The Los Angeles Rams did not look like the team who have been in a conundrum of late. Quarterback Matthew Stafford lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 229 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those touchdown passes were to tight end Tyler Higbee and two were courtesy of Kyren Williams. L.A. began to roll and did not look back.
Meanwhile, new questions about Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray created a cloudy situation.
Same Old Song & Dance for Cardinals With Kyler Murray
Cardinals are Generationally Bad
The once-in-a-generation Heisman Trophy-winning athlete is now the quarterback of a once-in-a-generation losing team in Arizona. The Cardinals are not just bad, but are generationally bad, having now lost 10 or more games in a season 19 times. That is 19 times in 35 years of Cardinals football. After being destroyed by a mediocre Rams team, Arizona is the worst team in the NFC West, again.
“I’m not discouraged…I know we will be better because of it.” – Kyler Murray following today’s game vs. the Rams. pic.twitter.com/Rmt8sT8d6y
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 27, 2023
Been here, done that. The promise Murray has brought with point totals of 25 against Atlanta in a win, 16 against Houston in a loss, and 14 points against LA. With five games to go, it is anyone’s guess what Murray can produce with the season winding down.
Murray has become single-dimensional because neither he nor the Cardinals know what they want him to be. Arizona, as well as the play of Murray, has become predictable, like knowing the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Murray too often looks disinterested or indifferent, deciding on how the game is going. Upon his return, the energy was palpable. He sprinted onto the terrible turf at State Farm Stadium against the Falcons.
He was locked in. He excited the crowd.
On Sunday, the home crowd sounded like they were at a Sunday mass in Glendale waiting for the service to end. Mercifully for both the Cardinals and those watching, the game ended with an expected thud.
Kyler Murray: Beautiful Loser
Murray completed 27 of 45 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown. The Cardinals have gone down in defeat in eight of its last nine games. The “once-in-a-generation” quarterback is 1-2 since returning from the ACL injury, and there is no sign of it turning around before this season ends.
The Cardinals are in a familiar place, again. Who do they draft this time to be the face of a laughingstock? Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State, or Malik Nabers from LSU? Maybe they will still be in play for quarterback Caleb Williams from USC, or do they go for Bo Nix from up the coast in Oregon? It all looks good for fantasy, but will it look good for Arizona?
1.01 – Caleb Williams
1.02 – Marvin Harrison Jr.
1.03 – Drake Maye
1.04 – Malik Nabers
1.05 – Brock Bowers
1.06 – Jayden Daniels@CWilliamsNFL shows you what a 2024 superflex rookie draft may look like.https://t.co/0gJbWpw3kY— Footballguys | Fantasy Football (@Footballguys) November 24, 2023
If Murray is ever going to be the quarterback, he thinks he is, he has work to do to prove it. His footwork is awful. His instincts betray him. His demeanor is not of a leader but of a disgruntled kid who is not getting his way. He will never be a film junkie or a disciplined quarterback. Murray is an unfolded lawn chair missing one side of his eye black because it is “totes cool”.
Five games left, five games to prove beautiful loser Murray is not the problem in the desert. Odds are, he will be in Cardinals red next season. Arizona will draft a receiver or offensive lineman in the next draft. Hope will be that Kyler finally gets it and lives up to all the promises and expectations he had coming out of Oklahoma.
Main Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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