TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals run game got back on track last week behind 181 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries. That was about one of the only positives to take away from across the 42-14 loss to the Washington Commanders. That is unless you’re quarterback Kyler Murray.
Starter James Conner ate behind 104 yards and a score on 18 carries. Rookie Trey Benson turned in his best game as a pro with another 50 yards on nine attempts, while Emari Demercado averaged six yards per carry on his way to 24 yards.
Murray, however, accounted for just three yards and a carry in Week 4. That cannot and should not be the case moving forward, especially in Week 5’s tilt against the San Francisco 49ers.
After averaging five carries and 53.7 yards across the first three games, the franchise signal caller registered just one rushing attempt for a measly three yards.
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“It’s obviously a conversation between me and coaches,” Murray said Wednesday. “‘Could I have done this? Could I have done that? Should I have done this?’ We just have those conversations. Obviously, when I have three yards on one rush, I feel a little weird about it but that’s kind of sometimes how the game plays (out).
“At the end of the day, the defense is dictating where I’m technically supposed to go with the ball. You go through your reads and if they get back there, they get back there, which they did on Sunday.”
Despite leading all NFL signal callers in yards per carry with 10.3, Murray is outside of the top 10 in rushing attempts with 16.
And as history has shown, when there’s less of Murray on the ground, there’s usually less wins on the record.
When Murray runs the rock at least nine times per game, Arizona is a stellar 13-2. Drop that number between six and eight carries, and that record sits right around .500 at 11-12.
But when Murray sees five rushing attempts or fewer — which has been the case throughout 2024 — Arizona is an ugly 5-26-1. This year alone, Arizona is 1-3 in those situations.
“I enjoy being able to if they give me the opportunity because it’s part of the game and part of what I’m able to do, but I’m playing the position and then when that happens, it happens.
“Being able to make off-schedule plays is something that we have to be able to do,” the QB added. “Every third down, every second down, first down, it’s not going to be perfect. That’s why I’m able to do what I’m able to do. We have to connect whenever we get those opportunities.”
Where Murray’s ground game could come in handy the most is on third down, an area that has not been kind to the Cardinals offense in recent weeks.
Of his 92 carries on third down, Murray has converted 43 of those into firsts while averaging 6.2 yards per attempt.
For a team that has converted just 25% of its third downs (5-of-20) across the past two weeks, anything will help at this rate.
So, what’s the solution for Murray?
The easy answer to get Murray additional carries is more designed runs.
So far this year, those have been few and far between, with the quarterback only seeing four designed runs compared to 10 scrambles through four games, per Pro Football Focus.
“Yeah, I would also say that when I’m running, it just happens. It’s not something that I can go out there and force,” Murray said. “I wish I could, but it’s not.
“When you see me taking off, it’s just kind of natural flow of the game but I believe it does open things up. Obviously when you can run the ball well, it opens everything up.”
That’s not to say there haven’t been plenty of Murray designed runs since he entered the league in 2019.
Per PFF, Murray has recorded more designed runs (171) than scrambles (161) in his six-year career. The yardages between the two aren’t that far off, either, with the signal caller recording 1,266 yards on designed runs compared to 1,345 on scrambles.
For offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and Murray, it’s all about striking that right balance to keep defenses guessing.
“I think some of it you can scheme it up where he runs the ball. Other times, it’s extending plays,” Petzing said Tuesday. “Some of those runs in his career have been off-schedule passes that he breaks the line of scrimmage. It’s not like those are called runs all the time. He’s really dynamic in that area.
“Sometimes teams do some good things to take that away, sometimes we have issues in other areas that lead him to not take advantage of that. I think it’s a combination of all of those things, but certainly we feel confident with the ball in his hands in both phases and gives us a good chance to put up points.”
There are plenty of other areas the Cardinals must improve upon if they hope to have a chance against the 49ers in Week 5. But getting Murray on the ground could do wonders for an offense that has sputtered of late.