Former Sooners Teammates, Heisman Winners Lead NFL Teams To Victory On Sunday

In back-to-back seasons for the Sooners in 2017 and 2018, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy and led Oklahoma to the College Football Playoffs.

Both were selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft in 2018 and 2019, the first quarterbacks from the same school ever to achieve that consecutively.

Mayfield is midway through his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Murray returned from a devastating ACL injury on Sunday.

Both former Sooners led their teams to victory.

Kyler Murray Leads Game-Winning Drive In Return From ACL Injury As Cardinals Beat Falcons 25-23

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray and his surgically repaired right knee were in trouble for a brief moment on the final drive of the fourth quarter.

The Arizona Cardinals quarterback bounced around in the pocket for a moment before retreating backward, evading multiple defenders while running to his left before reversing back to his right side and sprinting up the field for a spectacular 13-yard run that set up the game-winning field goal.

It’s been 11 months since Murray has been able to pull one of those jaw-dropping moves. It didn’t take him long to prove he’s still got it.

“Honestly, I thought they had a pretty good contain,” Murray said. “But God blessed me with the ability to do things like that.”

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Murray threw for 249 yards and ran for a touchdown in his return from an ACL tear, Matt Prater made a game-winning 23-yard field goal as time expired and the Cardinals snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Falcons 25-23 on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Murray made a pair of important plays on the game-winning drive, providing reminders of why he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2019 and also why the Cardinals (2-8) signed him to a $230.5 million contract before the 2022 season.

The 13-yard scramble on third-and-10 — after evading multiple sack attempts — helped keep Arizona’s game-winning drive alive. Then Murray hit tight end Trey McBride on a 33-yard pass that set up the short field goal.

“He made plays with his legs, he made plays with arm,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Obviously, a jolt of energy and belief within our team. That’s why he is who he is. Couldn’t be happier for the guy.”

Murray helped make it an easy field goal for Prater, who also connected from 56, 51 and 46 yards.

McBride finished with eight catches for 131 yards, James Conner ran for 73 yards and Murray completed 19 of 32 passes. Rookie BJ Ojulari had two sacks for the Cardinals. It was the first 100-yard receiving game for an Arizona tight end since 1989.

“It felt good to have Kyler back, felt good to get this offense moving a little bit, it was a lot of fun,” McBride said. “Kyler is a heckuva player.”

The Falcons pushed ahead 23-22 with 2:33 remaining on Desmond Ridder’s 9-yard run to the left corner of the end zone. Atlanta’s 2-point conversion failed, which allowed the Cardinals to play for a game-winning field goal.

The 24-year-old Ridder started the team’s first eight games of the season before losing his job to Taylor Heinicke, but was forced into the game in the fourth quarter after Heinicke hurt his hamstring.

Heinicke was 8 of 15 passing for 55 yards and a touchdown. Ridder was 4 of 6 for 39 yards.

Atlanta (4-6) has lost three straight, and six of its past eight, heading into a bye week.

“We’re frustrated — anybody would be when you come up short,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “We have to fix what’s been our issues and find a way to get back in the win column.”

Murray — who hadn’t played a game in 335 days — scored his first touchdown of the season with 10 seconds left in the first half, faking a handoff to Conner before keeping the ball himself and running 6 yards into the end zone, cutting the Falcons lead to 14-12 entering halftime.

Backup quarterback Clayton Tune and the offensive line pushed the pile for a 1-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left in the third quarter that gave the Cardinals a 22-17 lead.

Murray — a two-time Pro Bowl selection — tore the ACL in his right knee on Dec. 12, 2022, against the New England Patriots. The Cardinals have had several fill-in quarterbacks in the interim, including Colt McCoy, Trace McSorley, David Blough, Joshua Dobbs and Tune.

None of them had much success. The Cardinals had a 1-13 record over that span.

But it’s clear Arizona is a different team with Murray on the field.

