Kyler Murray is finding his sea legs. And his running legs.
Murray ran 10 times for 93 yards and a touchdown, by far the most impressive rushing effort of his young career, as the Cardinals earned their first victory of the season, beating the Bengals 26-23.
Murray also completed 20 of 32 passes for 253 yards in a fine performance that should take some heat off himself and Kliff Kingsbury, whose new offense had taken some criticism in the first month of the season. The 1-3-1 Cardinals are still a work in progress, but they’re making progress.
The same can’t be said for the 0-5 Bengals, who have a young coach of their own in Zac Taylor. Cincinnati looks like one of the worst teams in the league.
Neither of these teams appear to be going anywhere this year, but with Murray in place, the Cardinals have a lot more reason for optimism than the Bengals do.