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Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride became the first player in NFL history to register consecutive games with 12 catches during the team’s Week 13 loss against the Minnesota Vikings.
After catching 12 passes for 133 yards against the Seattle Seahawks, McBride posted another 12 receptions for 96 yards in Minnesota.
Arizona lost both games.
“Those are the two highest single-game reception totals by a tight end in Cardinals history and mark the first time in NFL history that a tight end has caught at least 12 passes in consecutive games,” said NFL Research.
McBride – in his first year as a full starter – has capitalized on a strong sophomore campaign in 2023 with 781 receiving yards on 73 receptions in 2024, good enough for second and third among tight ends, respectively.
He does have two touchdowns this season – one rushing and one fumble recovery – though he’s yet to gain a receiving score.
McBride’s emerged as a go-to target for quarterback Kyler Murray, and an overall weapon for the Cardinals.
“I think he’s the best. I’m not trying to get ahead of myself or anything or put any pressure on him. I know the work that he’s put in,” said McBride.
“I know what type of athlete he is, what type of player he is. It is good to see that people are taking notice of what he does each and every week when the ball is in his hands.”
After the loss against Minnesota, the Cardinals’ offense looks to rebound after a poor showing in the red zone, going just 1-6 in opportunities inside the 20-yard line.
“It’s a lot of time with the offense we have and Kyler back there,” McBride said following the game.
“I have full faith in our offense. We’re trying to get the ball down there, obviously, we want a touchdown, but all we need is a field goal. Bad first play, bad second play puts us behind the sticks. Third and long and then we’ve got to go for it on fourth. Kyler’s trying to make a miraculous play, but they made a good play, too, so it’s frustrating.”
We’ll see if the Cardinals can turn things around, though they’ve got a pretty reliable man in the middle to rely on.
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Arizona Cardinals All-Pro predicted to be poached by Houston Texans
The Arizona Cardinals are on the cusp of the NFC playoff picture with four games remaining in the 2024 regular season.
The Cardinals propelled themselves back into the hunt by putting together an impressive four-game win streak, but lost their last two matchups to the Vikings and Seahawks.
While the young Arizona team is ahead of schedule under Year two of Jonathan Gannon taking over as head coach, expectations for the squad got higher as Kyler Murray and the offense started clicking from Oct. 21 to Nov. 10.
But even with the two recent losses, Arizona has a massive opportunity this weekend to get a victory over the Seahawks, who are ahead of them by one game in the NFC West and the current favorites to win the division.
As it stands, the Cardinals’ best path to getting to the playoffs is to win the NFC West, as teams like the Commanders are two games ahead of them in the Wildcard race and have the edge if it came down to a tie, considering Washington beat Arizona earlier this season.
Regardless of how the 2024 season ends, it appears the Cardinals are trending in the right direction, with a mix of young and veteran talent on offense and a defensive unit that’s improving weekly under Gannon, who led the Eagles defense before taking the Arizona head coaching job.
Right now, the Arizona Cardinals are middle of the pack in the NFL in total defense, allowing 340.5 yards per game and 24 touchdowns on the season.
While it’s inevitable they will make moves this offseason to improve the roster — and also extend key foundational players like they did for RB James Conner last week — one NFL writer predicts Arizona is going to part ways with arguably its best defensive player ahead of 2025.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report predicts the Houston Texans will make a move to sign All-Pro safety Budda Baker, who is set to be a free agent after this season.
Eric Murray is set to be a free agent in the offseason. He gets a lot of run, as Jimmie Ward sees a lot of his action in the slot and the Texans have three safeties on the field. Ward will be 35 years old next season and only has one year left on his contract.
All that could lead the Texans to look into signing a free agent safety to team up with Caden Bullock. Budda Baker would be a premium addition.
He’ll be 29 next season, but he’s still playing at a high level and could help this Texans secondary reach new heights in 2025.
Baker has been one of the best safeties in the NFL since getting drafted by the Cardinals in 2017. He’s earned six Pro Bowl selections and earned First Team All-Pro honors twice. Baker is a staple on the Arizona defense and it’s hard to see the Cardinals letting him walk out the door.
He has 851 tackles, 36 pass deflections, 9.5 sacks, 7 interceptions, 6 forced fumbles and 5 fumble recoveries in his NFL career.
The Arizona Cardinals’ safety is playing at an elite level again this season with over 100 tackles on the year (for the fifth time in his career) and two sacks on the season so far.
While he would be an instant upgrade to the Texans secondary, it will be interesting to see if the Cardinals’ brass makes a move to extend him like they did Conner.
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