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When the Arizona Cardinals opted to make Kyler Murray the first overall pick back in 2019, they did so with games like Sunday at unbeaten LA in mind.
Arizona incumbent starter Josh Rosen had just concluded a rookie campaign that would make Zach Wilson snicker with judgment. The former UCLA product was completely in over his head as the team’s starting quarterback and the Cardinal front office knew it.
They also knew that, in a division with the likes of Russell Wilson and Sean McVay alike, they needed a difference maker at the most important position just to compete in the NFC West arms race.
Enter Murray, who had just completed one of the more eye popping college football campaigns in recent memory. As a member of the Oklahoma Sooners, a then 21 one year old Murray would secure the illustrious Heisman Trophy while accumulating 54 total touchdowns in the process.
Despite his undersized frame, Murray showcased the kind of play-making ability at the quarterback position not consistently seen in the NFL since perhaps fellow first overall pick Michael Vick. That alone was good enough for GM Steve Keim to double down on his second top 10 quarterback in as many years before quickly shipping out the aforementioned Rosen for mere pennies on the dollar.
The investment was steep, but the Cardinals have since been rewarded with their most promising home grown signal caller in franchise history.
That much is not disputable.
Murray has accumulated both Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors in each of his first two seasons. He seemingly breaks team records on a weekly basis while giving legitimacy to a franchise that was teetering on irrelevance prior to his arrival. The Arizona Cardinals, with Murray at the helm, are a must watch product in a league with 31 competing markets.
Kyler Murray, just as GM Steve Keim anticipated, is an absolute showstopper of a player.
What remains a point of contention with both Murray and the Cardinal organization, however, is the team’s lack of post season success since his arrival. It’s well documented that Kyler Murray never lost a high school game as a starting quarterback (three seasons) and only suffered two defeats during his legendary 2018 run at Oklahoma.
In Kyler Murray’s first two seasons as a Redbird, he has earned 18 losses that have directly attributed to zero post season appearances.
That, to no one’s surprise, does not sit well with Murray.
While a victory on Sunday wouldn’t assure this Cardinal team of anything, it would do wonders for the national perspective of both Murray and his team. The Cardinals have famously never beaten Rams’ head coach Sean McVay, who’s 2021 squad is currently the unquestioned darlings of the NFL.
A signature win such as this for Murray and company would likely streamline a definitive path to the postseason, whether in the form of a Wild Card birth or an outright division title.
According to playoffstatus.com, at 3-0, the Cardinals currently have a 73% chance to reach the NFL playoffs.
If the Cardinals fail to once again reach the postseason, Kyler Murray would join a depressing list (albeit as an outlier) of recent first round signal callers who famously went 0-3 in playoff pursuits to begin their careers.
For context, even the likes of Marcus Mariota (Titans) and Mitchel Trubisky (Bears) were able to punch post season tickets within their first three seasons in the league.
Skeptics consistently view Murray as a supremely gifted talent but still lacking “signature” wins needed to elevate him into the upper tier QB echelon. While critics remain vocal on Murray’s coach, there’s no disputing that the Cardinals have surrounded their QB with a bevy of offensive weaponry more than capable of fueling their postseason pursuit.
The foursome at receiver sported by the Cardinals (Hopkins, Moore, Kirk, Green) is currently unparalleled in the league while the Arizona offensive line has allowed the least amount of quarterback hits through three weeks.
Murray continues to benefit from a culture that, unlike Chicago rookie Justin Fields, has embraced him and his unique playing style since day one. While Murray’s elite attributes likely dictate that mindset, Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury wisely remain universally supportive of their third year QB.
The Cardinal offense that has been and remains tailored to their Pro Bowl QB, for better (10 total touchdowns) or worse (four INTs in three games).
If Kyler Murray aims to reach that next quarterback tier, there’s no better time to begin that pursuit than with an upset win Sunday against the LA Rams. Out-dueling Matthew Stafford in his own building would do wonders for not only Murray’s reputation, but the confidence of those around him. Winning is contagious, and for far too long the Cardinals have been content with moral victories against the NFL’s elite.
Those days must end if anyone is going to take Kyler’s Cardinals seriously past December.
A victory on Sunday would announce to the NFL that there’s a new sheriff in town within the daunting NFC West. With Seattle floundering at 1-2 and San Francisco stuck in quarterback purgatory, a Murray win over Stafford cements the 5’10 franchise QB as the new alpha in the league’s toughest division.
Come Sunday afternoon, it’s time for Kyler Murray to officially arrive.
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