Sean McVay has made his money off his ability to evaluate offenses. While his offense has garnered him the attention of the NFL, it’s his attention to detail – the details of the opposition – that sets him apart from the rest of the league.
Having witnessed the play of Kyler Murray for the past six years, McVay has had his fair share of opportunities to stop the Cardinals’ QB1. Coming into this week’s matchup, McVay was asked about his game plan against the dual-threat QB.
Understandably, he admitted Murray is a “nightmare” for opposing defenses to prepare for with his elusiveness and explosiveness.
“He’s a nightmare to prepare for and he’s so dangerous because he can beat you in the pocket and then obviously if you lose a rush lane, he’s so explosive,” McVay said this week. “I mean, he made a handful of plays off-schedule, but that’s been consistent throughout the course of his career. So being able to do things to try to make him uncomfortable – easier said than done, but that’s always going to be a key because he’s the focal point of their offense. They obviously have some great playmakers and I think [Cardinals OC] Drew [Petzing] does a great job of being able to mix it up personnel-wise and keeping you off balance. If you allow him to be able to find openings, he can certainly make you pay by extended plays, keeping his eyes down the field, or like you alluded to against Buffalo, with his legs creating explosives and then still being able to get out of bounds and not even take a hit.”
The Rams have done a good job against Murray in his career, going 8-1 against him since he came into the NFL, including a postseason win. They’ll look to make it 9-1 this Sunday when they face the Cardinals on the road.
