The Buffalo Bills’ Week 1 came down to the wire against the Arizona Cardinals. After going up 17-3 at one point, the Cardinals looked like their flight back to Arizona was going to be a fun one. Josh Allen had other plans as we all know which resulted in the Bills securing a close 34-28 victory in front of the home crowd.
Even though Arizona’s offense was lighting up the scoreboard, one player that didn’t contribute at all was their exciting first-round rookie, Marvin Harrison Jr. Kyler Murray only targeted Harrison Jr. three times, but the duo only connected on one catch for four yards. Rookie running back Trey Benson had more receiving yards than Harrison Jr. did.
Harrison Jr. had a bad wide-open drop at one point where he had no defenders around him and he couldn’t hang onto the ball. Then in crunch time in the 4th quarter, there was a play where Harrison Jr. was seen free down the field that would have probably resulted in his first NFL touchdown, but Murray didn’t see him.
It’s a good thing that the Bills kept Harrison Jr. quiet because in the Cardinals’ Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Harrison Jr. made a lot of noise early on in the game. In the first half alone, Harrison Jr. has already recorded 4 catches for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns.
His first touchdown came off of a 23 yard pass from Murray, in which he caught it over former Bill, Tre'Davious White, per Alex Brasky. Then his second one went for a 60-yard touchdown which put the Cardinals up 14-0 in the first quarter.
MHJ's Week 2 production displays how great Sean McDermott was in Week 1
Even though Harrison Jr. is only a rookie in the first two weeks of his career, he has the highest ceiling we potentially have ever seen in a rookie prospect. His father was a legend for the Indianapolis Colts, and Harrison Jr. himself was phenomenal at Ohio State. Seeing how the Bills were able to contain him with a revamped secondary shows how great Sean McDermott and even Bobby Babich are.
Another factor to consider is there is no solidified leadership in the secondary like there always has been with Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. Instead, it’s the “next man up” mentality. McDermott will continue to show the NFL that his defense can lock down any receiver that the Bills are going up against.