Kyler Murray’s struggles continue in Cardinals’ loss to Rams

Quarterback Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals entered their Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Rams knowing they weren’t heading to the playoffs.

Even with a win, that door was slammed shut last week with an embarrassing overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers.

It wouldn’t have been crazy to see the Rams do what the Cardinals did to them in Week 2 given their trajectories in the second half of the season.

Instead, Arizona’s defense at least made it a game in its 13-9 loss to L.A., keeping Matthew Stafford out of the end zone and limiting running back Kyren Williams to 56 yards and Los Angeles’ only touchdown on 13 carries.

A lot of that can be credited to MIKE backer Kyzir White, who set the tone from the jump with eight tackles. Rookie cornerback Max Melton also had a critical fourth-quarter pass defensed to keep things a one-score game late.

But for all the good that Arizona’s defense put on tape, the Cardinals offense again was a weak link with the quarterback leading the charge.

Accounting for just one touchdown, Arizona struggled to stay on the field behind a 6-for-13 third down conversion rate (46%).

Penalties again played a factor as well, with Arizona as a whole committing nine for 62 yards. Same goes for the abbreviated showing from running back James Conner — who ran for four yards on four carries before exiting due to a knee injury — a patchwork offensive line and a blocked extra point that ended up having a big impact late.

Then there’s the quarterback.

While the quarterback completed 69.6% of his throws for 321 yards and nearly helped pull off the comeback late, Murray couldn’t deliver late behind a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions.

SO MANY LOUD NOISES

📺: @NFLNetwork | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/uXRIkvZIjA

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 29, 2024

Since coming off the bye week, the signal caller has now thrown eight picks to five touchdowns. It’s a far cry from his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12-3 across the first 10 games of the year.

Let the discourse continue…

The Cardinals’ biggest bright spot

The defense did its job throughout most of Saturday’s game, but it was tight end Trey McBride who gave the Cardinals a fighting chance with 12 catches for 123 yards and his first receiving touchdown of 2024.

Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. wasn’t that far behind with six catches for 96 yards. It marks the first time Harrison had at least 96 yards since Week 8’s 111-yard performance against Miami.

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