Cardinals' Byron Murphy nearly fumbled, pulled a DeSean Jackson on winning overtime TD vs. Raiders

Jacob Camenker

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Cardinals' Byron Murphy nearly fumbled, pulled a DeSean Jackson on winning overtime TD vs. Raiders image

Byron Murphy was the hero for the Cardinals during their 29-23 overtime victory over the Raiders, but he just as easily could have been the goat.

And not the good kind.

Murphy's big moment came after linebacker Isaiah Simmons put a hard hit on Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow to force a fumble. The ball bounced around loose on the turf before Murphy was able to get to it with a clear path to the end zone.

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The veteran cornerback scooped up the ball and took it to the house for an easy 59-yard score.

Well, the score should have been easy. In reality, it required a lengthy review. Why? Because Murphy came dangerously close to dropping the ball before he reached the goal line.

If Murphy hadn't broken the plane, the play would have ended with a fumble out of the end zone. That would have resulted in a touchback for the Raiders.

Fortunately for him, the officials found no conclusive evidence that he had dropped the ball before the goal line. As such, the ruling on the field stood as called.

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That the ruling stood as called was important, as it meant that there wasn't definitive evidence to confirm Murphy's touchdown. That means that there wasn't a pylon camera angle that would have given officials and fans a clear, down-the-line shot of the ball at the goal line.

Either way, while Murphy felt good about the game-winning play, he probably won't be celebrating in that manner anymore. He came too close to being crowned this decade's version of DeSean Jackson, who famously fumbled what should have been an easy touchdown against Dallas in 2008.

“Luckily, he’s not a meme for the next 30 years of his life," Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Murphy after the game, per José M. Romero of AZCentral Sports.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.