TEMPE, Ariz.– Arizona Cardinals pass receiver DeAndre Hopkins continued his torrid rate to start the 2020 season Sunday against the New York Jets.
Hopkins had 131 yards and a goal on six catches for his third game with a minimum of 130 backyards amongst his first five with the Cardinals. The three-time All-Pro didnt have any 130-yard games last season with the Houston Texans.
After Arizonas 30-10 win over the Jets on Sunday, Hopkins credited the playcalling of coach Kliff Kingsbury and the decision-making of quarterback Kyler Murray for his exceptional performances this season.
” Those guys trust me to get me the ball downfield,” Hopkins stated. “A lot of people take a look at me as simply a possession receiver, I guess. And my capabilities and my talent, undoubtedly, todays and other games, show that Im not just an ownership receiver but Im a downfield threat.”
1 RelatedHopkins has 6 plays of 20 yards or more this season though 5 games, compared to 16 in 2019 and 23 in 2018. Against the Jets, Hopkins had plays of 45 and 37, in addition to plays of 15, 13, 11 and 10. His 45-yard catch was along the left sideline on a play in which he needed to come back to grab an underthrown pass. And his 37-yard catch was a one-handed touchdown, likewise down the left sideline.
” I didnt even know if he was going to catch it,” Murray stated of the 45-yard throw. “He shows you time and time once again why hes the finest shooter in the league.”
Hopkins likewise ended up being the fourth-youngest receiver (28 years, 127 days) in NFL history to reach 9,000 receiving backyards for his profession, behind Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson and colleague Larry Fitzgerald.
Hopkins registered 151 yards in his Cardinals launching versus the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. He followed that up with 137 yards in a Week 3 loss to the Detroit Lions. His previous video game with 130 or more yards remained in Week 17 of the 2018 season. He had five video games with more than 100 lawns last season, however his season-high was 120.
Hopkins leads the NFL with 528 backyards on 45 catches. Hes the only player with more than 500 lawns and more than 40 catches.
” Those guys trust me to get me the ball downfield,” Hopkins stated. 1 RelatedHopkins has 6 plays of 20 yards or more this season though 5 video games, compared to 16 in 2019 and 23 in 2018. Against the Jets, Hopkins had plays of 45 and 37, in addition to plays of 15, 13, 11 and 10. Hopkins registered 151 yards in his Cardinals launching versus the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1.” It felt a little bit more aggressive,” Hopkins stated.
” We simply hit some throws we didnt hit the week in the past,” Kingsbury said. “I do not believe we ever got in a rhythm. Like I stated, I did a poor task of getting us started with playcalls and we never ever got in a rhythm and it was real disjointed and we didnt strike the shots that we did take down the field, and we hit him today.
” Thought guys were aggressive in the method they used the perimeter and made a few of those screens work, and so it was just a much better general effort.”
Hopkins, who had 41 lawns recently, said Sunday felt various since the Cardinals took more shots downfield.
” It felt a little bit more aggressive,” Hopkins said. “Obviously, losing two video games back-to-back, we had to develop some things to get the playmakers the ball and achieve success. And Kliff and the guys did a great task of obviously trusting me and Kyler to connect downfield.”
