Arizona Cardinals beat Buffalo Bills on Kyler Murray-to-DeAndre Hopkins Hail Mary
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After using his legs to pull the Arizona Cardinals back into a game they trailed for the majority of, quarterback Kyler Murray used his arm to win it.
Murray found DeAndre Hopkins for a 43-yard Hail Mary touchdown with two seconds left to give the Cardinals a 32-30 win over the Buffalo Bills at State Farm Stadium on Sunday to move the Cardinals into a three-way tie for first place in the NFC West.
Hopkins was draped by three Bills defenders -- Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde and Tre'Davious White -- when he pulled down the unlikely catch on the far left side of the end zone in front of 4,200 socially distanced fans.
The Cardinals needed that last-second touchdown after the Bills pulled ahead 30-26 with 39 seconds left on a Josh Allen TD pass to Stefon Diggs.
After betting support for the Cardinals drove the line up over the weekend, Arizona closed as a consensus 3-point favorite at sportsbooks. Hopkins' touchdown put the Cardinals up by two with no time left. Instead of risking the extra point being blocked and returned by Buffalo for a tying two-point conversion, Arizona elected to kneel down and end the game.
The favored Cardinals attracted slightly more betting action than the Bills at most sportsbooks.
Murray finished with 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 22-for-32 passing. For the second straight week, Murray did what he could to put the Cardinals in a spot to win.
As the Cardinals struggled to convert in the red zone Sunday by throwing the ball, leading to a field goal fest in the first 2½ quarters, Murray found the end zone with 5:48 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run to cut Buffalo's lead to 23-16.
Following a Patrick Peterson interception, Murray's brilliance on the ground was on display again in the final seconds of the third quarter, when he took off for 28 yards to move the Cardinals deep into Bills territory.
Three plays later, Murray ran in barely untouched for his second touchdown, this one from the 15, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game. Murray's two rushing touchdowns gave him 10 for the season, the first time a quarterback has reached that mark since Cam Newton in 2011. Murray had 61 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Murray also became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to have a rushing touchdown in at least five straight games. He has rushed for a touchdown in eight of the Cardinals' nine games this season.
Hopkins had 127 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Kenyan Drake ran for 100 yards on 16 runs.
ESPN's David Purdum contributed to this report.
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