It didn’t take long for the Arizona Cardinals to get out to a 7-0 lead in Sunday’s 31-6 victory over the New York Jets, but it took two plays longer than quarterback Kyler Murray hoped.
On second-and-3 from the Jets 45-yard line, Murray connected with running back James Conner on a short pass to the left and Conner raced down the sideline and was ruled to have scored.
However, after a replay review, it was determined that Conner was down a half-yard short of the goal line, and two plays later Conner ran it in for a 1-yard touchdown.
The laughs came when the on-field official announced that Conner’s butt cheek hit the ground with the ball just short of the goal line.
Murray laughed when the butt-cheek comment was relayed to him, and then said, “Selfishly, I wanted him to reach for that one, but it’s all good.”
As it was, Murray completed 22-of-24 passes for 266 yards in the game and had an official passer rating of 126.7. He also ended the game with a club-record 17 consecutive completions in the game.
Had Conner scored on the pass play, Murray’s passer rating would have been 140.6.
But there’s more, according to BAPR (Balzer Adjusted Passer Rating), the rating should be higher because Murray’s 91.7 completion percentage in the game was higher than the 77.5 percent allowed in the system that was implemented 51 years ago.
Adjusting for the higher completion percentage, the rating would be 138.8 with one touchdown pass and 152.4 with two.
Of course, whatever the rating is has no bearing on how good Murray and the offense were against the Jets. The Cardinals had 406 yards on 57 plays (7.1 average), 28 first downs and converted 5-of-7 third-down opportunities. All 31 points were scored from the red zone.
In their four-game winning streak, the Cardinals have reached the red zone 13 times and scored nine touchdowns and four field goals. That’s 75 of a possible 91 points.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said, “I’m sure you saw his stat line. I think the quarterback was the best player on the planet today.”
Asked how Murray is playing at such a high level, Gannon said, “I think he’s doing what he’s coached to do, and he’s got guys around him making a lot of plays. I know that. Which it’s good to see, so he doesn’t have to do it all. When he has the ball in his hands, as a defensive guy, anytime he gets a snap you’re hanging onto your you-know-what. I thought he was lights out today.”
Other milestones for Murray
With three touchdowns Sunday (two rushing, one passing), Murray now has 30 career rushing touchdowns TDs and became the fifth quarterback ever with at least 30 rushing scores in his first six seasons, joining Josh Allen (53), Jalen Hurts (51 in first four seasons), Cam Newton (48) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Otto Graham (33).
Murray is the fourth quarterback in NFL history to record at least three rushing touchdowns in each of his first six seasons, joining Allen, Graham and Cam Newton.
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