Tramel's ScissorTales: Kyler Murray & Kliff Kingsbury struggling with NFL Cardinals
After a harrowing off-season in which Kyler Murray’s leadership and future with the Arizona Cardinals seemed in question, everyone made nice and Murray signed a contract extension.
Money has all kinds of medicinal value. Murray’s five-year deal is worth $230.5 million, $160 million of it guaranteed.
A few months earlier, the Cardinals gave contract extensions through 2027 to coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim. Seemed a little squishy; I have no idea who the Cardinals were bidding against for Kingsbury. Was the rest of the National Football League clamoring for a chance to hire the Texas Tech expatriate?
Oh well. Who knows what’s in those NFL coaching contracts? Franchises are not public universities and subject to public scrutiny.
Either way, the Cardinals could fall back on the assurance that no matter what, they would get off to a strong start in 2022 and make everyone feel better. Arizona under Kingsbury always started strong.
In Kingsbury’s first three years, the Cardinals were 15-5-1 combined in games one through seven of a season, but just 9-19 in games eight through 17.
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Maybe the contract extensions jinxed that trend. The Cardinals have sunk to 2-4 with one of the worst offenses in the National Football League. The Saints play in Arizona on Thursday night, and the Cardinals’ season is on the brink.
Murray, OU’s 2018 Heisman Trophy winner, ranks 19th in the NFL in quarterback rating and 24th in passer rating. Arizona ranks 22nd in scoring among the NFL’s 32 teams.
The Cardinals aren’t moving on from Murray. Quarterbacks are too hard to find and cost too much, even if you don’t like the one you’ve got. But coaches? Easy go, easy come.
“I think that comes with the profession,” Kingsbury said on Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke radio show this week. “I think when you have had the start that we’ve had offensively, that talk is going to be out there. Quite frankly, it should be.
“We should play better and we all know that. Week in and week out, we all feel like we’re kind of coaching for our jobs in this profession. We got to get better on offense.”
Kingsbury even said he would consider giving up playcalling duties, if that would help, though offensive coordinating is the sole reason he was hired as head coach. If he’s not running the Cardinal offense, exactly what is he doing? Why even keep Kingsbury around?
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“Whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to score points,” Kingsbury said of his hold on the Arizona offense. “Anything goes in this league, and so we’ll examine all avenues. Obviously on a short week, that’d be tough to go by, but we’ll see how things go. Whatever it takes to make us to get better, I’m all for it.”
Last Sunday at Seattle, the Cardinals lost 19-9 and didn’t score an offensive touchdown. Arizona has held opponents to 20 points or fewer in four straight games, yet is 1-3 during that time.
Thursday night, the Cardinals return star receiver DeAndre Hopkins from a six-game suspension, but now former Sooner Marquise Brown is injured and will miss several weeks. Arizona signed the troubled Robby Anderson, late of the Panthers, but it’s a longshot that he’s worth the trouble.
At various times over the previous three years, Murray seemed like a budding star and the Cardinals seemed a team on the rise. The surprise hiring of Kingsbury had its moments.
But now the Cardinals have committed a bunch of money to a concept that is not working at all.
Let’s get to the predictions:
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Berry Tramel's NFL Week 7 predictions
Saints at Cardinals: New Orleans 23-20. The Saints don’t get enough credit as a solid organization. They are treading water better than most franchises from which an iconic quarterback (Drew Brees) retired.
Falcons at Bengals: Cincinnati 28-20. The Bengals are a testament to patience. Their slow start in what appeared to be a tough division was worrisome. But the American Conference North is not the division we thought it was, Cincinnati has stabilized and now is tied with Baltimore for the lead, at 3-3.
Lions at Cowboys: Dallas 24-10. The Cooper Rush Story was nice, but let’s not kid ourselves. The Cowboys need Dak Prescott back, and he’s set to return vs. the Lions.
Colts at Titans: Tennessee 20-16. These teams play for the AFC South lead. We make fun of the division, but its teams have a collective better record than the vaunted AFC North.
Packers at Commanders: Green Bay 23-7. What if Washington gets better under quarterback Taylor Heinecke? Wouldn’t be the first team to prosper once Carson Wentz (injured) is gone.
Buccaneers at Panthers: Tampa Bay 29-13. Lots of drama around Tom Brady these days. One more thing to admire about the Patriot Days. Not so much drama.
Browns at Ravens: Baltimore 25-17. I still think the Ravens are one of the better teams in the AFC, but they sure have frittered away some games.
