The state of the offense has been a talking point throughout the Cardinals’ three-game losing streak and there’s been a particular focus on how quarterback Kyler Murray has been playing.
Murray has not been running as often as he did when the offense was producing at a higher level and that’s led to some questions about whether a right shoulder injury is to blame. Murray rejected that notion as well as criticism that he’s trying to avoid contact with defenders.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said he “would strongly disagree” with any criticism on that front and added that Murray has continued to give the Cardinals chances to win games even with the unit slumping overall.
“When the offense isn’t averaging 400 yards a game and 30 points, we all want to be better,” Kingsbury said, via the team’s website. “Kyler shows up every day and competes his tail off and works at his craft. You can see the progression from Year One to Year Two and even with the struggles and the tough games, he’s playing at a level that allows us to have the ball late and have a chance to win these games. The composure you’ve seeing late in games that maybe aren’t going our way has been great to see for me as a head coach. He’s keeping us in it.”
Having chances to win games isn’t the same as actually winning games, of course, and the Cardinals will have to bridge that gap before the conversations about the offense or Murray are going to change.