Does Kyler Murray's past success at AT&T Stadium hold any hope for slumping Cardinals?
How much does Kyler Murray enjoy playing football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas?
Well, to put it into perspective, if he can lead the Cardinals (10-5) to a victory there over the Cowboys (11-4) on Sunday, Murray will have as many wins at Jerry World as he does at State Farm Stadium.
Murray has nine regular-season wins and one tie at his home stadium in Glendale. Meanwhile, he’s 8-0 at AT&T Stadium dating back to high school and college, including a 38-10 thrashing of the Cowboys on Monday Night Football last season.
“I don’t know. I guess just good Juju in that building,” Murray said Wednesday when asked why he’s had so much success at that particular stadium. “Since high school, I just think I’ve been on pretty good teams and have had the privilege to play with a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches. We’ve showed up whenever we’ve played there.
“I’m not going to make it more than what it is.”
Maybe he should. It’s not as if the Cardinals couldn’t use some good Juju to shake themselves out of a three-game losing skid and start winning football games again now that they’ve clinched at least a Wild Card berth.
Perhaps playing at AT&T Stadium again, where he won three state championships with Allen High, a Big 12 Championship with Oklahoma, and accounting for a whopping 24 touchdowns himself while outscoring his opponents, 334-160, will not only re-ignite Murray but the entire Cardinals team.
It couldn’t hurt, according to coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“I think anytime you’re from an area and get to go home and play in front of friends and family it’s got a little bit of a special meaning,” he said. “He’s had a lot of great memories in that stadium and I know he’s hoping to make another one.”
The Cardinals aren’t playing nearly as well as they did earlier in the season when they got off to a 7-0 start. In losing five of their last eight, they’ve scuffled because of penalties, breakdowns on special teams, collapses on defense and an inconsistent offense.
“At the end of the day, if you go back and look, everybody’s been through this,” Murray said. “This is not something that teams that have won Super Bowls haven’t gone through. It’s the NFL. You lose when you don’t do things right and you make it hard on yourself. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you’re going to get beat.
“When you’re playing well, it feels like everything’s going right for you. That’s just what happens. But me personally, I’m not panicking. I don’t think anybody on this team is panicking.”
The truth is, the Cardinals were making a lot of these same mistakes while they were winning. It’s been eerily similar to last season when they started 6-3 only to lose five of their final seven game to just miss out on the playoffs.
“There’s a ton of people out there that don’t have a clue what they’re talking about,” Murray said. “When you win, all that stuff gets swept under the rug. It’s like I said last year, we were winning, and we were still doing some of those same things and then we started losing and everybody starting pointing them out and everybody’s talking bad about us.
“It’s the same this year. You’ve got to do the little things right, no matter what you’re doing in life. Again, people don’t have a clue. But if you watch the film and you know what you’re looking for, it’s not far off. We’re not far off.”
It’s not going to be easy against a team like the Cowboys, who feature the NFL’s top-ranked offense. Dallas is averaging 409.5 yards per game and also leading all teams in scoring with a 30.5 average. Defensively, the Cowboys have the league’s interceptions leader in cornerback Trevon Diggs (11) and the likely Defensive Rookie of the Year in linebacker Micah Parsons (13 sacks, 79 tackles, 18 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles).
As well as Murray has performed at AT&T Stadium in recent years, it’s going to take a lot more than the third-year quarterback to hand Dallas its first loss in five games. The Cardinals need everyone to play with laser-like focus and dogged determination. They also must be smarter, more disciplined and make plays when they are there to be made.
That means not dropping catchable passes. It means eliminate the false-start penalties. It means quit roughing the passer.
“Yeah, I think it’s more of a level of we have been at or had been at collectively, offensively, defensively, special teams,” Kingsbury said. “We all need to continue to improve and play better, so as a team, it’s a great opportunity to play one of the hottest teams in the NFL, one of the best teams in the NFL in the premier stadium in the league. You can’t ask for much more, so I think it’s more about us than any individual performance.”
