Big Red
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Kyler Murray wasn't sacked Sunday night.
He was barely touched even, with the Seahawks not even registering an official QB hit.
For all the successes the Cardinals have begun to see on the offensive side of the ball, their quarterback's smarts in the pocket – as well as his pass protection – have been at the heart of the progress.
Murray has talked about how much more comfortable he is in the pocket, and the ability to not take losses has added up in a positive way.
"I feel like the game has slowed down for him," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "You look at the sack numbers as opposed to this time last year and the lost yardage from sacks, it's incredible how much we've reduced it. Our offensive linemen too. I think he's picking the right moments when to take off, (and) checked it down a bunch."
Through seven games, Murray has been sacked nine times for 38 lost yards. Last season through seven games, Murray had been sacked 23 times for a loss of 154 yards.
Sunday night was the first time since 2007, when Kurt Warner attempted 52 passes in a December game, in which the Cardinals didn't allow a sack with at least 45 pass attempts. Murray threw 48 passes against the Seahawks.
The Cardinals are third in the NFL in lowest sack percentage (3.4) and second in sack yardage (38). According to Next Gen Stats, Murray is the least pressured quarterback in the NFL all season, at only 10.3 percent.
It helped in Murray's excellent outing, in which he accounted for 427 yards and four tocuhdowns, leading the Cardinals to a 10-point rally in the final three minutes and twice had them in scoring position in overtime.
"His poise was really impressive," Kingsbury said. "Never got too high or too low, controlled his emotions and stayed in the moment. We were laughing on the sideline, saying 'It's just another Big 12 football game out here.' "
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