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Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler has impressive big comeback win record
We wrote about Kurt Warner's inability to rally from big deficits. Check out how Kyler Murray does in those games.
We wrote recently about how in the illustrious Hall of Fame career of former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, there was something he never accomplished in his 124 NFL games. In 40 career games in which his team trailed by more than one score at any point in the second half, he led his team to a victory exactly zero times.
We learned this from a graphic that cited stats from Stathead.
Current Cardinals starting quarterback Kyler Murray did not qualify for this query because he has not had 100 career starts yet. He has only 82.
But that raised the question — how has Murray done in such games?
I did the research, looking at the box scores of all 82 of his regular-season starts.
Kyler Murray comeback wins from second-half deficits of 9 or more
In his career, the Cardinals have trailed by more than one score (at least nine points) in 41 of those games, so one more than Warner had in his career. Including the playoff loss to the L.A. Rams after the 2021 season, there were 42.
But Murray has rallied the Cardinals to a win several times. In fact, in those 41 games where the Cardinals trailed by more than one score in the second half, he has led them to six comeback victories, one tie and one overtime loss in which he led a game-tying drive to force overtime.
2019
The tie came in his NFL debut in 2019. Trailing the Detroit Lions 24-6 in the fourth quarter, he led the Cardinals to force overtime and a go-ahead overtime field goal. The game ended in a 27-27 tie.
2020
Two wins came in 2020.
One was their 37-34 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7 at State Farm Stadium. They trailed 27-17 for most of the third quarter and 34-24 in the fourth quarter before they forced overtime and won.
The other was the famous "Hail Murray" game at home against the Buffalo Bills in Week 10. After a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Cole Beasley in the third quarter, the Cardinals trailed 23-9 and came away with a 32-30 win on that amazing throw from Murray to DeAndre Hopkins with two seconds left in the game.
2021
Murray didn't have any such wins in 2021, but that year they were the better team most of the season and played from ahead.
2022
Who can forget the Cardinals' Week 2 comeback against the Las Vegas Raiders? They fell behind 23-9 and started the rally in the fourth quarter. Darrel Williams had a rushing touchdown, followed by Murray's famous two-point conversion scramble that took more than 20 seconds. He scored a touchdown himself as time expired and then completed an incredible two-point conversion pass in the back of the end zone to A.J. Green to tie the game. In overtime, cornerback Byron Murphy returned a fumble 59 yards for a touchdown.
2023
Murray had one comeback in 2023 after returning from his ACL surgery.
It came in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road. They began the second half trailing 21-6 and rallied for a 35-31 win.
2024
Murray had two of these wins and an overtime loss of these types.
In Week 5 in Santa Clara against the San Francisco 49ers, they started the second half trailing 23-10 and trailed 23-13 in the fourth quarter. Murray threw a touchdown pass to Elijah Higgins, James Conner converted the two-point attempt and then Chad Ryland, making his kicking debut for the team, hit a game-winning 35-yard field goal with 1:37 left in the game.
Three weeks later in Miami, after a six-yard Raheem Mostert rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals trailed 27-18 and came back to win 28-27 on a Ryland 34-yard field goal as time expired.
In what ended up being an overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers, after giving up a touchdown pass from Bryce Young to David Moore to fall behind 30-20 in the fourth quarter, Murray rushed for a touchdown and Ryland hit a 58-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. But the Panthers won on a 21-yard Chuba Hubbard touchdown run.
Statistical ranking
With six wins in 42 games trailing by at least nine points at some point in the second half, his winning percentage is .142, and if you counted the tie as half a win, it increases to .155.
Based on the graphic, that would put Murray in 12th place all-time (since 1994), behind Drew Brees and ahead of Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson.
To conclude
While many fans like to say that Murray can't get things done when it counts, there is some validity to it. The Cardinals fade late in seasons.
But six of his 36 wins have come when he had to lead the Cardinals back from more than a score down in the second half. What does this say? It says he is a playmaker. It says he is clutch, and it also says that his teams have not been good. After all, 42 of his 83 (more than half) combined regular-season and postseason starts have had two-plus score deficits in the second half.
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