TEMPE, Ariz. — In Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Kyler Murray showed off how his feet can be a weapon for the Arizona Cardinals’ offense.
On a third-and-2 with a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter, Murray scrambled for a 4-yard gain. If Arizona couldn’t get a new down, the Cardinals likely would have punted. Instead, six plays later, Murray began a deliberate run to the right. Aided by a perfectly executed blocking scheme, he was able to score while facing pressure only at the goal line.
Then, on a third-and-5 with 0:22 left, when Murray couldn’t find anything open, he made a split-second decision to take off to his right and run 5 yards for a first down — Chad, who set up the kicker. Ryland made a 58-yard field goal to tie the game, sending the game into overtime.
It was Murray’s best rush. He scored goals and improvised his opponents. It’s the type of play that got the Cardinals into the playoffs.
But on Sunday, he ran and tried to lead his team to victory, but a 36-30 overtime loss to Carolina eliminated the Cardinals (7-8) from playoff contention. The team’s focus now shifts to playing spoilers in Saturday’s Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Rams (8 p.m. ET, NFL Network). If Los Angeles (9-6) loses, the NFC West will be determined by the Rams-Seahawks game in Week 18.
“He’s a nightmare to prepare for,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of Murray. “He’s very dangerous because he can beat you in the pocket, and of course when you lose the rushing lane, he becomes very explosive.”
Murray knows his legs add dimension to the offense, and unlike in the past, he won’t rely on them. He also knows he can make dynamic, game-changing plays when he runs.
But the challenge for the 27-year-old this season has been knowing when to use them.
“When I get the chance, I think I have to do it,” Murray said. “There were more chances. [against the Panthers] To use your legs. I definitely want to do more of that, but I just don’t get the chance. ”
The past two seasons have been a big change for Murray from his first four seasons in the NFL under former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury. A version of the Air Raid, his attack required Murray’s feet to be a focal point rather than a bonus. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing’s pro-style scheme relies on a run game led by James Conner, with Murray a complementary player at times.
He has the fewest carries (71 yards) of any season in which he has played at least 14 games, but is on pace for the third-most rushing yards (518). Murray has only played 15 or more games in a season three times in his six-year career, in 2019, 2020 and 2024. In 2020, Murray ran 133 times for 819 yards and 11 touchdowns through 16 games.
And his career-high 7.3 yards per carry this season proves that his rushing is more about quality than quantity.
“That’s what happens when you run,” Murray said. “It’s not something I can go in there and force. I wish I could, but I can’t. When you see me taking off, it’s the natural flow of the game, but when it opens up the situation I believe.”
“Obviously if we can run the ball well, everything opens up.”
out of hundreds of people Two of Murray’s plays this season couldn’t be more different, illustrating how effective he is when he decides to make something happen with his feet.
Murray showed off his speed in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers. In the first quarter, with a first-and-10 at the 50-yard line, Murray took a snap-in shotgun off the left hash and faked a handoff to Connor. After the Niners’ seven-man line broke, Murray kept the ball and took off to the right, where he found an opening and exited. He had the fastest speed by a quarterback over the past seven seasons at 21.27 mph, according to Next Gen Stats.
He knew he could score at the 44-yard line when he raised his left arm and pointed toward the end zone.
“You don’t get to do that a lot in the NFL,” Murray said. “But I’m glad I was able to hit a long run at the end. It was fun.”
And in Week 8, it was against the Miami Dolphins. Early in the second quarter, with Arizona trailing 10-0, Murray took a shotgun shot on third-and-6. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey scored unscathed from the left side, but Murray got out of Ramsey’s way and began to scramble to his right, causing Ramsey to nearly fall. Eager to step in, Murray saw linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah waiting for him. Murray cut back to his left and receiver Michael Wilson found himself wide open in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
For other quarterbacks, a play like that would be the highlight of their season. For Murray, that’s a given.
“Kyler is a tough guy to tackle,” Ogbah said. “He’s really fickle and so small you can’t even see him until he’s right next to you.”
When Petzing was hired in 2023, he looked at all of Murray’s plays from his first four seasons and some from his time at Oklahoma. Petzing learned that Murray has developed a “really good feel” for becoming an impact runner.
That’s the true balance a running quarterback has to find, Petzing said, and Murray found it more than anyone else. Petzing is striking a balance between letting Murray be Murray, making plays with his feet, and keeping him injury-free.
When Murray entered the NFL, he was labeled by some as an active quarterback. During his first four seasons in the league under Kingsbury, Murray’s running was a part of Arizona’s offense.
“Honestly, my legs should be a luxury,” Murray said in the summer of 2021, rather than being relied on as the primary function for a successful offense. He felt they were essential in 2020 as a means for Arizona to run its offense.
