Bickley Blast: The ‘seven-year itch’ with Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray

Bickley Blast: The ‘seven-year itch’ with Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray

and Marada boardings. Arizona sports, the local sports leader. Bigley Blast. The seven-year itch is a phrase that applies to relationships and the fatigue that sets in over the course of time, and it certainly applies to Kyler Murray and the state of Arizona. He has started 87 regular season games for the Cardinals, which is 30 more than Curt Warner did. And few will be more important than Monday night’s game in Dallas, where Murray is expected to be given a huge platform and the comfort zone of a stadium in which he has never lost in nine tries. Problem is, Murray has already lost a good chunk of the fan base. And there is only one way to win them back. He must do all the empowering things that Jacobe Brassette did like staying in the pocket, feeding the wide receivers, throwing touchdown passes to Trey McBride, along with all that freaky highlight reel stuff that few in the NFL can duplicate. And if Murray can’t, or if Murray won’t, he will lose more than the rest of the fan base. He will lose the locker room as well. Now, it’s a popular belief that GM Bonts and Ford put all the resources on the defensive side of the football and ignored the offense, but that’s not exactly true because the signing of Brassette might be the most important factor in settling the Kyler question once and for all. All right, today’s Bickley Blast brought to you by my great friends at Chapman BMW. Make luxury attainable. Find him online at chapmanbmw.com. I think at the end of the day, I think when you look at him and you look at what he’s been able to do, he’s obviously shown in in terms of Kyler, he has shown that he is a good quarterback. He’s shown flashes of brilliance and greatness and all of these things. And the one thing that continuously lacks is consistency, right? And it’s consistency in play. It’s consistency in winning games. It’s consistency in getting to the playoffs and getting over the hump, right? And so I think that is what everyone expected going into year seven this year, especially after they improved the defense and did some other things and they kept their offense together and all of the things that were said going into the season and now now you’re sitting at two and five and it’s it’s it’s it’s an uphill battle at this point, right? That’s AQ Shipley, the Cardinals radio color commentator, joins us every Monday to talk Cardinals football here on Bickley Marada Mornings and talking about, look, Kyler Murray is a good quarterback and and that’s a fact. We’ve had this discussion a lot this year especially, but over the last couple years it I don’t think it was as evident early in Kyler’s career because there was that there was that element of the unknown. We know what Kyler Murray is going to give you. more often than not, he’s going to give you a chance to win football games. And I’m not going to sit here and say the reason why the Cardinals are two and five at this point is Kyler Murray solely. AQ also said something in that soundbite which I think is way more telling in the story of the 2025 Arizona Cardinals. They brought their offense back. They didn’t change anything offensively other than upgrading their backup quarterback position in Jacobe Brassette. He’s been pressed into duty for two games and even though he’s played well, it hasn’t been enough to win games. I think when it’s all said and done and can the Cardinals win some more games, maybe. I I I don’t know what to expect. Either do I. Either do I But but I’m more will I’d be more willing to guess that, okay, they’re going to sprinkle in some wins, but this season when it’s all said and done is going to be labeled a massive disappointment. And I think the biggest reason for that massive disappointment is going to be what I just said. They didn’t change anything on offense. Well, listen, and and I think as it as it applies to Kyler Murray, what’s going to be difference about this game in Dallas is is going to be between Kyler’s ears because he knows how Jacobe Brassette has responded and he knows how different the offenses look. This football team almost beat the 7-1 Colts with Jacobe Brassette and and they played really tight against the Green Bay Packers. So, Jacobe Brassette not only lifted this offense, but he did it against their two toughest opponents to date. Now, you’re right. You’re right about Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray is quarterback put this team in position to win, but but it certainly didn’t look the way it did with Jacobe Brassette. So, if you could do the stuff that Jacobe Brassette did, the the basic stuff, and then throw in the stuff that makes Kyler special, now Kyler’s got a real future here. But, I just don’t see that happening. But I’m just real curious, the the factor, the X- factor in all this is Kyler himself and how he has processed these last two weeks and how he’s processed all the noise. Is he angry? Is he does he feel betrayed? Does he feel like he’s been that he’s been persecuted by Cardinals fans? I’m if if he’s paying attention, I’m guessing the answer to all those questions are yes, if he’s paying attention. I mean, this is at the heart of it and and I I think this is a fascinating topic and I’m not going to attack you for saying what you just said because I think a lot of people feel this way. What did Kyler Murray observe in the last two weeks? But