“WOW!!!” - Rich Reacts to Jeremiyah Love’s Eyepopping Cardinals Preseason Debut

TJ said he saw a running back who looked like Adrian Peterson. He did not have to say the name for anyone to know he meant Jeremiyah Love.

One run went off near midfield and ended with Love leapfrogging a defender, and it did not stay contained to the broadcast. It hit phones as an alert. It lit up threads. Notre Dame fans have every right to say welcome to the party.

The better run might have been the other one. Love took it to his left with two Raiders defenders already in the backfield and clean shots at him, and he simply ran past them to the edge. That is the Peterson part of it. Not the hurdle, the authority.

There was no hopping around waiting for a hole to open. Love took the handoff knowing exactly where he was going and dared people to stop him. Sitting on the NFL Network set with Michael Robinson and Maurice Jones-Drew, two running backs who know what they are looking at, Rich watched the reaction be the same every single time Love touched it. Everyone made a noise.

Now put the third overall pick into that offense. Michael Wilson is coming off a 1,000-yard season. Trey McBride caught what felt like everything thrown near him last year. Maserati Marv hauled in Arizona's first touchdown of the night on a throw Jacoby Brissett made while fading and leaning left, a dime that looked like it might have been a no-look.

Depth is not the problem either. Tyler Allgeier, Mr. Atlanta vulture himself, is in the building. Conner is working his way back from an awful leg injury and is not coming back to watch. Gardner Minshew looked terrific. Carson Beck sat out banged up, which is unfortunate, because those are exactly the reps he needs.

Mike LaFleur is the one dialing it up, and his offense hung a 30 burger in the Hall of Fame game and 27 more on Thursday night without playing the full freight. LaFleur, predictably, wanted no part of the hype.

"I give the guys credit for executing when the ball's being snapped," LaFleur said. "It is the preseason. Good little window right there, but again, stuff to clean up for sure in all three phases, and then we're right back to work on Saturday. We didn't break camp just because we left the Wigwam."

Rich is not pumping the brakes. Arizona is going to be a problem, at least on occasion, because Love is operating on a different dimension than the rest of what is out there in August. The one nervous moment came on that same run left, when Love's leg got caught and his ankle turned. The Cardinals said it was minor. If it were up to Rich, the Cardinals have seen everything they need to see.

The schedule will test all of it immediately. Chargers first, and DeMeco Ryans said his team got out-physicaled by that bunch on Thursday night. Then San Francisco at home, Seattle at home, San Francisco on the road, the Giants, Detroit, the Rams, Denver, Dallas, Seattle again, the Rams again, Kansas City. A gauntlet.

The counterargument came from the couch, and it is a fair one. It is Friday of the first preseason week, and Arizona's win total is three and a half. Everybody relax.

Rich is not relaxing. He knows what he saw.