Things changed under Petzing. Murray often burrows under center to create internal conflict on defense, making it difficult to decide in advance what Murray will do with a given play.
He considers his ability to make defenders miss a “gift and a curse.”
“Sometimes I leave too early and wish I had sat down.” [the pocket]”But sometimes you sit there and take a sack when you feel like you probably should have gone. That’s just part of playing the game, part of playing the position. ” Murray said.
Wilson described Murray’s ability to escape pressure and extend plays as an “elite trait” that all the best quarterbacks possess.
“This makes our job easier,” Wilson said. “Because he can get off the pressure from the D-line and the blitz, so he can get things like free touchdowns and free explosive plays.
“Like the touchdown against Miami. I didn’t do anything special. I just found an open lane. I didn’t have to break coverage. And he just did a great job of keeping my eyes on me. He did it.”
Among Murray’s strengths, Petzing said his ability to sense pressure was “one of the most impressive parts of his game.” Through 23 games with Coach Jonathan Gannon and Coach Petzing, Murray showed his coaches that he not only knew when to leave the pocket, but that he could make plays when he left the pocket.
“I believe he will make the right decision,” Gannon said.
Start 2 minutes During the Cardinals’ 41-10 win against the Rams in Week 2, outside linebacker Jared Wirth took a shot from the right side, but Cardinals tight end Tip Lyman and center Hjalte Froh took a shot from the right side. Holt approached Murray. The quarterback pretended to handoff to Conner on play-action, rolling to his left and heading into Vers’ path.
As Murray began to step out to make the pass, he looked to his left and saw Vaas evading Froholt while defensive end Coby Turner and nose tackle Bobby Brown III unblocked him. I saw it. For most quarterbacks, sacks and throwaways would have been inevitable.
It’s different from Murray. As the three approached him, he considered throwing them all away, but then changed his mind. Instead, he started pulling the ball down and stepping to his right. Verse cornered Murray, diving and wrapping around Murray’s left leg. If Vaas had finished the sack, he would have dropped Murray for a 10-yard loss.
Instead, Murray ran away for a 6-yard gain.
“It sucks,” Vaas said. “He’s really fast and he’s very elusive. I can kind of understand his body orientation, his momentum, everything. After spending a few minutes with him where he was, I realized… I’ve been thinking about him a lot.” He was right there, but I couldn’t wrap my arms around him. ”
It’s a sentiment shared by many opponents.
Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said one play from Murray could ruin a game. He saw it firsthand on “Monday Night Football” in Week 7. Murray was well on his way on a first-and-10 early in the fourth quarter, but nothing got open. He scrambled to his left to buy time, eventually tucking the ball in and taking off to his left. Murray knew he would be gone if he could turn the corner and get past linebacker Junior Colson — and he did, en route to a 44-yard touchdown run.
Kyler Murray 44-yard house call 💨#LACvsAZ | ESPN+ exclusive ➡️ https://t.co/BnBBSPmfGX pic.twitter.com/u1IKNJjV2A
— ESPN (@espn) October 22, 2024
Defenses know he can and likes to go back into the pocket and throw the ball, but they can’t assume he’ll do it, Vaas explained. They also know that if their pockets collapse, they can escape harm.
“It puts a lot of stress on the defense,” Vaas said.
Cardinals left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. has been lining up defenses with hasty plans against Murray all season, but Murray quickly abandons them. Teams tend to start with a more conservative approach with Murray until they get a feel for him. Johnson found that defensive fronts remain more gap-heavy against Murray, even if they have enough ad-lib and freelancing personnel to create their own plays.
“When they jump out of the gap, it can lead to some really quick and explosive plays,” Johnson said. “I’ve got to stay within my rules a little bit more and not try to make selfish plays that could be big plays.”
But all that may not be important.
“It’s tough,” Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. “He’s the best player in the business at making guys miss, and we were giving him a lot of chances. A lot of guys were coming at him unblocked, but he was making players miss. I just made him miss and threw the ball away. Those are the big plays, and those plays are yours to make, especially when it comes to momentum and where the ball goes, and that’s totally different. It’s a ball game. ”
At that moment, Murray doesn’t understand how his runs and runs affect the defense. Cardinals wide receiver Zach Paschall said he heard the defensive end react, “Oh, huh,” after Murray eluded or ran away from his opponent.
Murray watches the tape and observes the reaction.
“It’s like palms up or body language that says, ‘God, we did everything right, what should we do?'” Petzing said. “…Certainly, it’s hard when you feel like you’ve corralled him, you’ve got the right answer, you’ve got a free runner, you’ve got the leverage you want, and all of a sudden you give up a touchdown, you give up. Was he an explosive player or was he running for a first down?”
NFL Nation writers Sarah Barshop and Marcel-Louis Jacques contributed to this report.