Giants at Jaguars: New York 18-14. The Giants are for real. I know I could look foolish come December, but I’ll stand by it.
Jetropolitans at Broncos: New York 16-10. Russell Wilson might miss the game with a hamstring injury, which would move former Boise State QB Brett Rypien into the starting role. And nobody in Denver would mind.
Texans at Raiders: Las Vegas 33-13. Vegas’ 0-4 start might not be too much from which to rally. The 17-game season and AFC parity (below Kansas City and Buffalo) give all kinds of teams hope, including the 1-4 Raiders.
Seahawks at Chargers: Los Angeles 24-22. Man, I’d excited to be a Seattle fan. Competitive team, lots of draft picks coming, a functional quarterback (Geno Smith) on hand with the opportunity to draft a future QB.
Chiefs at 49ers: San Francisco 24-23. Is it just me, or does it seem like Kansas City plays a marquee game literally every week? Let’s check. The 4-2 Chiefs have played only one game so far that wasn’t prime time or the afternoon doubleheader showcase. That was a Week 2 game against the Colts. The Chiefs don’t play another until Nov. 13 against Jacksonville. The next one after that is Dec. 18 against Houston. Kansas City has become America’s Team.
Steelers at Dolphins: Miami 26-14. What a game, if this was 1973.
Bears at Patriots: New England 16-7. I loved the Bears’ orange helmets last week, but the color might file suit forbidding its use with the Bears until something is done about that offense.
Last week: 8-6. Season: 51-42-1.
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National Pregame: Chip Kelly returns to Oregon
Has any football coach’s star fallen further and faster than Chip Kelly’s?
A decade ago, he was in the middle of what would become a 12-1 season at Oregon. Kelly’s four-year record with the Ducks, 2009-12, eventually became 46-7. That’s better than Lincoln Riley’s five-year record at OU (55-10) and better than Kirby Smart’s record at Georgia (60-10) from 2017-21.
Then Kelly took the Philadelphia Eagles job and did well – 26-21. Winning NFL games is not easy. But Kelly was fired with a game left on the 2015 schedule, the Eagles disillusioned with Kelly less than a year after handing over roster control.
The 49ers snatched up Kelly, and disaster ensued. San Francisco went 2-14 and fired Kelly.
He sat out a season, then was hired by UCLA. Seemed like a good fit. Back in the Pac-12, away from the crazy pressure of the NFL.
But Kelly’s first three Bruin teams went 10-21, and Kelly’s days as a viable football coach appeared over.
Then UCLA produced a rebound season in 2021, 8-4, and suddenly the 2022 Bruins are 6-0 and ranked ninth nationally. They play Saturday at Oregon, Kelly’s launching pad, in college football’s game of the day.
“It’s always special going back there,” Kelly said of Eugene, Oregon. “It’s a special place in my life. There are a lot of great people there that had a profound impact on my life.”
Kelly had a profound impact on the Ducks and can do so again. Oregon has rallied from a debilitating, 49-3 loss to Georgia in the season opener. The 10th-ranked Ducks are 5-1 and in the hunt for the Pac-12 championship, if not a College Football Playoff berth.
But the same holds true for UCLA. Under fifth-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the Bruins have become a force. They are coming off back-to-back home wins over Washington (42-32) and Utah (40-32).
Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams and Southern Cal have hogged the Los Angeles and Pac-12 and Heisman Trophy spotlight this season. But USC stumbled at Utah, while Kelly, Thompson-Robinson and UCLA remain undefeated.
A victory at Oregon would fortify the Bruins as playoff contenders.
“It’s a difficult place to play, just like anything in this league,” Kelly said. The former is true, the latter is not. The Pac-12 is not a hotbed of homefield advantage. But Autzen Stadium is a notable exception.
“You play meaningful games in October, you have to be prepared for crowd noise,” said Kelly, who knows Oregon football as well as anyone.
His reputation was built with the Ducks. Now his reputation can be further restored at the expense of the Ducks.
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Coach on the hot seat: Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald is a Northwestern icon. He was a Wildcats linebacker in the 1990s, when Northwestern produced one of college football’s great Cinderella stories, back-to-back Big Ten championships (1995, 1996) after 23 straight losing seasons.
Fitzgerald eventually became Northwestern’s coach, and in 17 seasons, he’s fashioned a 110-95 record. Which is remarkable in itself. Twice in the last four years, 2018 and 2020, Fitzgerald’s teams have reached the Big Ten Championship Game.
