Aside from one blown coverage, Rams shut down Kyler Murray in first half

Murray was lucky to have his one touchdown, too, as it came on a busted coverage by L.A.

Kyler Murray is one of the toughest quarterbacks to game plan against in the NFL. He’s shifty, exceptionally fast and can win from the pocket, making him so difficult to slow down.

But the Rams had the perfect recipe against Murray in the first half of Sunday’s game, completely holding him in check for the first 30 minutes. Up until the final minute of the second quarter, Murray had only one completion on eight attempts.

It was a 59-yard touchdown pass on a busted coverage by L.A., but it was his only completion in more than 29 minutes of football. That’s astonishing for any quarterback, but especially a player of Murray’s caliber.

Murray completed two passes for 14 yards on the final drive of the half to pad his stats slightly, but before that point, he was 1-for-8 with 59 yards and a touchdown. He only rushed for 4 yards on a single carry, too, so it’s not as if he did any damage running it, either.

He finished the half with 73 yards on 3-for-12 passing with one touchdown, while the Cardinals as a team had only 82 total yards.

It’s as good a job as any team has done on Murray in a half this season, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Rams defense is one of the best in the league in just about every department.

Considering they’re even better in the second half, the Cardinals could be in for a real battle in the final two quarters when L.A.’s defense is at its best.