Getty Arizona QB Kyler Murray walks off the field to chants of "M-V-P" following the Cardinals' 37-20 victory over the L.A. Rams on Sunday, October 3, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Chants of “M-V-P” rang out at the Rams House, but they weren’t for Matthew Stafford.
Kyler Murray completed 24-of-32 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns as the Arizona Cardinals improved to 4-0 with 37-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, October 3, in Inglewood, California.
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As Murray walked off the field at SoFi Stadium, a flock of traveling Cardinals fans showered him with cheers and chants of “M-V-P!”
In the matchup of early MVP candidates, Murray got the better of Stafford in part because he didn’t turn the ball over against the Rams (3-1). It was the first game this season without an interception for Murray, who finished with a quarterback rating of 120.3.
Kyler Murray vs the Rams:
♦️ 24/32
♦️ 307 total yards
♦️ 2 TDs
The Cardinals sit atop the NFC West 👀
“We’ve got a good thing going and the locker room knows it,” Murray told FOX sideline reporter Jennifer Hale after the game. “We’re not worried about the outside noise. We’re going to continue to focus on us and try to keep this thing rolling.”
‘It All Starts With K1’
Murray was sacked three times in the game for a loss of 19 yards, but he also frustrated Rams defenders with his mobility, extending plays with his feet and turning would-be negative plays into positive yardage.
The 24-year-old QB carried six times for 39 yards in the game as the Cardinals snapped an eight-game losing streak to the previously unbeaten Rams.
A flying Aaron Donald was thissss close to crush Kyler Murray but he made him miss
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury called Murray’s mobility the “secret weapon that he has that maybe (only) Mike Vick has had before him,” later adding Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson to that list.
“But very few … have that ability, that quick twitch to hurt people with their legs like he did. He did a great job of knowing when to take off and knowing when the party was over today,” said Kingsbury, who got his first win in five tries against Rams coach Sean McVay.
Veteran center Rodney Hudson praised the third-year QB for his “presence” and his “level of clam” on the field.
“He’s getting better every day,” said Hudson, 32, now in his 11th NFL season. “That brings a certain energy to the huddle when your quarterback is feeling good and playing the way he’s playing.”
Tight end Maxx Williams was on the receiving end of one of Murray’s touchdowns against the Rams, a perfectly placed pass in between four defenders. It was the first TD of the season for Williams, who had five catches for 66 yards in the game.
A thing of beauty.
“It all starts with K1,” Williams told Cardinals sideline reporter Paul Calvisi after the game. “We’ve been saying that all year. He’s a new kind of leader this year. He’s got a whole lot of confidence going with him. It all starts with the quarterback, and we’re rallying behind him.”
Stafford: ‘I Just Didn’t Make Enough Plays’
Stafford’s final stats were decent — 26-of-41 for 280 yards and two touchdowns — but he wasn’t nearly as sharp as he had been during the Rams’ 3-0 start. The 13-year veteran QB threw his second interception of the season in the loss and finished the day with a quarterback rating of 89.5.
Nothing but respect.
“I think I just didn’t make enough plays,” Stafford said after the game. “There were some opportunities early in that game for us to score points and for me to make some throws, and I didn’t make those.”
It was the first loss in a Rams uniform for Stafford, 33, the longtime Detroit Lions star who was traded to L.A. for Jared Goff and a slew of draft picks during the offseason.
After the game, Stafford called the NFL a “prove-it game” and shouldered at least some of the blame for the loss.
“You’ve just got to go out there and prove it and do it every single time,” he said. “I wasn’t good enough at doing that today. I think as a team we probably weren’t good enough. … The person with the biggest hand in that was probably me.”