Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals have not had the best luck with quarterbacks since the days of Jim Hart and Neil Lomax. And that was a long time ago. Of course, having Kurt Warner paid off, and for a short time, Carson Palmer did well. But since Palmer left after the 2017 season, the job has had its issues.
Josh Rosen never panned out. Matt Leinart was supposed to resurrect the franchise. Drew Stanton, Max Hall. In 2012 alone, the franchise started four different guys: John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Ryan Lindley, and Brian Hoyer.
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This all changed when Kyler Murray was selected first overall in the 2019 NFL draft. Finally, an athlete who could throw darts and could gain yardage with his legs. Forget about his height. Fran Tarkenton did the job. So did Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. The Cleveland Browns’ starting QB is Dillon Gabriel, who is just 5’-11” tall.
Murray has played well, he has looked bad, and like quite a few NFL players, he has had his share of injuries. It is a violent sport. Last year was the first time he was able to start every regular-season game since his first two years in the league. That was encouragement going into this season. None of this business about trading for guys like Josh Dobbs or bringing in Colt McCoy.
Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort did bring in an inexperienced backup this year when he inked Jacoby Brissett back on March 15. Brissett has been the poster child for experienced career backup QBs and should be in one of those insurance commercials where they sub in the guy as the backup family member.
Brissett has 54 NFL starts and has played in 90 games. In 2022, he was the fill-in for Deshaun Watson of the Browns while he was on an 11-game suspension. Brissett has just two seasons out of 10 seasons where he was the bona fide starter.
And as planned, he started this past weekend against the Indianapolis Colts while Murray was nursing a knee injury.
How did he look? Pretty damn good.
The 32-year-old threw for 320 yards and tossed two touchdowns, plus a really stupid interception that took away points and negated a turnover. His QB rating was 89.2. Most times, he was able to go through progressions pretty quickly knowing that the offensive line is on a clock and the protection is not going to last forever, and he did not ditch the pocket as much as Murray does. He was flushed from the pocket and had 19 yards rushing, so he still has his legs.
Oh, and he’s 6’-4” and a beefy 235 pounds.
Murray has had seven years. His win-loss record as the starting quarterback is 38-48-1. He will throw a pick once in a while, but his touchdown numbers are always double that of the interceptions. Despite his ability to run, Murray has been sacked 195 times. Granted, he has never had that “elite” offensive...
