Buffalo Bills were already getting ready to celebrate the win on Sunday as the Arizona Cardinals took their last game snap. And you can’t blame them.
With 11 seconds remaining in the game, the Bills had a 30-26 lead and were playing some inspiring defense. Cardinals, on the other hand, stood 49 yards away from the endzone and needed a touchdown with only one play remaining to get it.
Then DeAndre Hopkins happened.
Arizona’s quarterback Kyler Murray took the snap, scrambled, avoided what seemed like a certain tackle, and launched a “Hail Mary” to the endzone while saying a prayer. The pass found Hopkins, who, despite being surrounded by three Bills defenders, managed to rise above everyone and catch the ball to give his team an unlikely win.
Hopkins, who finished the game with seven receptions for 127 yards, immediately ranked the catch as the best one of his career.
“This one is No. 1,” said Hopkins after the game. “It was to win the game, no question, against a playoff opponent.”
The credit for the play also belongs to Murray, who struggled in the passing game for the better part of the contest but came through when it mattered the most.
“Just to get the pass off was incredible,” said Arizona’s head coach Kliff Kingsbury. “If you watch the replay, he’s running and dodging and ducking, and I didn’t think he’d get it off.”
It was an important win for Arizona Cardinals, as they are trying to make a playoff run in the packed NFC West. They now sit at the top at 6-3 but have LA Rams and Seattle Seahawks breathing down their neck with the same record.
Bills, on the other hand, fell to 7-3 but still have a one-game cushion in AFC East ahead of Miami Dolphins.
