Cardinals QB Kyler Murray Downplays MVP Talks

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has entered the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks after a 3-0 start to this season. Murray is a bonafide MVP candidate, but he's not too concerned with that.

As Murray told the Cardinals media on Wednesday, his focus is on winning.

"It is what it is," Murray said. "I was raised and taught that if you win as a team, the individual accolades will come. That's how I treated it in high school, that's how I treated it when I won the Heisman, and it's the same thing for now."

The 2019 first overall pick and third-year signal caller has accounted for 10 touchdowns this season, (seven passing, three rushing) but has seen vast improvement as a raw passer through three games. After falling short of the 4,000-yard passing plateau in his first two seasons, Murray sits third in the NFL in that category with 1,005 yards, well on pace to shatter his career best of 3,971 yards in 2020. Furthermore, Murray is sixth in the NFL with a 113.4 passer rating and a 71.0 QBR.

Murray's ascent is one many saw coming and he's now among the best quarterbacks in Cardinals history already. He is the first Arizona quarterback in history to throw for over 1,000 yards through the first three games, an amazing feat. Yes, Murray is surrounded by one of the best receiving corps in the NFL in Deandre Hopkins, Christian Kirk and A.J. Green, but this doesn't look like the same team that limped to a 2-5 finish last season after starting 6-3.

This looks like a team capable of playing with the big dogs of the NFC, and they'll get their first chance to prove it on Sunday. Murray and the Cardinals will travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Rams (3-0) at 4:05 p.m. The Rams are fresh off defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers 34-24 last Sunday.