Northwestern slipped to 3-9 a year ago, but that was no big deal. The Wildcats often succeed on an A-B-A-B rotation. And that seemed on track when Northwestern went to Dublin in August and beat Nebraska in the season opener.
But the Wildcats haven’t won since. They’ve lost to Southern Illinois and Miami-Ohio. They were blown out by Wisconsin 42-7 in their most recent game.
It seems unfathomable that Northwestern would fire Fitzgerald, an all-time native son. But these are strange times in college football. Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst. Texas Christian let Gary Patterson go.
Fitzgerald signed a 10-year contract extension in 2020, and Northwestern recently announced a $280-million project for a sparkling new football stadium. The former offers security, the latter does not. Schools that spend that kind of money demand results, even a high-brow place like Northwestern.
The athletic director, Jim Phillips, who signed Fitzgerald to that contract, now is the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The 1-5 Wildcats play at Maryland on Saturday, and the season seems lost. But a few victories down the stretch would go a long way to fighting back the feeling that Northwestern should join the growing club of schools that have little patience with football coaches. Even the ones they adore.
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Upset special: Memphis over Tulane
Tulane has cracked the top 25, a year after Oklahomans thought the Green Wave was headed there. In the 2021 season opener, Tulane scared a Sooner team that was considered a national-championship contender. OU held on 40-35 on Owen Field.
That game was a precursor to a difficult Sooner season. It was not a precursor to Tulane success. That Green Wave team, displaced by yet another New Orleans hurricane, struggled to a 2-10 record, beating only Morgan State and South Florida. Coach Willie Fritz’s job was on the line.
But the 2022 Green Wave has been sensational. Tulane won 17-14 at Kansas State, and the Green Wave also has beaten Houston and East Carolina. Tulane is 5-1 and ranked 25th, led by heady quarterback Michael Pratt, who was quite impressive a year ago against the Sooners.
On Saturday, Tulane hosts Memphis in a showdown of Mississippi River schools.
Memphis is 4-3, having lost to Mississippi State, Houston and East Carolina. The Tigers led UofH 26-7 in the fourth quarter and went four overtimes with East Carolina.
Memphis is a cursed squad but not a doomed squad. The Tigers are a good mid-major. Tulane is a 7½-point favorite, but the Green Wave’s magic might soon end. Let’s go with Memphis in the upset.
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Ranking the top 10 games
1. UCLA at Oregon, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Fox: The Pac-12 has done away with divisions. The winner of this game will lead the conference, ahead of the loser, USC and Utah, all one-loss teams.
2. Kansas State at Texas Christian, 7 p.m. Saturday, Fox Sports1: A meeting of the Big 12’s last two teams undefeated in conference play.
3. Syracuse at Clemson, 11 a.m. Saturday, ABC: Everyone keeps writing off the unbeaten Orange, and it just keeps winning. But Clemson is a big step up in competition.
4. Ole Miss at Louisiana State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS: One of the more underrated Southeastern Conference rivalries packs an unexpected punch in 2022. These teams are a combined 12-2.
5. Texas at Oklahoma State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: This game could come down to Spencer Sanders’ health. The OSU-TCU game last week seemed to do just that, with Sanders having little in the tank the last 2½ quarters while dealing with a shoulder injury.
6. Mississippi State at Alabama, 6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN: You know what’s funny? Some visiting SEC teams stay in Tuscaloosa the night before a game at Mississippi State. The schools are only 83 miles apart.
7. Cincinnati at Southern Methodist, 11 a.m. Saturday, ESPN: UC’s hopes for a third New Year’s Six bowl trip could hinge on this trip to Dallas.
8. Minnesota at Penn State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: Each team barely is hanging on its quest to win its respective Big Ten division, but the loser can let go of the rope.
9. Troy at South Alabama, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, ESPNU: For those fascinated by the Sun Belt’s meteoric rise among mid-major conferences, this is a great game. The winner has the inside track on the West Division title.
10. Central Florida at East Carolina, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPNU: Big game for Gus Malzahn as he continues building the Knights for Big 12 play next season. UCF is a quiet 5-1.
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Porter Moser talks OU hoops
Big 12 Basketball Media Day was staged Wednesday, and OU coach Porter Moser talked the transfer portal and building with veterans.
Here is the transcript from Moser’s press conference, with my responses.
