The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a Week 6 matchup by a final score of 34-33. Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and didn't have an interception or fumble in the game. That was his first game of his career without a turnover. It was also his first game with three touchdowns.
So what will Murray do for an encore this week when his 2-3-1 Cardinals face off with the 2-4 New York Giants? Here are three bold predictions.
3. Rushing touchdown
Murray has already established that he's going to run when he sees the opportunity. Last week wasn't great in that territory. He had just 32 yards on 11 carries (2.9 yards per carry).
However, three of those carries came at the very end of the game as kneel downs. So that's negative three yards on his last three carries. Take those away and he has 35 yards on eight carries. That's a much better 4.4 yards per carry.
It's even better when you look at his last two weeks before that. In Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had 93 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Before that, he had 27 yards and a touchdown on four carries in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks.
If you want to scale back even further, he had a strong Week 3 (but didn't score a touchdown). That's what we'll be focusing on. The touchdowns. Murray has two rushing touchdowns so far, and could add another against a weak New York defense.
The Giants will likely struggle against the pass in this game, and that could lead to some open holes for Kyler Murray. He'll take advantage of one at some point.
2. 300 Yards Again
After Murray's 340 passing yards against the Falcons, he now has three games with 300-plus passing yards. He also has three games with less than 300 passing yards.
In Week 7, he'll have a chance to tip the scales one way or the other. And he gets that chance against an injured defense that is allowing the second-most passing yards per game with 285.
It's pretty clear that Murray is getting more and more comfortable each week. He is figuring out how to play in the NFL and he's building a nice rapport with his weapons.
It also helps that each week he throws a few absolute dimes that reminds the NFL world why he was the first overall draft pick. With an underrated group to throw to, Murray has enough weapons to spread the ball around and keep the defense guessing.
David Johnson is looking more and more lethal in the passing game at running back. Meanwhile, Larry Fitzgerald looks like he could play another five years. The Cardinals even have enough depth that if Christian Kirk is unavailable this week, they shouldn't suffer too much.
Kyler Murray will capitalize on a poor defense by throwing the ball around a lot. He might even flirt with a new career-high for himself (his current high is 349 yards).
1. Two Passing Touchdowns
Murray seems to be boom or bust in this category. He has three multi-passing-touchdown games this season. Two games with two touchdown passes and one game with three.
However, he also has three games with zero touchdown passes. He has yet to hit the one mark.
Now he's going up against one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL though. It's probably a much safer bet to assume he'll throw a few touchdown passes this game rather than none at all.
That's even more the case considering Murray is coming off the heels of his best game in the NFL.
Adding in the extra rushing touchdown, this would also mark the second straight game for Murray with at least three touchdowns. That's something he hadn't done even once before last week.
If Murray is able to score three times again, it will be hard for even his biggest detractors to pretend like he isn't impressing early on in his career.
Most importantly though, three touchdowns from Kyler Murray would likely spell out a Cardinals win. That would push Arizona to 3-3-1 through the first seven weeks of the season. They won three games all of last year.
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