GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals aren't going to start talking about must-win games in mid-October.
Even so, the prospect of a third straight lost season makes Monday night's matchup against the improving Los Angeles Chargers particularly important.
The Cardinals (2-4) have shown promise during coach Jonathan Gannon's second season, but still haven't won back-to-back games since 2021. Arizona's back at square one in that pursuit, coming off a 34-13 loss to Green Bay one week after beating the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.
“We have to remain positive, because we know what we have in here,” Murray said. “It's not like we're at rock bottom. No one's given up on what we can accomplish. I've got full faith and confidence in all the guys in the locker room.”
The Cardinals have had a tough schedule and that continues on Monday with the Chargers (3-2), who have one of the NFL's best defenses.
Gannon said the Cardinals need to focus mostly on themselves.
“We need to do more collectively to win more games, so that’s (where) all our energy and focus right now is what do we control (and) how that impacts beating the Chargers on Monday night,” Gannon said. "That’s where our headspace is at.”
The Chargers are coming off a 23-16 win over the Broncos that was a step in the right direction for their offense. Now they'll get to go against a Cardinals defense that's been one of the worst in the league.
Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert wasn't taking anything for granted.
“They do a lot of great things,” Herbert said. “They’re going to play a bunch of different coverages and they find a way to to make them all work. When you turn on the tape you see a great disguise plan and a whole lot of coverages that they’re pretty sound.”
The Cardinals are banged up on the defensive line with veteran starters Justin Jones (triceps) and Bilal Nichols (stinger) out for the season. It's one reason Arizona has struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
The injuries have put more pressure on others like Roy Lopez and Dante Stills. A sixth-round pick last year out of West Virginia, Stills has grown into a solid player.
“We just keep looking for consistency from him,” Gannon said. “When he does it right, he’s really, really good and that’s all of our guys. He’ll have a good week and play well.”
Now that Herbert's high ankle sprain is behind him and the offensive line is somewhat healthy, the Chargers are beginning to show signs of reaching their potential on offense.
Herbert threw for a season high 237 yards last week at Denver, but the offense remained balanced (38 passes, 37 runs). Herbert completed passes to nine players, and he could have another new target this week. DJ Chark has started practicing after being on injured reserve since the start of the season.
The Chargers have the league’s third-highest run rate at 52.4% and will be facing the NFL’s fourth-worst run defense. J.K. Dobbins is second in the AFC with 438 rushing yards and had a career-high 25 carries last week.
Jim Harbaugh was 6-0 as a coach on “Monday Night Football” during his four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
After briefly leaving the sideline last week due to an irregular heartbeat, Harbaugh said on Wednesday that his stress test back normal and that his heart is back in rhythm.
Before last Sunday at Denver, the last time Harbaugh had felt an irregular heartbeat on the sideline was during a Monday night game in 2012 when the 49ers took on the Chicago Bears.
Cardinals running back James Conner has been productive on Monday nights, scoring six touchdowns in six games. That includes three games with the Cardinals in which he's had 293 total yards and four touchdowns.
The 29-year-old Conner leads the Cardinals with 403 yards rushing this season.
Murray's scrambling. He is third among quarterbacks in scramble yards (150) on 16 runs.
The Chargers have already faced prolific scramblers in Justin Fields (Pittsburgh), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City) and Bo Nix (Denver). Nix had six scrambles for 61 yards last week, with many coming in the fourth quarter after the Chargers built a 23-0 lead.
“You have to treat those type of quarterbacks like running backs. You go tackle them," Harbaugh said. “Kyler is good or better than a lot of running backs. It is something we can get better at, especially when there are free runners.”
AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in El Segundo, California, contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch (4) loses control of the ball and fumbles during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins (27) runs with the football during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
