NFL Season Reflections: Unpacking Quarterback Struggles

Some folks claim that the first week can be misleading, but honestly, those early weeks often feel like a hopeful escape. You get all excited, thinking something special is possible, but then, reality sets in.

Take last season, for example. The New Orleans Saints kicked things off with a 2-0 start, topping 40 points in each of their initial games. Derek Kerr was a nominee for Comeback Player of the Year, and Clint Kubiak seemed poised to be the next star coach, turning the Saints into the talk of the NFL. Fast forward, and now Kerr is retired, while Kubiak has found a new team in Seattle, and the Saints have a dismal record of 5-12.

Looking ahead to 2025, the Arizona Cardinals are trying to create some buzz after a rough patch. They hinted to fans that this season might set them up for a playoff push. However, they’ve already stumbled to a 2-2 start, facing teams like the Saints and the Panthers. In those games, their scoring was pretty low, averaging just 17.5 points. The question on everyone’s mind is still about their quarterback situation—Kyler Murray hasn’t shown the commitment many were hoping for, and speculation around potential changes in 2026 continues to swirl.

This year marks Murray’s seventh season, and yet they’re still waiting for him to emerge as a standout quarterback in the league. It’s as if he’s stuck in quarterback limbo—showing just enough talent to keep him around, but not enough to inspire confidence that he can be a game-changer.

In the initial weeks of this season, Murray ranked fairly high at 7th in success rate and 11th in expected points. His performance did dip significantly by the third and fourth weeks, where his success rate dropped to 41.8%, placing him 25th among his peers.

Moreover, he’s not really stretching the field much either. He ranked 33rd out of 35 quarterbacks for average depth of target, and the statistics on his catchable air yards don’t inspire much hope either. In his last two games, he averaged under five yards per attempt, and if you take away the final drives, he would’ve ended with a mere 116 yards. Even his rushing ability, once a highlight of his game, hasn’t had the same impact recently.

This really encapsulates who Murray is as a player. He’s never crossed the 30-touchdown mark in a season, with his best performance being 25 touchdowns back in 2020. His time as the starting quarterback during a playoff game didn’t help his case either. It’s been suggested, perhaps humorously, that it’s like he took a character from a video game, dialed down physical attributes, and swapped reality for something much more trivial.

That said, labeling Murray as a bad quarterback isn’t quite right; he’s just… good. Consistently showing the same level of performance—or lack thereof—over time can define a player. For a franchise like the Cardinals, which lacks standout talents, having a mediocre quarterback could really limit their ceiling.

Fortunately for Arizona, they have Jonathan Ganon at the helm, a coach who seems to be on the right track. Last season, the Cardinals boasted a strong defensive ranking, helping to prevent explosive plays. With experienced coordinators backing him up, there’s a framework in place to steer the team back to success.

Now it’s all about identifying the right quarterback for the future. Unless Murray has a significant turnaround in performance as the season progresses, it seems likely that his tenure with the franchise may be coming to an end.