Wow, the best thing about Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Clayton Tune’s performance is that it’s officially over. And it was one of the worst outings of an NFL quarterback throwing at least 20 passes since 2000 in quite a few categories.
Midway through the third quarter, I started conducting research, knowing that, even in garbage time, Tune wasn’t going to fare any better. Now, to be fair, he was attempting to lead a decimated offense against the league’s best defense, so we all expected a rough outing. But few expected this.
Tune finished the game 11 for 20, with 2.9 yards per attempt, 58 passing yards, and a 20.8 passer rating. In other words, had Tune just rolled out and thrown incomplete passes to the sideline all game long, he would have garnered a better rating and perhaps avoided a few of those seven sacks.
Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback’s performance was one of the worst since 2000
Tune’s 58 passing yards ties him at 13th for the lowest number of passing yards by a quarterback in a single game since 2000 (minimum 20 passes). He also netted just 17 passing yards, putting him at fifth-worst with the same criteria.
Ironically enough, Luke McCown had the lowest net passing yards of any quarterback since 2000, which occurred during his time with the Cleveland Browns. Justin Fields, if you remember, also fell victim to the Browns defense two seasons ago, netting just one yard, which puts him at second-worst in the category.
Tune also nearly made the list for the lowest number of yards per passing attempt at 2.9, but it cut off at 2.7 with Jake Delhomme during his time with the Carolina Panthers. Overall, it was a day to remember for the 24-year-old Tune, but for all the wrong reasons.
We can only hope that if we see Tune again next week that the Cards will be somewhat healthy offensively. But ideally, Kyler Murray will be back in action and we can put this debacle at the Cleveland Browns firmly into the rearview mirror.
(Data provided by StatMuse and ESPN.com)