Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s rookie season is how well he has played against the top pass defense in the league.
Murray has faced the 49ers’ defense twice, and in those two games he has put up numbers like no other quarterback against San Francisco, which leads the league in passing yards allowed and sacks, among other statistics.
In Murray’s two games against the 49ers, he has completed 41 of his 57 passes, a 71.9 percent completion rate. In the 49ers’ other eight games, opposing quarterbacks have completed 133 of 268 passes, a 49.6 percent completion rate.
Murray has averaged 6.9 yards per pass against the 49ers. All other quarterbacks have averaged 4.9 yards per pass against the 49ers.
Murray has thrown four touchdown passes with no interceptions against the 49ers. All other quarterbacks have combined for six touchdown passes with 11 interceptions against the 49ers.
Murray has rushed for 51 yards a game and scored a rushing touchdown against the 49ers. All other quarterbacks have averaged 10 rushing yards per game against the 49ers, and none have rushed for a touchdown.
Murray’s passer ratings in his two games against the 49ers were 130.7 and 101.8. The highest passer rating any other quarterback had against the 49ers was Andy Dalton’s 90.5 rating in Week Two, and that was aided by his numbers in garbage time; Dalton threw a 66-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter to cut the Bengals’ deficit from 41-10 to the final score of 41-17.
The Cardinals lost both games to the 49ers, and they’re out of playoff contention. But Murray is proving that he can turn in big games against the best competition. He should have the Cardinals in contention for many years to come.