Arizona Cardinals: Without Hopkins, Murray is a mediocre quarterback
By Sion Fawkes
To win a Super Bowl in the NFL, you almost always need a top-tier quarterback. The Arizona Cardinals, unfortunately, do not have one.
The Arizona Cardinals played in their only Super Bowl back in 2008. Since then, 10 different quarterbacks have won the big game. Here is that list: Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Nick Foles, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford.
Of the bunch, we know Roethlisberger, Brees, Rodgers, and Brady will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Peyton Manning is already enshrined, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Eli Manning and Russell Wilson also get the nod. Patrick Mahomes, barring some unforeseen meltdown, is well on the yellow brick road to Canton.
Joe Flacco never made a Pro Bowl, but he won nine playoff games in his first five seasons and never saw a first-round exit. Flacco never made the Pro Bowl, but he also never finished lower than second in the AFC North between 2008 and 2012. Make all the claims about Flacco that you want; the guy won games that mattered, not popularity contests that are also known as Pro Bowl votes.
That leaves Matthew Stafford and Nick Foles. And to be fair, Foles didn’t necessarily lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs, as Carson Wentz had a career season before he went down with a torn ACL. So really, the only quarterback on this list you can relate to Murray is Matthew Stafford.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is mediocre, tops
Great quarterbacks, quarterbacks capable of winning Super Bowls, can pick up wobbly teams and elevate them to greater heights. You saw it from Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger, and others on this list. Despite seeing new faces surrounding them, these quarterbacks continued to put up impressive numbers.
Murray and his offense have enjoyed their two highest-scoring games of the season. Okay, great. Too bad Murray and the offense can only function when DeAndre Hopkins is on the field. Murray, now in his fourth season, should be making serious strides and able to elevate players he is playing alongside.
He can’t, plain and simple. And as a result, Murray and his Cardinals are 3-5, and really, they should be 2-6, but an epic comeback to the Las Vegas Raiders saved this team from completely losing its season in today’s loss. Murray deserves credit where it’s due, and his heroics won that game.
But Murray has shown time and again he’s nothing more than an overrated athlete. The study clause that was later axed in his contract suggests sheer laziness. The sideline spat with Kliff Kingsbury is a sign that he’s immature. His body language and finger pointing before that also displayed immaturity.
I’m sure the fan base will continue to come to Murray’s aid, for one reason or another. Probably claiming it’s all Kingsbury’s fault. Hey, Kingsbury deserves a lot of blame here, but to be honest, Murray’s the one throwing the football. This is called a collective failure.
If the Arizona Cardinals want to remain mired in perpetual mediocrity, then please, by all means, keep playing Murray, pretend he can win you games, keep seeing iffy results, and at best, first round exits in the playoffs. But if they want to see this team win, as much as I hate to admit it, Murray isn’t the guy for you under center, and Kingsbury isn’t the answer at head coach.
light. Related Story. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray needs to grow up
Too bad they will probably be sticking around for a while, so prepare yourselves for some 7-10 to 10-7 records, give or take a game each way on occasion, for the next several seasons. As for this duo winning a Super Bowl? Forget about it. I don’t know about you, but I’m finished making excuses for Kyler Murray.
Want your voice heard? Join the Raising Zona team!