Opening statement: “Makes a heck of a difference when you have guys that have been through your program. We have five guys back that were with us last year. So I think with the two Groves brothers (Tanner and Jacob), Jalen Hill, Bijan Cortez and C.J. Noland, we've got some guys back that makes all the difference in the world when you bring in your newcomers. I thought these guys had a great offseason. Went to Europe. But those five guys … it helps when you try to get to Year 2 and move forward.”
Tramel: Think about that. Moser returns only five players from last season, and he’s thrilled with the returning experience. What a change in college sports, where complete roster makeover is the norm.
Q. You mentioned that returning core, just from an install standpoint, foundational-wise, how different has this year been for you?
Moser: “It's everything. When you get there, you know, we were in a pandemic. So I was meeting them for the first time in June at the recruiting class. We had to sign everybody through June. So just the difference of when they get there, just everything from our first practice to having five guys that have a familiarity with what we do and how we do it. And not only do you have guys that did it, it was the who. Jalen Hill and Tanner just really, really good leaders, vocally and with their work ethic. And I know Coach Tang (Jerome, Kansas State) is going through it right now having to bring in 11 and go through it and just establishing those things that he does. And it's a unique experience this day and age with the transfer portal with having to have so many new guys. But I couldn't be happier with the five guys, how they embraced and held accountable themselves and the newcomers right when they got to the campus.”
Tramel: This will have a marketing effect on college basketball. The sport had enough problems getting a fan base acclimated to a team. Now, re-learning a roster will take even more time. I wonder if fans will have the patience to even try?
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Q. I also wanted to ask you about the transfer portal. Just overall what are your thoughts on how it has functioned to this point? And what's your opinion on players transferring within the same conference? I think it was six that transferred within the Big 12 this year.
Moser: “My first thought on the transfer portal, it's a reality. I think you have to balance it with your program. I think for me, I signed some high school guys I really liked, and we added some transfer portal pieces.
It's a reality. It's here. But I think you have to have a balance with it and you still have to try to recruit to who you are and your style, who you are. Transferring in conference, that also is a reality. It's happening with it. And I guess I don't have too many thoughts against it or for it. If the young man doesn't want to be in a program, you know, then he doesn't want to be in a program. And I just think that's, whether it's inner conference or not, I think it's a reality. And we're having to just adjust with it and deal with it.”
Tramel: That’s a good attitude. The wanderlust of coaches, we’ve known about forever. Now we better understand the wanderlust of players. De’Vion Harmon, for example, who played two years for Lon Kruger at OU. When Kruger retired, Harmon transferred to Oregon rather than remaining a Sooner. Now Harmon has transferred to Texas Tech. Can’t get mad at Harmon. He’s mimicking the behavior of coaches.
Q. You all had a good end to the regular season, beat Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. What was going well for you all to finish the campaign?
Moser: “I felt we were getting better. I thought we had an injury with Elijah Harkless, and Jacob Groves came in. I thought Jacob played really solid down the stretch. We talked about it a lot in the offseason. I think Jacob has grown. I think he's bigger than his brother, he's at least 6-9. That confidence boost at the end of the year that he got, I think that's really propelling him this offseason. Just like anything, we were chasing it. We were trying to get better. I thought we were doing some better things offensively towards the end of the year. But I think that's something that I think Jacob really played well in his time with that down the stretch.”
Tramel: Interesting. The Sooners indeed played well down the stretch and was anointed by the NCAA selection committee as one of the first two teams out of the 68-team field. I well remember Harkless’ absence. But I never detected Jacob Groves as one of the seasons for the Sooners holding on strong.
Q. What have you just seen from Grant Sherfield so far?
Moser: “You know, this league is, as we all know, so incredible defensively. Every game they just lock you up. One of the things you found you've got to have some guys that make some shots. You need some shot-makers. And Grant is a very good shot-maker, scoring at all three levels, can get to the rim, elite mid-range and can shoot 3s. He's really good off ball screens. Analytically he's one of the top good off ball screens. Six assists (a game) at Nevada. I think he brings a guy that can make shots. Coaches call them ‘shot clock guys.’ The defense takes away what you're trying to do, and then you've got to go sometimes create something out of nothing and start the domino in a rotation. And Grant can start that domino. He can knock down a shot at the end of a shot clock. We struggled in those areas last year. We really did. We struggled at really having a guy just go get one for us at times. I think the really, really good teams all had a shot clock guy. I think he's one of those kind of guys for us.”
Tramel: Sherfield and George Washington transfer Joe Bamisile give the Sooners a chance at success. The portal taketh away and the portal giveth.
