Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury he suffered in the Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans. It was described as a version of a Lisfranc sprain.
On Thursday, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon announced that Murray’s healing progress is complete, and he named Murray as the starter on the road against the Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1) in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football.
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In the last two games, backup QB Jacoby Brissett filled in, and despite great efforts, Arizona lost both contests to the Green Bay Packers 27-23 and the Indianapolis Colts 31-27. Both teams are considered two of the best clubs in the league this year.
Brissett had a good game against both the Packers and Colts, even though he has a 0-2-0 record with Arizona. As Murray improved and the media was informed that Gannon could play either quarterback, there were two camps on the subject: Start Murray or Start Brissett.
Now, Gannon has put that argument to bed. On Thursday in a media gathering, he was asked what the milestones are for Murray to start:
“Get him fully healthy, play.”
Okay. Glad the coach could give us in the media a lot to talk about, eh?
One thing for certain, most coaches wait until game time to announce who the starter is in order to avoid giving the opposing team’s defensive coordinator time to prepare, which forces them to prepare for both signalcallers. But Gannon stated that he didn’t see any advantage to wait.
What has helped the Cardinals is the timing of the bye week. This gave Murray an extra week to recoup and begin getting first-team reps again. Brissett has also been getting reps with the first team, just not as frequently.
Gannon continued:
“You start playing games, and the train’s rolling, I think for everybody. They’re rested, and it looks a little bit different, so it was very beneficial.”
Murray started the first five games of the season. After going 2-0-0, the club lost three straight. Brissett then was added to the starting lineup and lost the next two contests. Arizona is now 2-5-0 and in last place of the NFC West Division, which happens to be the toughest division in the league. Every team except Arizona has a winning record.
In the first five games, Murray (5’-10”, 207 pounds) completed 110 passes on 161 attempts for 962 yards, tossed six touchdowns against three picks, converted 50 first downs via the pass, was sacked 16 times, had a completion percentage of 68.3%, a passer rating of 88.6, and a QB rating of 44.1. He also rushed 29 times for 173 yards with one TD and 10 first down conversions.
In two games, Brissett (6’-4”, 235 pounds) completed 52 passes on 81 attempts for 599 yards, threw four touchdowns against a single interception, converted 30 first downs via the pass, was sacked 8 times, had a completion percentage of 64.2%, passer rating of 97.7a , and a QB rating of 50.1. He also rushed 10 times for 47 yards with zero TDs and 6 first down conversions.
In comparison of Pro Football Focus grades, Murray has an overall grade of 72.1, while Brissett comes in at 75.8.
It should be noted that Murray has never lost a game at AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys. He is currently 9-0 going back to his high school days and the time he spent at Oklahoma. In the NFL, Murray is 2-0.
When this factoid was mentioned by the Associated Press to Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer, he offered:
“Hopefully, it means he’s due to lose one. Kyler, if you want to help. But, no, obviously, you can’t speak about Kyler Murray without talking about what an incredible player he was at Allen in high school. Maybe one of the greatest high school quarterbacks of all time. I’m sure he’ll be excited to come back here, very comfortable playing here.”
Murray grew up in Allen, Texas, just 45 minutes northeast of Dallas, and he attended Allen High School.
He will need to convince fans of the Cardinals that the switch back from Brissett is the correct option. After all, Brissett passed for 599 yards in just a two-game sampling and drove the offense up and down the field all game in both losses. The offense had been pretty stagnant when Murray was the starter with a #30 passing ranking, before he became injured.
Gannon explained regarding the reset with Murray:
“I think we looked at a couple of things that might help him out that he feels maybe a little more comfortable with in some things that we’ve been doing. But he’ll be his normal self when he gets out there.”
What has been the most disappointing aspect is that the Cardinals have either had the lead or were tied with under 10 minutes remaining in each game. In the current skid of five losses, they were defeated by a grand total of 13 points.
The ray of sunshine is in the fact that several players will or might return to help out, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Cowboys are dealing with the frustration of an up-and-down season themselves. Last week, they were taken to the woodshed against an improving Denver Broncos squad and lost 44-24. This team has one of the best offenses in the league, and their defense is ranked dead last.
The Cardinals will need Murray’s mojo to continue that win streak in a stadium that will be rocking on a national stage in front of over 100,000 patrons.