again, we are talking about a quarterback in his seventh year as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Could two two weeks of watching a a a a a backup quarterback stand in the pocket and step up and deliver the ball with authority over the middle of the field. That’s going to convince him. Like the last six years of criticism wasn’t enough to convince him. Listen, I but the the difference I think is for the first time there’s somebody breathing down his neck, somebody that is is very capable of taking his job. And and I wonder if that changes. You’re absolutely right because there are a faction of Cardinal fans. I know this because I hear from them whenever we have these conversations about how big this game might be for Kyler Murray, what Kyler Murray a chance he could, people are like enough. We’ve seen enough. Why do you need more? There’s a lot of people who say that. It’s it’s it’s redundant, but it’s also you’re talking about an enigmatic player who who can flash incredible moments of brilliance, and you wonder, can you ever harness that? Let me give you a relationship parallel. Okay. You’ve been married for seven years. Things are not exactly hunky dory at home. Mhm. You know, you’re getting by. You go out to dinner with another couple that’s been married for 12 years. That couple really has it together. Just the four of you at dinner. Uhhuh. And you get the feeling as the man in the relationship, the man in your own marriage. Hey, this other guy’s making me look bad. You get in the car on the way home and the wife says, “Why can’t you be more like so and so?” Is that the light bulb that’s going to change who you are as a person, as as a husband? No, but it’s going to make you very angry, I would guess. I would assume. Yeah. You might send flowers the next day, but that’s probably about it. It’s actually funny you can’t change who you are. Sure. It’s funny you make that relationship like index. The ringer did a full commitment relationship like index on every NFL quarterback. Yeah. Yesterday. And in the same I hadn’t even seen that. In the same So the Cardinals with Kyler Murray in the same category as Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars are number one picks in unfulfilling unions. Oh. And at the end of the Kyler Murray one, it says Arizona remains committed to Kyler, but where is this relationship going? And yeah, they’re they’re actually pretty good. Like the Giants and Jackson Dart, their category is too much PDA. [Laughter] Listen, there’s a lot. Look, there’s a lot of conflict and drama. What are you doing, Jared? Just I was raising one eyebrow very uh seductively towards you. What? What? I look at him. He’s going like this to me. Sammy, I’m uncomfortable. Are you? I feel like the Confl the Confl would be more if Jacobe Why not drum flicked by the way? That’s even that’s that works too. If uh Dantes drum flicked. They both sound like things that hang out in your spit out his coffee. What are we going to say Jared? If Jacobe Brassette were like a first round pick from this year and the perceived potential quarterback of the future, you’d be hanging on every move that Kyler Murray did. But even looking at what uh Kobe uh Jacobe Brassette did with the Cardinals, you’re thinking, “Wow, he runs this offense much better. Maybe the Cardinals should find a better version of Jacobe Brassette.” That’s it. Not necessarily Jacobe Brassette. No, that because I’d be willing to bet if we saw an extended audition, if you will, of Jacobe Brassette, by week four or five, everybody be like, he’s not very good. Okay, there’s a reason why he’s a backup quarterback. Well, he already some people have already said, well, yeah, he’s already was very good, but wasn’t able to win either game at Warner is on record saying he believes Jacobe is one of the few backups who could be a starter elsewhere. I tend to think what Vinnie is saying is accurate. That if we got to week six or seven, what Jacobe Brassette is doing might might we wouldn’t see it the same way we’re viewing it now. Let me can I amend that for a second? And I think we’ve seen that throughout Jacobe Brassett’s career when you look at when he has been pressed into starting duty for an extended period of time or was the starting quarterback for said team. They didn’t win a lot because the teams weren’t very good. It wasn’t on Jacobe Brassette. I don’t think he’s enough to lift all the other deficiencies that the Cardinals have right now. And I don’t know if Kyler Murray is either. I don’t think he is either. Yeah, this is a teamwide issue. I’m I’m real I’m real curious though if if Kyler Murray just takes the field like No, I’m I’m I’m I do things this way or or if Kyler Murray does amend and and I again maybe maybe I’m grasping for straws, man. But I just I just think if I were Kyler Murray, uh the stakes have changed. But don’t you think that’s there’s already a level of that in place after the first six years and now into year seven where doesn’t Kyler Murray play under center more? Because he’s not comfortable doing it. And you can only get so comfortable doing it. Mhm. And the more and more people you talk to, the more and more of a problem that actually seems to be. Mhm. Thanks for watching Bickley and Marada. Click to see the latest Bickley Blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports.

Dan Bickley says Arizona’s relationship with Cardinals QB Kyler Murray has reached the “Seven-year itch” phase on his Bickley blast.

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