The Cardinals’ tough schedule continues with Monday night’s game against the improving Chargers

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals aren’t going to start talking about must-win games in mid-October.

Still, the prospect of a third straight losing season makes Monday night’s game against the improving Los Angeles Chargers particularly important.

The Cardinals (2-4) have shown promise in coach Jonathan Gannon’s second season, but have still not won consecutive games since 2021. Arizona is back in first place in this pursuit and has prevailed a 34-13 loss to Green Bay a week later Victory over the reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.

“We have to stay positive because we know what we have here,” Murray said. “It’s not like we’re at rock bottom. No one has given up on what we can achieve. I have full confidence in all the guys in the locker room.”

The Cardinals have had a tough schedule and that continues Monday against the Chargers (3-2), who have one of the NFL’s best defenses.

Gannon said the Cardinals need to focus mostly on themselves.

“We have to do more together to win more games. “So right now we’re focused on what we control (and how that impacts the win against the Chargers on Monday night,” Gannon said. “That’s our headspace.”

The Chargers earned a 23:16 win against the Broncos This was a step in the right direction for their offense. Now they face a Cardinals defense that is one of the worst in the league.

Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert took nothing for granted.

“They do a lot of great things,” Herbert said. “You’re going to play a bunch of different coverages and find a way to make them all work. When you turn on the tape you see a great disguise plan and a whole lot of coverage that is pretty good.”

Defensive Line Blues

The Cardinals are struggling defensively with veteran starters Justin Jones (triceps) and Bilal Nichols (stinger) out for the season. This is one of the reasons Arizona has difficulty putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

The injuries have put more pressure on others like Roy Lopez and Dante Stills. Stills was a sixth-round pick out of West Virginia last year and has developed into a solid player.

“We just continue to look for consistency from him,” Gannon said. “When he does it right, he’s really, really good and that goes for all of our guys. He’ll have a good week and play well.”

Offensive momentum

With Herbert’s high ankle sprain now over and the offensive line somewhat healthy, the Chargers are starting to show signs of reaching their potential on offense.

Herbert threw for a season-high 237 yards last week in Denver, but the offense remained balanced (38 passes, 37 runs). Herbert completed passes to nine players and could have another new target this week. DJ Chark has begun training after being on injured reserve since the start of the season.

The Chargers have the third-highest run rate in the league at 52.4% and face the fourth-worst run defense in the NFL. JK Dobbins is second in the AFC with 438 rushing yards and had a career-high 25 carries last week.

Monday evening Harbs

Jim Harbaugh went 6-0 as coach on Monday Night Football during his four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

After briefly leaving the sidelines last week because of an irregular heartbeat, Harbaugh said Wednesday that his stress test came back normal and his heart was back in rhythm.

The last time Harbaugh felt an irregular heartbeat on the sideline before last Sunday in Denver was during a Monday night game in 2012 when the 49ers faced the Chicago Bears.

Conner on the big stage

Cardinals running back James Conner was productive Monday night, scoring six touchdowns in six games. That includes three games with the Cardinals in which he totaled 293 yards and four touchdowns.

Conner, 29, leads the Cardinals with 403 rushing yards this season.

Keep an eye on…

Murray crawls. With 16 carries, he is third among quarterbacks in scramble yards (150).

The Chargers have already met strong players in Justin Fields (Pittsburgh), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City) and Bo Nix (Denver). Nix had six scrambles for 61 yards last week, many of them in the fourth quarter after the Chargers built a 23-0 lead.

“You have to treat quarterbacks like that like running backs. Go tackle them,” Harbaugh said. “Kyler is good or better than a lot of running backs. We can get better at that, especially when there are free runners.”

___

AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in El Segundo, Calif., contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL: