Kyler Murray’s NFL Career In Home Openers: What Can We Expect Against Rams?

Fresh off two straight dreary campaigns, it’s high time to wonder what the immediate future has in store for the Arizona Cardinals, who brought in an All-American wide receiver in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft and at long last have QB Kyler Murray at 100% in the Valley.

Murray missed nine of the Cardinals’ 17 games last year as he rehabbed a torn ACL that he suffered against the New England Patriots in Week 11 of the 2022 league year, but is back in full health this fall.

Throw in former Ohio State star wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who Arizona drafted with the third pick in this year’s draft, and you have two reasons for optimism in the Grand Canyon State this NFL season.

In the face of all that optimism, oddsmakers at bet365 Arizona are tapping the brakes on the Cardinals redemption story, giving Arizona a preseason win total over/under of 6.5 in 2024.

Utilizing ProFootballReference.com, we looked at how Murray has performed historically during his career in home openers. With Kyler & the Cards opening at home against the Rams after Week 1 in Buffalo, how should we expect the star QB to play?

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Kyler Murray’s Career In Home Openers

Years	Record	Average Completion %	Average Total Yards	Average Total TDs	Average Turnovers	Average QBR
2019-2022*	2-1-1	66.85%	331.8 yards	2.8 TDs	1.0	95.1 QBR

*Murray didn’t start 2023 season due to injury

How Has Kyler Murray Performed in Home Openers?

While Murray hasn’t been in the lineup for a Cardinals’ home opener since 2022, it’s safe to say that the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Oklahoma has starred on such occasions, with a 2-1-1 record and stat lines that include 331.8 yards of offense and 2.8 total touchdowns per game. Two years ago, Murray’s last home opener saw Arizona get routed by the Kansas City Chiefs, 44-21, though Murray racked up 222 yards of offense in the defeat in a year where he went 3-8 as the team’s starting QB.

Murray’s last home opener victory came in 2021, when Arizona knocked off the Minnesota Vikings, 34-33, with the star QB throwing for 400 yards and gaining 31 more on the ground. That year, Murray went 9-5 as the team’s QB, throwing for 3,787 yards with 24 touchdowns, gaining 423 yards and five touchdowns on the ground as well for the last Cardinals team to reach the NFL Playoffs.

This fall, Murray will look to use the team’s home opener against the Rams as a springboard to such success, with the Cardinals eyeing their first postseason berth since that 2021-22 campaign in 2024.

USA Today photo by Joe Rondone.

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Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan is the lead writer at BetArizona.com after covering sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.