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The List: Ranking the Big 12 quarterbacks
The preseason all-Big 12 football team, voted upon by the press corps, had OSU’s Spencer Sanders as the first-team quarterback.
Pro Football Focus produced a preseason all-Big 12 team and went with OU’s Dillon Gabriel at quarterback. PFF even ranked a few guys behind Gabriel: Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Baylor’s Blake Shapen and West Virginia’s J.T. Daniels.
What a strange season. Nowhere to be found were the quarterbacks who have emerged as the top two in Big 12 football so far this season.
Here’s how I rank the Big 12 quarterbacks this season now that we’ve reached the back half of October:
1. Max Duggan, TCU: Didn’t even start the season opener, but Duggan came on for the injured Chandler Morris and has been sensational for the unbeaten Horned Frogs. Duggan leads the Big 12 in passer rating and is second in quarterback rating. He’s completed 69.5% of his passes, thrown 16 touchdowns to one interception, and has rushed for 261 yards.
2. Jalon Daniels, Kansas: Daniels probably would rank No. 1 had he not missed the last 1½ games with an injury. If Daniels doesn’t return soon, he won’t stay this high. But Daniels was the face of the KU success story. He was first in QB rating, second in passer rating and rushed for 335 yards. Daniels completed 66.7% of his passes, with 11 TDs and one interception.
3. Spencer Sanders, OSU: Sanders’ completion percentage has dipped (a banged-up shoulder vs. TCU didn’t help) to 58.5%, but he’s thrown 13 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. He’s sixth in passer rating but third in QB rating.
4. Adrian Martinez, Kansas State: Martinez has been good for K-State since conference play began, but much of that was built off a monster game against OU. He’s fifth in QB rating but ninth in passer rating. His 546 rushing yards have been key.
5. Dillon Gabriel, OU: Gabriel would rank higher if not for missing 1½ games. He’s fourth in QB rating and third in passer rating. Gabriel lost two fumbles and threw an interception against Kansas last week, but he had zero turnovers before that.
6. Quinn Ewers, Texas: Ewers missed 3½ games but has been superb in the 3½ in which he played. He will rise. Ewers’ QB rating would rank second in the Big 12 and his passer rating would rank third. He’s completed 67.7% of his passes, with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
7. Blake Shapen, Baylor: Shapen ranks fourth in passer rating and seventh in QB rating. His numbers are solid – 68.5% completions, 11 touchdowns, three interceptions – but his playmaking hasn’t stood out.
8. J.T. Daniels, West Virginia: Ranks sixth in QB rating and eighth in passer rating. West Virginia was hoping for more from the Georgia transfer, who has completed 63.8% of his passes, with nine TDs and three interceptions.
9. Dealer’s Choice, Texas Tech: Tech already has used three quarterbacks – Tyler Shough, Donovan Smith, Behren Morton – due to injury and coach’s decision. They’ve been OK.
10. Hunter Dekkers, Iowa State: The Cyclones are going through growing pains in the wake of Brock Purdy’s departure to the NFL. Dekkers ranks eighth in QB rating and seventh in passer rating. He’s completed 67.7% of his passes, with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
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Mailbag: Josh Heupel’s Tennessee rebuild
My column in the Thursday Oklahoman on Josh Heupel raised some excellent questions from readers.
Henry: “Your great column on Josh Heupel today reminded me of the disastrous shape the Tennessee football program was in just two years ago. A disgraced and fired coach, 18 NCAA violations and a departure of top players including Eric Gray. It would be interesting to revisit the Volunteers’ rapid recovery in light of the situation OU is facing. We talk about how adversely Lincoln Riley's departure with top players has damaged the Sooners. If that is the case, how can Tennessee be the third ranked team in the nation only two years after it lost as many players and had to recruit under a probation cloud?”
Tramel: Excellent question. First off, all props to Heupel, for keeping his Volunteer leftovers engaged, for recruiting well and for hitting the transfer portal hard.
Quarterback Hendon Hooker might win the Heisman Trophy. He was a Virginia Tech castoff. That’s nothing but a product of Hooker’s commitment and Heupel’s coaching.
But the entire Tennessee (and OU, and USC, and dang near every team in the land) story equates to the new reality.
No excuses. The portal means teams can get better quickly. Get worse quickly, too, of course. But there are no excuses anymore. No more it-takes-time speeches.
It does not take time. Not anymore.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury hit rough patch with Arizona Cardinals
