TEMPE — Despite a strong run game, the Arizona Cardinals led by quarterback Kyler Murray finished outside the top 10 in total offense (11th) for 2024.
A lot of that can be attributed to a middle-of-the-road passing game that ended the season 18th as opposed to a running game that came in seventh.
And after only adding limited offensive additions, it’s very much a run-it-back effort for Murray and the offense in 2025.
As for the biggest step the unit can take this upcoming season? It’s all about controlled chaos.
Cardinals OC Drew Petzing spoke yesterday on taking advantage of off-schedule plays that much more in 2025.
Kyler Murray hit on that same area last month when talking about his personal growth and what’s next while on with @AZCardsCorner last month. pic.twitter.com/Z1rVWUPciH
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) May 29, 2025
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“I think where we can be better as a unit and myself is extending plays in the scramble drill,” Murray told the Cardinals Corner podcast last month. “You look at (Josh Allen), you look at (Lamar Jackson), like a lot of things that they do, those sexy plays come from outside of the pocket and when things break down.
“I can’t really think of many extended plays where we made the defense pay. … As far as in the pocket conceptually, executing what’s called, I feel like we’re really good at that. I just think that obviously we can continue to get better in the pass game, which we need to.”
Off-schedule improvements key for Kyler Murray, Cardinals offense in 2025
We’ve seen plenty of examples of Murray making something out of nothing in previous seasons.
Remember the Las Vegas Raiders game a few years back?
But fast forward to his past season and the success wasn’t quite there.
According to AZCentral’s Theo Mackie, Murray averaged 5.13 yards per attempt to go along with three touchdowns and three interceptions on scrambles in 2025.
That’s compared to a 10.9-yard average, three touchdowns and one pick on designed rollouts and 6.97 yards, 15 scores and seven interceptions on straight dropbacks.
Two of those three scores on broken plays came from a Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Marvin Harrison Jr.’s second career NFL touchdown? “Pretty much a broken play,” Murray said.
Elijah Higgins’ 18-yard TD? Broken play.
KYLER MURRAY ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ?
?: #LARvsAZ on FOX ?: t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/gfHzqbrZ0w
— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
Those two scores alone would have won the game in what turned into a 41-10 blowout over the Rams.
For a more consistent offensive attack (especially in the second half of the season), capturing that lightning in a bottle when opportunities arise is critical to Arizona’s current trajectory.
That thinking isn’t lost on Petzing or Murray, either.
“The off schedule is certainly high variance and high risk, high reward. When you hit them, you have really good numbers out of the pocket. And when you don’t, that’s bad plays, turnovers, those are the things you try to eliminate.
“There’s kind of two windows to that that we tried to emphasize: one is true decision making within the system and one is almost like fast break basketball. Are you playing point guard the right way? Is the ball going where it should? … He’s one of the few people in this league that can do it physically at a high level and create some of those. We want to make sure we’re taking advantage of that.”
And while a lot of the emphasis falls on Murray to make the proper decisions, it’s not all on him.
“Guys have to continue to move, guys have to continue to stay active when the play breaks down, because that’s going to happen with a guy like myself being the quarterback,” Murray said.
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