{"id":380043,"date":"2025-09-19T10:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/380043\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:41:09","slug":"49ers-have-tricks-up-sleeve-for-cardinals-kyler-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/380043\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers have ‘tricks up sleeve’ for Cardinals’ Kyler Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014 As Fred Warner basked Sunday<\/a> in the 49ers\u2019 2-0 start, he credited their defense\u2019s clutch finishes to this simple task: \u201cNobody has to be Superman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up in Sunday\u2019s home opener is Arizona\u2019s Kyler Murray, who\u2019s been a kryptonite of sorts for the 49ers.<\/p>\n

OK, he\u2019s only 4-4 against the 49ers, and he\u2019s yet to serve as Arizona\u2019s No. 1-pick superhero from the 2019 NFL Draft. Murray, however, has the Cardinals also off to a 2-0 start, and he\u2019s coming off a season sweep of the 49ers\u2019 last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur \u2018What It Takes\u2019 meeting is very much about him,\u201d and what he brings to the table, how we need to rush him, and how we need to take care of the QB run game and the run game as a whole,\u201d said defensive Nick Bosa, the No. 2 pick in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing with Kyler obviously is his legs and the ability to make the off-schedule plays,\u201d Warner added. \u201cThat\u2019s always kind of given us fits. \u2026 He\u2019s slippery.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the 49ers\u2019 defense braces for Murray to pass or run, the Niners\u2019 offense is still awaiting whether Brock Purdy<\/a> or Mac Jones will be its quarterback, though Purdy has practiced back-to-back days after sitting out Week 2 with a toe injury.<\/p>\n

Murray\u2019s arm produced his best outing against the 49ers and in their most recent matchup: a four-touchdown, 242-yard effort in Arizona\u2019s 47-24 season-closing win<\/a> Jan. 5. Three months earlier, Murray sparked the Cardinals\u2019 24-23 win at\u00a0 Levi\u2019s Stadium with a 50-yard touchdown run on their second snap.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it\u2019s a great vibe there (in Santa Clara). Great vibe, beautiful stadium, (and) fans are always electric,\u201d Murray told Arizona reporters this week, after apologizing for a controversial social-media post of him pictured in a Michael Vick jersey beside his dogs.<\/p>\n

The 49ers went 3-1 against Murray in his first two seasons while Robert Saleh served as their defensive coordinator. Saleh\u2019s return to that role this season has delivered immediate success with varied and less predictable looks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about the plan this week,\u201d Bosa said. \u201cI think Saleh\u2019s been good at it before, so he\u2019s got some good tricks up his sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you\u2019ve got a quarterback like Kyler, regardless of how the game\u2019s going or how good you\u2019re doing schematically, you never know when he can unlock something and get an off-schedule,\u201d coach Kyle Shanahan added.<\/p>\n

The 49ers defense has yet to produce an interception, having opened against their 2023 backup, Sam Darnold (Seattle), and then denied New Orleans\u2019 Spencer Rattler his first career win last Sunday.<\/p>\n

Murray has thrown 12 touchdown passes and five interceptions against the 49ers, while his mobility has resulted in three rushing touchdowns and an average of 7.4 yards per carry (57 for 422 yards).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to make his plays. We just have to limit the damage,\u201d said Warner, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week for last Sunday\u2019s dominance in New Orleans (11 tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery, pass breakup).<\/p>\n

Murray is not the one-man band of past seasons. He\u2019s complemented by tight end Trey McBride, running backs James Conner and Trey Benson, and wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Stanford product Michael Wilson.<\/p>\n

Whereas Bosa and Bryce Huff notched sacks in 2.6 seconds and 2.44 seconds to seal the first two wins, respectively, Bosa noted the 49ers may exercise patience with their pass rush, as they did in a 2023 upset against Philadelphia and Jalen Hurts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is counterintuitive to do that when rushing,\u201d Bosa said. \u201cHe likes to bail back. He likes to spin out. So you just have to be aware.\u201d<\/p>\n

General manager John Lynch is beaming with pride over the defense\u2019s start. \u201cI love the style we\u2019re playing with,\u201d Lynch told KNBR 680-AM. \u201cWe\u2019re playing our brand, which is running to the football, arriving with bad intentions and getting a lot of people there. \u2026 They\u2019re playing smart and not leaving big lanes to escape, which is going to be key against a guy like Kyler. The plays can go a long time with Kyler Murray.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quarterback hype train won\u2019t end here.<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 next four opponents feature a quarterback drafted No. 1 overall \u2013 the Cardinals\u2019 Murray (2019), the Jacksonville Jaguars\u2019 Trevor Lawrence (2021), the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 Matthew Stafford (2009; Detroit Lions), the Tampa Bay Bucs\u2019 Baker Mayfield (2018; Cleveland Browns). On the horizon are: Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers\u2019 Bryce Young (2023), Week 15 vs. the Tennessee Titans\u2019 Cam Ward (2025), and Week 17 against the Chicago Bears\u2019 Caleb Williams (2024).<\/p>\n

Murray is 119 yards shy of reaching 20,000 in his career. Only three quarterbacks reached that mark with the 49ers: Joe Montana (35,124), John Brodie (31,548) and Steve Young (29,907). Brock Purdy is at 9,795; Mac Jones has 279.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 As Fred Warner basked Sunday in the 49ers\u2019 2-0 start, he credited their defense\u2019s clutch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2947,1926,1443,7,1921,929,6,1161,252,2624,2623,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-380043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-49ers-hq","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","18":"tag-sanfrancisco","19":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","20":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115230545625884564","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}