There’s nothing to be gained by relying on the past for success in the present, according to Cardinals right tackle Kelvin Beachum. He’s proud of Murray’s accomplishments at AT&T Stadium, but that won’t guarantee a win for Arizona on Sunday.
“I don’t put much stock into previous records because previous records and previous performances don’t indicate or guarantee future performance,” Beachum said. “So we have to go in, execute at a very, very high level, protect Kyler the best we can, run the ball efficiently and find a way to points on the board and score when we get in the red zone.
“That’s the most important thing and that doesn’t have anything to do with what stadium you happen to be in. It’s execution that has to be our priority week in, week out. It’s no matter the venue. Wherever we end up showing up, that’s where we have to show up and we have to show out.”
Not that Murray’s record and success in Dallas should be completely overlooked, of course. The fact Murray has never lost at AT&T Stadium and the numbers he’s put up there hold some real value.
“It’s a great stat to have playing in front of family and friends,” Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “Hopefully, you keep that streak alive.”
Notes
—The Cardinals have activated punter Andy Lee from the Reserve/COVID-19 list and designated linebackers Tanner Vallejo (knee) and Ezekiel Turner (shoulder) to return from the injured reserve list. The team also released punter Ryan Winslow from the practice squad.
—Kingsbury indicated Wednesday he remains hopeful that center Rodney Hudson, activated off the COVID list, can play on Sunday. He said running back James Conner (heel) and receiver Rondale Moore (ankle) continue to be day to day, but that it “doesn’t look good for this week” regarding cornerback Marco Wilson (shoulder).
—The team signed cornerbacks Nate Books and Isaiah Johnson to the practice squad. Brooks is back with the Cardinals after entering the league as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 out of North Texas. Johnson, a fourth-round pick from Houston, has played in 19 NFL games with the Raiders and spent time earlier this season on the practice squads for the Cowboys and Steelers.
—Outside linebacker Devon Kennard was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
—As for Wednesday’s injury report, six players didn’t practice in addition to Conner, Moore and Wilson. They were Hudson (illness), safety Budda Baker (ribs), defensive linemen Jordan Phillips (knee) and Zach Allen (ankle), tight end Demetrius Harris (shoulder) and Beachum (rest, not injury-related).
Running back Chase Edmonds (back), tight end Zach Ertz (hamstring) and safety Deionte Thompson (shoulder) were limited.
For the Cowboys, defensive end DeMarcus Ware (foot), tackle Tyron Smith (ankle) and receiver Malik Turner (calf) were limited.
Undefeated at AT&T
A game-by-game look at Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s success at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium from high school, college to the NFL:
CARDINALS (1-0) — Oct. 19, 2020 vs. Cowboys (W, 38-10). Monday Night Football, 188 passing yards and 2 TDs, 74 rushing yards and 1 TD
OKLAHOMA (1-0) — Dec. 1, 2018 vs. Texas (W, 39-21). Big 12 Championship Game, 379 passing yards and 3 TDs, 39 rushing yards
TEXAS A&M (1-0) — Sept. 26, 2015 vs. Arkansas (W, 28-21). Did not start, but rushed for 27 yards
ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL (5-0) — Dec. 22, 2012, vs. Lamar (W, 35-21), state title game, 143 rushing yards and 2 TDs (55 and 68 yards), 49 passing yards and 1 TD; Dec. 21, 2013 vs. Pearland (W, 63-28), state title game, 280 passing yards and 4 TDs, 188 rushing yards; Nov. 15, 2014 vs. Keller Central (W, 59-21), 404 passing yards and 6 TDs, 26 rushing yards; Nov. 22, 2014 vs. DeSoto (W, 25-22), 196 rushing yards and 3 TDs, 97 passing yards; Dec. 20, 2014 vs. Cypress Ranch (W, 47-16), state title game, 316 passing yards and 5 TDs, 63 rushing yards
Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyler Murray has never lost at AT&T Stadium; does that matter now?
