Moore: It was all bad for the Cardinals against KC, except for Tillman's memory

We’ll start with something positive from Arizona’s 44-21 loss Sunday to the football team from Kansas City: a memory of Pat Tillman on 9/11.  

Pat Tillman became an American hero for his courage on and off the field, but sometimes that meant being brave enough to fail — at kicking.

This story comes up because Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker went out with an ankle injury early in the game Sunday, so coach Andy Reid turned to safety Justin Reid to handle kickoffs and extra points.

Upon realizing this, Kent Somers, the dean of Arizona sportswriters, said the last time he remembered a safety kicking the ball was Tillman.

That’s right. Tillman —  the Arizona State star, who became an NFL star, who became an American hero in response to the terror attacks of 9/11 — was briefly an Arizona Cardinals kicker.

Bill Gramatica tore his ALC celebrating a 42-yard first-quarter field goal against New York in December 2001.

Pat Tillman saw what happened, went up to coach Dave McGinnis and said, “you know who’s kicking now, right?”

McGinnis responded, “You?”

Tillman said something that rhymes with “shucking hay,” went in and handled the kickoffs.

Let’s just say that as a kicker, Tillman was a great safety.

“I played soccer as a kid … I don’t imagine we’ll ever see it again,” Tillman said at the time, according to The Associated Press.

We didn’t.

Tillman retired after the season and joined the Army to help win the War on Terror. He was killed in action.

Kyler’s clause

A clause in Kyler Murray’s contract extension —since removed — demeaningly demanding the quarterback do four hours of homework every week threw his preparedness into question.

Murray defended himself, saying “I refuse to let my work ethic and my preparation be in question.”

He said he puts in an “incomprehensible amount of time and blood, sweat and tears” to get ready to play.

His college coach, Lincoln Riley, said Murray’s work ethic was always a concern, but in a good way. “I was really concerned when I had him at (Oklahoma) that he was going to burn himself out … he pushes to the limits of it,” the USC coach deadpanned.  

“Having had three years with him every single day … I never worried about him and the amount of preparation he was putting into getting ready to play.”

Well, how about we question it, right now?

Murray didn’t look prepared. At all.

And for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and for a guy who had people from know-nothing sportswriters like me to all-time greats like Warren Moon speaking up on his behalf, that performance in the best Week 1 matchup of the new season was flat-out embarrassing.

He was destroyed in the first half on a corner blitz that he should have seen coming. He didn’t throw his first touchdown pass until the Cardinals were trailing 37-7 in the fourth quarter. And his five rushes for 29 yards weren’t nearly as impactful as the two sacks he took for 18 lost yards.

It looked even worse in the context of the showdown with Patrick Mahomes, who finished with 360 yards and five touchdowns on 30-for-39 passing.

That clause should never have been in that contract, but Murray wasn’t prepared.

For subscribers: Report card: Cardinals begin year needing catch-up work

Retracting the extensions?

Markus Golden got a one-year extension just days before the game. He finished with one tackle and no sacks.

Jalen Thompson got paid, too. He repaid General Manager Steve Keim for the confidence by lunging out of bounds to smack Mecole Hardman who was closer to the Gatorade cooler than the field of play.

DJ Humphries got a deal, but the pass protection was passive, at best. It wasn’t entirely his fault, of course, but far too often, Murray was scrambling like an egg, instead of looking for receivers downfield.

Humphries bears some responsibility for the pedestrian running game, as well. James Conner, who also got a new deal in the offseason, went for 26 yards on 10 carries with just one touchdown.

And finally, there’s coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim, who got new deals that will take them through the 2027 season. In baseball, “K’s” are strikeouts. Looks like that applies to football, too.  

Team president Michael Bidwill has to be rethinking all of it, especially when Cardinals fans started heading for the exits midway through the fourth quarter while Kansas City fans chanted and tomahawk chopped at the departing of the Red Sea.

Anybody seen Steve Wilks?

Related: Cardinals criticized for poor showing against Chiefs

First things worst

The Cardinals looked beakless in the first half.

The Kansas City offense scored touchdowns on each of its first three drives.

The first quarter ended with the Heartlanders up, 14-0, and any number of statistics tell the story: Kansas City had an 11-2 advantage in first downs, a 141-20 edge in total yards and a nearly 10-minute to 5-minute edge in time of possession.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, saw Isaiah Simmons drop a sure interception on a play were Zach Allen was flagged for both jumping offsides and roughing the passer.

Not to be outdone, Marco Wilson dropped an interception on the next drive.  

Kansas City went into halftime up 23-7.

Read more: Notebook: Dortch's hard work pays off in Cardinals opener

The new guy

Hollywood flopped on his debut weekend.

Marquise Brown, who came over in a draft day trade with Baltimore, did catch a touchdown pass in the first game of the season, extending an opening weekend run that goes back to 2019.

But his four catches for 43 yards and the previously mentioned touchdown had very little effect on the outcome of the game.

That script needed a rewrite.

Somers: Can Cardinals be repaired before time runs out on season?

Welcome back?

Rodney Hudson’s return was one of the most important things that happened in Arizona this summer. He considered retiring, but decided to come back a few days before training camp.

He didn’t play a snap in the preseason to minimize his risk of injury. But that approach did nothing to prevent the accumulation of rust that led to a couple of bad shotgun snaps that doomed plays and drives before they had a chance.

All these guys need to get their stuff together before they head up to Las Vegas to face the Raiders next week. 

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.

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