Can Kyler Murray, Cardinals kick near-yearly tradition of late collapses?

TEMPE — Traditions are commonplace during the holiday season. The Arizona Cardinals, however, are hoping to avoid a big one that’s been associated with the franchise for years:

Second-half-of-the-season collapses.

Since 2018, the Cardinals have struggled mightily to finish a year off strong, posting a 13-35 mark in the final eight games of seasons across the past six years.

That includes two 1-7 finishes and not one stretch over .500. The Cardinals’ promising 2021? It ended with a 3-5 record and an embarrassing Wild Card loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

And for some, Arizona’s current skid is causing some flashbacks to that penultimate year of the old regime.

While the new coaching staff accomplished something the previous two hadn’t last season — winning more games in the second half (3-5) than the first (1-8) — this year is trending back toward the usual behind a 1-3 mark and diminishing playoff hopes.

With four games to play, can the Cardinals actually turn things around and do something they haven’t since Bruce Arians’ final year and go at least .500 or better?

If it’s going to happen — and the Cardinals want to keep their postseason aspirations alive for at least one more week — it must handle business against a 3-10 New England Patriots squad riding its own three-game skid.

And it all starts with quarterback Kyler Murray, who is a career 8-23 from Weeks 11 on.

“(They) play super hard,” Murray said of New England’s defense on Wednesday. “I’m excited for another opportunity. I’m more so worried about us. I feel like we need to get ourselves going. We have to be more consistent and play good football.”

But playing hard and executing are two very different things, as seen by New England’s 2024 campaign, especially of late.

The Patriots may be allowing the 14th fewest passing yards in the NFL (215.5 yards per game), but they’ve been gashed by opposing signal callers recently.

The first two games of their current losing streak saw back-to-back four-touchdown efforts from Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa. Both signal callers threw for at least 295 yards in the victories.

And while Indianapolis’ Anthony Richardson has struggled throughout the year, the young quarterback just got done finding the end zone three times in the Colts’ narrow win.

For Murray, there aren’t many bounce-back opportunities better than against a team with the sixth-worst opposing passer rating (99.2).

That being said, Murray’s got to know where cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones are at all times after giving the ball away five times too many the past three weeks.

The duo has combined for 18 passes defensed this season, with Gonzalez pacing Jones (one) and the rest of the team in interceptions with two.

“I really like Gonzo. Texas kid, big fan of his,” Murray said of Gonzalez on Wednesday.

The onus is certainly on Murray to get the offense back on track after three weeks of sputtering.

But it’s also on the defense and getting back some of the juice it had in the run game before last Sunday’s loss.

After being one of the bright spots in the two losses post-bye week, the Cardinals run defense watched backup Zach Charbonnet put up a career high in rushing yards while tying his previous high for scores with two. He also set new water lines in receptions with seven and receiving yards with 59.

No Kenneth Walker III, no problem.

Now, the Cardinals welcome to town a bruising running back in Rhamondre Stevenson and a rookie quarterback, Drake Maye, who might pass Michael Vick (8.5 yards per carry) for the highest rushing average for a signal caller in a single season.

Though he’s posting a career low in rushing yards per attempt (3.7), Stevenson has already surpassed his former high mark in touchdowns (six). All of those, however, came in his first eight games.

“Huge emphasis in stopping the run,” safety Budda Baker said Thurday. “Their record is their record, but they play really hard, their offense plays very hard, the running backs run hard. Big running backs that just want to tote it downfield. We understand that. We didn’t do a good enough job stopping the run. That’s where it all starts.”

As for Maye, the signal caller has been selectively effective when it comes to running the rock.

Despite just 38 rushing attempts, Maye has accounted for 345 yards, a touchdown and 17 first downs. Eighty-four of that yardage came after contact.

Cardinals S Budda Baker talks Patriots QB Drake Maye ahead of their Week 15 matchup: pic.twitter.com/Iv16CcBDVe

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) December 12, 2024

“He’s a guy that can scramble. He gets positives by running with his legs. He doesn’t really slide much,” Baker said. “I would like to see him slide a little bit more but at the end of the day, it’s the game of football.”

Redzone wreckers

Aside from limiting New England’s ground game, a successful Week 15 for the Cardinals defense stems from bending but not breaking when it counts most.

Entering play Sunday, Arizona is allowing the fifth-lowest redzone success rate at 47.8%.

New England’s offense meanwhile is one the flip side of the stat sheet, posting one of the worst redzone success rates in the NFL (30th) at 44.7%.

Follow @Tdrake4sports