“The energy, the vibe, everything was good,” McBride said. “We were coming into this game with a lot of confidence. We knew this was a good game for us, Kyler’s coming back, we’re playing at home. We were juiced up and excited.

“We wanted to play good for him.”

Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson ran for a 5-yard touchdown late in the first half — completing a 13-play, 76-yard drive — to give the Falcons a 14-6 lead late in the second quarter. Robinson finished with 95 yards rushing on 22 carries.

Nate Landman intercepted an off-the-mark Murray pass in the middle of the third quarter, returning it 25 yards to the Arizona 14. The Falcons settled for a field goal on the ensuing drive to take a 17-15 advantage.

The Falcons have lost the past three games by a combined 10 points.

Mayfield Throws For 278 Yards, 2 TDs To Help Buccaneers Stop 4-Game Skid With 20-6 Win Over Titans

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mike Evans sat on the bench, staring at his hands in disbelief.

Tampa Bay’s all-time receiving leader, the only player in NFL history to begin a career with nine consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, dropped a pass in the end zone with no defenders around him. He had no one to blame but himself.

“I dropped it being a little cocky, thinking about what fan I was going to give the ball to. You can’t do that,” Evans said after redeeming himself with a 22-yard touchdown catch to help the Buccaneers snap a four-game skid with a 20-6 victory over the reeling Tennessee Titans.

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Evans bulldozed his way across the goal line, carrying cornerback Kristian Fulton on his back, to put the Bucs (4-5) up 17-3 midway through the third quarter.

The 10th-year pro’s second-down drop on the previous possession led to Tampa Bay settling for a field goal for a 10-3 lead after Evans’ 43-yard catch set up the offense inside the Tennessee 10.

“I was angry at myself and frustrated,” the receiver said. “I made it a point to get that touchdown back.”

Baker Mayfield threw for 278 yards and two TDs for the Bucs, who had dropped four in a row after winning three of four to start the season.

Rachaad White turned a first-quarter screen pass into a 43-yard TD, and Evans finished with six receptions for 143 yards.

“It’s a lot of weight off your shoulders,” Evans said of ending Tampa Bay’s longest skid since 2019. “Four in a row is tough, especially with our talent and what we believe we can do. We definitely believe we can be a contender and a playoff team.”

A week after yielding five TD passes and an NFL rookie record 470 yards through the air to Houston’s C.J. Stroud, the Bucs’ defense fared much better against another first-year quarterback, Will Levis, who was sacked four times and intercepted once while failing to get his team into the end zone.

Tennessee (3-6) lost for the fourth time in five games following a 2-2 start. The Titans have dropped eight straight on the road dating to last season.

“We’ve just got to do a better job,” said Levis, who was trying to join Jacky Lee (1960) and Brent Pease (1987 replacement games) as the only rookie quarterbacks in Titans/Oilers franchise history to win two of his first three starts.

Levis led a field goal drive on Tennessee’s first possession but finished 19 of 39 for 199 yards in his first start since coach Mike Vrabel announced the second-round draft pick was replacing an injured Ryan Tannehill as the No. 1 quarterback moving forward.

“We know what we need to do to put us in the right direction. That starts in the building, doing the small things,” Titans running back Derrick Henry said.

“You can only talk so much, you’ve got to go out there and do it,” Henry added. “We are at the point where talking should be over, we’ve got to produce. That’s how you win in this league.”

An injury-weakened offensive line struggled to protect Levis, and the rookie got little help from a running game that produced 42 yards on 16 carries.

Nick Folk kicked field goals of 38 and 35 yards for the Titans, who haven’t won a road game since a prime-time victory at Green Bay last Nov. 17.

Levis fell to 1-2 as a starter. In his three starts, the 33rd overall pick has thrown for 699 yards, four TDs and two interceptions.

“We didn’t run it very well,” Vrabel said. “The first drive, there was some good stuff going on there, just didn’t finish that drive off. And whether it’s pressure or (various breakdowns) trying to get the football off, it was a struggle.”