Kyler Murray with a chance for third good start

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has two consecutive starts with over 300-yards passing to open his NFL career

Kyler Murray started slow in week one but ever since the fourth quarter of week 1 against the Detroit Lions, the Arizona Cardinals starting quarterback has been on a roll.  He finished with 308-yards passing in his rookie debut.

In week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens, Murray threw for 349-yards.  He matched Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton‘s start to his career with two consecutive 300-yard plus games.

The third game of Newton’s career is where he hit a roadblock.  Newton lost those first two games and won his third.  However he won that third game taking his team to a 1-2 record without going over 300-yards.

Newton threw for 158-yards in that third game, a 16-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.  So is that what Murray needs to do in order to beat the Cam Newton-less Panthers on Sunday at State Farm Stadium?

Probably not.  The NFL has changed a little even since that 2011 rookie season for Newton.  This team is focused on the pass, at least from what they’ve shown over the last two weeks.

However, the pass became a little more of a necessity over the last two weeks due to game situations.  There have also been hints at balancing the act more towards the run this week, but until it happens, don’t buy it.

Still, don’t expect a 158-yard passing afternoon from Murray.  This offense just isn’t tailored to not throw the ball.

Now Murray might still have to sling it 40-50 times to get those 300-yards.  In Newton’s third game against those Jags, he threw the ball 34 times, completing just 18 passes.  He had thrown the ball 37 times in the opener at Arizona and 46 times in the week 2 loss to the Packers. \n

The Panthers ran the ball 28 times in that third game of 2011.  The Cardinals only ran the ball 11 times last week.  I think it would be a stretch to say they would improve that to 28 or more this week.