Kyler Murray Second Preseason Game Review

Luckily, the Cardinals expanded his snap count in his second preseason game. Giving us a larger sample size of plays to evaluate. Did the first overall pick deliver? Let’s find out!

Positives

Sorry folks, there weren’t any. Murray could not get into a rhythm and looked off the entire night. However, his struggles weren’t all on him.

Cardinals Head Coach, Kliff Kingsbury called a terrible game. Routinely putting Murray in less than desirable situations. So, I decided to break this review up into two sections; where Murray needs improve and where Kingsbury needs to improve.

Where Murray needs to improve.

Although Murray’s accuracy was one of his most appealing traits coming out of Oklahoma. He was off the mark almost every time he pushed the ball down the field against the Raiders.

His erratic ball placement was somewhat justified. Murray was under some serious pressure for most of the night. However, he missed too many throws from a clean pocket as well.

This incompletion was Murray’s worst pass of the night. He had more than enough room to climb the pocket and step through this throw. Yet, he didn’t move at all after the end of his drop and kept his trail foot planted on his delivery. This ultimately caused the ball to sail on him.

Murray has a special arm but his talent doesn’t absolve him from using a sound throwing motion. If he keeps making throws harder than they have to be (like this one), his accuracy will continue to suffer.

Where Kingsbury needs to improve

The Cardinals’ offensive struggles had more to do with Kingsbury than Murray. His inexperience as a play-caller was the root of most of the Cardinals problems.

Exhibit A: Kingsbury’s inability to adjust. The Raiders blitzed religiously on long and late downs, yet Kinsbury continued to try and push the ball down the field. He gave Murray no quick outlets and usually forced him to hold onto the ball.

Overall, there just weren’t many easy completions for Murray. Kingsbury is thought of as this innovative offensive mind. However, the route concepts that he called were stale. I was expecting more plays where Kingsbury would “scheme” receivers open but they were usually covered up.

Hopefully, he is saving most of his tricks for the regular season because that set of plays just won’t cut it.

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