Kyler Murray’s lack of running a design of Arizona Cardinals’ game plan

TEMPE — Through three games, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hasn’t been that same threat in the run game that he has been in previous years.

His scrambling tutorial in the team’s Week 2 win over the Las Vegas Raiders reiterated just how dangerous the quarterback is when he tucks and runs. But outside of making things happen on the fly, Murray’s running attack isn’t quite where it was early on in 2022.

Now, why is that?

“It’s more so if I’m asked to do it then I do it. There’s certain situations as of late where it’s got to come off scrambles and stuff like that, whereas teams may not allow me to scramble as much. The people asking why I’m not running and stuff like that, it’s not by want-to or anything like that. I think just design right now. I’ve said I would love to implement that more but I just do what I’m asked to.

“I’ve seen the stats and stuff like that,” the QB added. “But again … the plays that are called I try to go out there and execute them.”

While Murray is working toward sticking to head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s game plan as best he can, the correlation between winning football games and the QB running the rock cannot be overstated.

When Murray records at least 10 rushing attempts, the Cardinals are an impressive 9-1. When he doesn’t see more than five carries, Arizona is 3-17-1, with one of the wins coming in Week 2. It’s a glaring 0-11-1 when he rushes less than four times.

This season, Murray has seen no more than five carries in all three games played, including just two rushes in the team’s Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

There’s a whole lot that goes into winning an NFL football game. Murray’s rushing stats aren’t the end-all be-all, but when he is utilized more in the run game, good things tend to happen way more often. A one-dimensional Murray is way easier to defend when it comes down to it.

This Cardinals team has been downright terrible to start games. Outside of coaches and players talking about executing more, there really hasn’t been a concrete answer to the early struggles.

We’ve all seen what Murray’s running can do to the Arizona sideline. Getting him going on the ground from the jump could be the boost the Cardinals desperately need.

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