday’s performance was tempting.

Harrison’s inconsistency is impossible to miss this season. Earlier this week, even general manager Monti Ossenfort admitted during an appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7 that “there are plays that (Harrison) certainly wants back.”

But Ossenfort also repeated the refrain that came from every member of the organization.

“We saw how (Murray and Harrison) clicked, we saw the two of them disagree at times,” Ossenfort said. “…It will get there. But it will take some time.”

It often takes time for the game’s top receivers. Lately, the NFL has been flooded with dominant rookie seasons from receivers like Puka Nacua, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. But consider the two players Harrison is most often compared to.

His Hall of Fame father, Marvin Harrison Sr., finished his rookie year with 64 receptions, 836 yards and eight touchdowns.

The greatest receiver in Cardinals history, Larry Fitzgerald, finished his rookie year with 58 receptions, 780 yards and eight touchdowns.

Harrison has 57 receptions, 822 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games, as many as the two played as rookies.

This isn’t what he imagined back when he was college football’s best receiver and touted as a next-generation draft prospect. But Harrison knows it can lead to much more as long as he continues to make the same progress he did against the Rams.

“It’s been a long season,” Harrison said last week. “Lots of ups and downs. So it would be good to finish strong.”

On Saturday night in Inglewood he was halfway there. This made another Cardinals loss hurt even less.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is showing encouraging signs after the Arizona Cardinals’ loss

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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