TEMPE, Ariz. -- There are a number of ways the Arizona Cardinals can build on last year's 8-9 record, finish above .500 and make the playoffs.
They need to stay healthy, quarterback Kyler Murray needs to play consistent, tight end Trey McBride needs to have another 1,000-yard season like last year, the rebuilt defensive front seven needs to get to the quarterback more often, the offensive line needs to help running back James Conner get back to 1,000 yards, and the young cornerbacks need to shorten their learning curve.
However, none may be more important than the connection between wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and Murray.
Last season, the two linked up 62 times on 114 targets for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. Boosting those numbers could determine Arizona's offensive fate this season.
Thus far, Harrison said he can see the improved connection he and Murray have had this training camp.
"So, I definitely like where we're at," Harrison said. "We just got to go out there and put it on the field."
While productive, the duo trailed some of the other well-known quarterback-receiver combinations around the league last season.
Cincinnati's Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase connected 127 times on 176 targets for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns. Detroit's Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown connected 115 times out of 142 targets for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns. Former Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold hit current Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson on 103 passes out of 153 targets for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns. In Seattle, former Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith found current Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba 97 times on 133 targets for 1,116 yards and six touchdowns.
There were also duos such as Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans in Tampa Bay and Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin in Washington who combined for more catches, yards and touchdowns than Murray and Harrison.
There were a handful of plays last season in which Murray and Harrison didn't look to be on the same page. Harrison went one way; Murray's passes went the other. Rectifying that, both coach Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said, would take reps, and building confidence in and comfort with each other through those practice routes.
Through camp, the preseason and a joint practice with the Denver Broncos, the Murray-Harrison connection appears to have improved. In the first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, their only preseason action together, Murray hit Harrison on a 15-yard pass with Harrison coming out of the slot. Murray threw the pass on a straight arrow in front of him and Harrison ran to the pass, which was thrown between three Chiefs defenders.
To the naked eye, it was a quick timing route that Murray said Harrison made look simple. To Murray, though, it was a "very well-executed play."
Murray continued: "Throwing on time, anticipation, obviously behind the backer, Marv going in there, making a catch, protecting himself. It was a solid play."
While it was a sign of progress between them, it was also the preseason, when opponents don't game-plan for each other.
How well the Murray and Harrison connection has truly grown won't be known for certain until a few games in the regular season have been played, Gannon said.
"These reps matter, and I think it's going to, just like our entire team, the first part of the year, you're going to have to learn and grow from those games, from those game reps when it really counts, truthfully," he said.
There were times last season when Murray tried to force passes to Harrison even when it was clear defenses weren't going to allow those plays to be made, quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork said.
Woolfork looked at tight end Trey McBride as an example of what the Murray and Harrison connection could be in Harrison's second season. It took two seasons -- and more playing time -- for McBride and Murray to find a connection. And that improved even more last season, McBride's third with Murray. It took reps and reps for Murray and McBride to figure each other out, just as it is with Murray and Harrison.
Harrison said he and Murray put in "a lot of work" this offseason.
"We knew that's something that for the team to reach its goal, something that we got to do better than we did last year," Harrison said.
The two have done a "great job" of talking off the field, in between plays and in between meetings about what each is seeing on the field, Harrison said.
Woolfork can see the maturation in the reps, in practice and in the communication. The quarterbacks coach pointed to the development between Murray and Harrison from Week 1 to Week 18 last season as an example of how the two can grow together.
"I think what people are going to see is this offseason of training," he said. "Those guys throwing after practice, those guys communicating like, 'Hey, I felt this. That's why I ran a route this way.' 'Hey, there's a guy underneath you so the ball had to be here. I know it got on you pretty fast, but this is what I was thinking.'
"From those conversations, they're doing a really good job communicating."
Finding a connection in training camp, during summer training trips to California and weekend throwing sessions is one thing. Doing it during the regular season is another.
"The proof will be in the pudding, and it's our job to make sure that it looks right and it's better than last year," Gannon said. "As coaches and then as players, because we need that piece to be clicking to play well on offense, I do believe that, when we need it to.
"Now, when they put two guys on Marv, the ball ain't going to go to Marv. But other guys got to step up. However, when we need plays from those guys, we got to have plays from them."