No longer a dark horse, Kyler Murray is a legit MVP candidate

After another impressive performance on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, the MVP hype surrounding Kyler Murray is very real.

For the second season in a row, the Arizona Cardinals walked off the field following their Week 2 matchup with a 2-0 record. This time, the Cardinals, led by quarterback Kyler Murray, escaped their game against the Minnesota Vikings with a narrow one-point victory.

Whether it’s one point or 20 points, all wins are the same in the NFL, and Arizona is one of seven teams to not have a loss on their record after the first two weeks of the 2021 season.

In each of the Cardinals‘ two games this year, Murray has been spectacular. He’s made plenty of plays with his legs, but his passing skills have really improved since 2020, and it’s taken his game to an elite level.

Kyler Murray is playing like a league MVP for the Arizona Cardinals in 2021

In Week 1, Murray helped Arizona demolish the Tennessee Titans by completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 289 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. He followed up that performance on Sunday against the Vikings by completing 80.6 of his throws for 400 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Murray added a trip to the end zone with his legs in each contest as well, meaning he’s accounted for a total of nine touchdowns in Arizona’s first two games of the season. It’s still very early, but he’s on a crazy pace to finish the 2021 campaign with more than 70 combined rushing and passing touchdowns.

In Week 3, the Cardinals will be taking on an 0-2 Jacksonville Jaguars team, so there’s reason to believe that Murray’s success will continue for at least another week. But based on his performance in the first two games on Arizona’s schedule, there are plenty of reasons to believe that his elite level of play can continue for the entire 2021 campaign.

Before the season started, Murray was viewed by most as a dark horse MVP candidate. With the way he’s performed so far this year, this is no longer the case.

Murray is a legitimate candidate to be named the NFL MVP this season, and if he does end up winning the award, the Cardinals are going to benefit greatly from his excellence out on the field.