Kyler Murray
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Kyler Murray's 2025 preseason debut included a disappointing interception
The Arizona Cardinals earned a 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in their preseason debut on Saturday night, but as most football fans already know, much like the points inWhose Line Is It Anyway, the final score in the preseason doesn’t matter. What does matter for the Cardinals is that in his limited playing time, Kyler Murray threw an ugly red zone interception, continuing a troubling summer-long trend.
Throughout training camp, Murray had already thrown three picks in 11-on-11 action, and this one against the Chiefs — which couldn’t even be mistaken as a miscommunication or the fault of the wide receiver — looked particularly ugly.
After the game, Murray explained what went wrong on the intended throw to second-year wideout Marvin Harrison Jr.
“Just didn’t get enough on it,” Murray said after the game, per Donnie Druin of Sports Illustrated. “That’s something that in practice it’s tough – I’m never really rolling out full speed as if somebody’s actually gonna tackle me. It’s weird, kind of weird to explain, but yeah just gotta get more on it.”
It wasn’t all bad for Kyler Murray on Saturday night, though. The interception was Murray’s only incompletion of the game. He finished 7-for-8 for 96 yards on two drives, the second of which concluded with a 33-yard Chad Ryland field goal to get Arizona on the board.
Jonathan Gannon Not Panicked Yet About Preseason Sloppiness
Kyler Murray’s interception was one of three Cardinals turnovers on the night. The first came when Greg Dortch fumbled on the opening kickoff return of the game, setting the Chiefs up at the 13-yard line. The third turnover was an interception thrown by third-string quarterback Clayton Tune on Arizona’s first drive of the second half.
But Clayton Tune won’t see the field this year unless Arizona’s season ends up a total disaster. Greg Dortch continues to fight for a roster spot, and there will be plenty of other kick return options the Cardinals can turn to. Murray is firmly entrenched as Arizona’s starting quarterback, so it was his interception that head coach Jonathan Gannon spoke about after the game.
“Kyler knows the value of the ball, but it’s different when you’re going against an opponent and it’s live and it’s really fast,” Gannon told reporters after the win. “So it’s good to see the space out there and get his legs moving around a little bit out of the pocket and stuff, because it’s faster. There’s no doubt. So I think that’ll help him going into Week 1, but I want us to make sure that we protect the football.”
Last year, the Cardinals turned the ball over 20 times, ranking 16th in the league in that category. Murray was one of 17 quarterbacks in the league who threw at least 10 interceptions on the season.
Kyler Murray Hops On The Trey Benson Bandwagon
It wasn’t all bad for the Cardinals’ first-team offense on Saturday night. Both Murray-led drives resulted in trips to the red zone. Ideally you want to come away with seven points in both of those situations, but even still, the fact that the Cards were able to move the ball down the field is encouraging.
Even more encouraging was a promising performance from second-year running back Trey Benson, who anticipates serving as a 1B option to James Conner in Arizona’s backfield this season. Benson finished the game with 29 yards on 9 carries, and also had a reception that went for 20 yards.
After the game, Murray weighed in on Benson’s ascension this offseason.
“I think this will be a big breakout year for Trey,” Murray said, according to Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com. “I think it’s just confidence and then reps that’s letting the game slow down for him. The more football he’s going to play, the better he’s going to be.”
Meanwhile, Conner carried the ball only 3 times for 11 yards, while third-year running back Bam Knight led all Cardinals with 51 yards on the ground as he competes for a roster spot.