Former Penn State QB Trace McSorley fought hard on Christmas Night against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Arizona Cardinals ultimately fell, 19-16, in overtime.
McSorley, starting for the Cardinals due to regular starter Kyler Murray being out for the year and backup Colt McCoy suffering a concussion last Sunday, went 24-45 for 217 yards, no touchdown passes and one interception.
The Cardinals led, 16-6, in the fourth quarter, but Tampa scored the last 13 points to drop Arizona to 4-11.
The results for McSorley individually and for the Cardinals collectively weren’t surprising. In an ideal world, McSorley is a third-string QB. Under the lights, he had to be a QB1, and the night featured some positive and negative moments. A deep ball from McSorley to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown late in the third quarter set up a Matt Prater field goal which gave Arizona its first lead, 9-6. In the fourth quarter, Arizona pushed its lead to two scores on a 22-yard run by James Conner.
Throw it on a dime. pic.twitter.com/Khuk4cIPeO
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) December 26, 2022
Although McSorley didn’t dazzle, the team was in a great position to win his first NFL start. But it didn’t happen that way. A short touchdown pass from Brady to Rachaad White made it a one score game again. On the ensuing possession, Arizona called a pitch on 3rd and 1, which turned into a fumble that Tampa recovered. The Bucs ended their next drive with a game-tying 42-yard field goal by Ryan Succop.
Cardinals fumble and the Bucs recover 👀
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/avWKet6NIr
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 26, 2022
Succop went on to hit the winning kick— a 40-yarder— in overtime.
It remains to be seen if McSorley will get another start this season. Arizona only has two games left.
In any case, Penn State fans were happy to see one of their favorites, McSorley, get a chance to start an NFL game at QB after nearly four full seasons looking to get his shot.
