Photo by Johnny Williams on Unsplash
Kyler Murray reminded the NFL World again why he is one of the most dynamic and electrifying quarterbacks in the league on Sunday, against the Atlanta Falcons. With 2:33 remaining on the clock, Kyler and the Cardinals trailed the Falcons 23-22. Murray led the Cardinals down the field 70 yards to put them into position for Matt Prater to kick a 23 yard chip shot to seal the victory for Arizona, giving Murray his 9th game winning drive of his career. The 70 yard drive was highlighted by a 13 yard scramble by Murray on 3rd and 10 who, according to Next Gen Stats, covered 68.9 yards and reached a speed of 20.17 miles per hour. This play was as “Kyler Murray” as it gets. He was immediately flushed out to his left by pressure, and was met with 3 defenders. He then reversed his direction, spinning to his right, and ran up field for a gain of 13 to the Atlanta 45 yard line. Watching that play, you would have never guessed that 11 months prior to the day, Murray had torn his ACL at the 45 yard line. 2 plays after the scramble, he hit TE, Trey Mcbride, for a gain of 33 yards to set up first and goal at the Atlanta 9 yard line.
Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
After the game Murray said “I didn’t see anything downfield, and honestly I thought they had a pretty good containment, but God blessed me with the ability to do things like that.” Murray was asked what was going through his head on the 3rd and 10 scramble and he responded saying, “When you’re running like that everything is kind of blurry. For me it was just ‘Do whatever is necessary to win.”
People need to acknowledge that Kyler Murray is the sole reason that the Arizona Cardinals have success. The Cardinals went 1-12 in Murrays absence after tearing his ACL last December. In 2018, the year before Murray was drafted, the Cards went 3-13, and had the number one pick in the draft. Entering Sunday’s game the Cardinals were 1-8, and once again held the number one pick in the 2024 Draft. Murray was drafted to the worst team in football in 2019 and has been asked to carry them since day 1. I do not understand why it is so hard for many to see the impact that he has on this football team when it is evident that they are a dumpster fire without him.
During the off season, recovering from his injury, Murray had to listen to a lot of noise from the media pertaining to his future in Arizona. The Cardinals made some questionable moves during the off season. This includes letting CB, Byron Murphy, walk to free agency, cutting 5 time Pro Bowl WR, Deandre Hopkins, cutting QB, Colt Mccoy, and trading LB/S, Isaiah Simmons to the Giants for a 7th round pick. These moves by new GM, Monti Ossenfort, appeared to many to be a tank tactic to give the Cardinals a high draft pick to enter the Caleb Williams sweepstakes, knowing that Kyler was going to miss more than half the season. This type of insult and scrutiny is nothing new to Murray, who is bashed regularly by the media on his work ethic, leadership, and demeanor.
What does Murray’s return mean for the next 7 games? It means that the Cardinals are out of the Caleb Williams sweepstakes. I predicted the Cardinals would go 4-4 with Murray as a starter this season and that prediction looks really good right now. If the Cardinals do win 4 games with Murray, that would put them at a 5-12 record at the end of the season, and well out of the range to draft either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye to replace Kyler which was predicted at the beginning of the season by many. I have known for 4 years that Kyler Murray is the QB of the future for the Arizona Cardinals. Owner Michael Bidwell knew it a year ago when he gave Kyler a 5 year, 230 million dollar extension. Hopefully, you now know it too.
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