Despite a very impressive showing in Week 1, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was not recognized by the NFL for his efforts out on the field.
One could easily argue that the 2021 season is the most important in the career of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. In his third year with the Cardinals, Murray is expected by many to make the leap into becoming one of the top signal-callers in the league.
Well, after Arizona‘s first game of the season, the 24-year-old quarterback is certainly off to a great start.
In the Cardinals’ Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans, Murray completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 289 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception in addition to rushing for 20 yards and another score.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray not named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week
A few hours after Arizona defeated the Titans, the Los Angeles Rams took on the Chicago Bears in a Sunday night matchup. The Rams ended up getting the win, thanks in part to new quarterback Matthew Stafford who threw for 321 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
It was an impressive regular-season debut for Stafford in his new Los Angeles uniform, and apparently, the NFL thought he did enough to be named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 1.
No one is debating whether Stafford had a good game or not. But to believe that he played better than Murray in Week 1 is incredibly mind-boggling.
Not only did the Cardinals quarterback get it done with his arm, but he also used his legs to add more points on the scoreboard for his team. Murray accounted for a total of five touchdowns for Arizona in Week 1.
How is that not good enough to be named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week? Does Stafford get extra credit or something for his performance coming in a debut with a new team?
The Rams quarterback getting the award would be fine if he was definitively better than any other quarterback in the NFC in Week 1. But he wasn’t. One can even make the argument that Stafford was the third-best signal-caller in the NFC last week, behind Murray and Jameis Winston of the New Orleans Saints.
Typically, accounting for five of your team’s touchdowns would result in a Player of the Week honor. Obviously, Murray’s performance didn’t matter to the NFL in Week 1 though.