After five straight losses, the Arizona Cardinals finally won a game in Week 9. The Cardinals ended their losing streak against the Dallas Cowboys, 27-17. What’s more interesting is that the Cardinals were led by Jacoby Brissett, who came in place of injured Kyler Murray. But now, after Brissett’s exceptional performance, Murray’s position is being questioned. 

Former NFL scout and podcast host John Middlekauff posted a short video of his reaction to the Cardinals’ win over the Cowboys, stating that Kyler’s experiment is over and the Cardinals should stick with Brissett going forward. 

“Kyler Murray’s experiment to me is over. I don’t know if it will be a hard or soft benching, but I think as long as Jacoby Brissett is healthy. He will continue to start for the Arizona Cardinals”

Brissett on MNF was starting his third game in place of Murray, and he had a total of three touchdowns, completing 21 of his 31 passes for 261 yards, throwing for two, and sneaking for six. Brissett had two 74-yard marches and also piloted five scoring drives. His 74-yard march was the longest for the Cardinals’ offense this season. 

Such a phenomenal performance and a win after five weeks make Brissett’s position for continuing as a starting QB a lot stronger. On the other hand, Kyler Murray has been out of action due to a mid-foot sprain, and his next chance to take the field will be this upcoming Sunday, Nov. 9, against the Seattle Seahawks. But it’s not just the health Murray has struggled with this season. 

In the 5 games Murray has started for the Cardinals before getting injured, he has completed 110 of 161 passes for 962 yards, which leaves him with a 68.3 % completion rate. Murray has also been an ineffective quarterback when it comes to turning pressures into sacks. He has taken a sack every 4.1 pressures this year. 

When we look at the stats, Kyler Murray is way behind Brissett this season. Even in the Cardinals’ 31-27 losing game against the Indianapolis Colts, Brissett completed 27 of 44 passes for 320 yards. The last time Murray had two touchdowns and passed for 320 yards was on Oct. 30, 2022.

However, it doesn’t matter who was the quarterback when the Cardinals broke the losing streak or how the statistics make Brissett a better quarterback than Murray; head coach Jonathan Gannon doesn’t think the same way when it comes to benching Murray. 

For Gannon, Kyler Murray is still the starting QB for the Cardinals 

Following the victory over the Cowboys, the question of whether Murray would start for the team in the future was inevitable. But Gannon didn’t hesitate a bit in answering the question and made it clear that Murray will be joining the team as the starting QB once he is healthy.

“Yeah, nothing’s changed,” Gannon told reporters when asked, “Is Kyler Murray still the starter?” He was also asked a follow-up question after this, but it seemed like he was not interested in it and said he had nothing more to add. 

Even when the rumors of benching Murray for Brissett arose, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero made it clear that was not the case. “To be very clear, the people I’ve spoken to, this is not some kind of benching. It is, as one person put it to me last night, 1,000% about health,” Pelissero reported. 

So, even if Brissett had gotten the Cardinals their much-needed victory, once Kyler Murray has healed, he will be back in action. It will be interesting to see how he performs and whether fans will compare his performance to what Brissett has done in the last couple of games.