Kyler Murray Says Cardinals Are 'Not a Bad Football Team' Despite 1-8 Start

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has had a front row seat to watch as his squad has struggled to a 1-8 start in his absence.

The star signal caller is finally ready to return this week following a torn ACL that he suffered last season and knows that he's coming back to a squad that is much better than its record indicates.

"We're really not that far off," Murray said Thursday via The 33rd Team's Ari Meirov. "Obviously, people may think we're a bad football team. We're not a bad football team."

While the Cardinals are in prime position to earn the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft and select Murray's potential replacement, the expectation should be that they'll be vastly improved with the former top selection under center Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

And that's because Murray has a point.

Despite the rough start to this campaign, Arizona has been way more competitive than anybody thought it'd be. Aside from last week's loss to the Cleveland Browns and a Week 4 defeat against the San Francisco 49ers, the Cardinals haven't loss a game by more than 17 points all season.

Although it doesn't look like that big of an achievement, it is when considering their injury woes and strength of schedule. They have also played the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks through their first nine games.

In one of the most surprising results of the season, Arizona actually managed to beat Dallas and its talent-ladened roster.

The Cardinals rank in the bottom half of the league in both offense and defense. But the former should improve a bit once it's injected with Murray's dynamism.

The last time Murray was relatively healthy for a full season in 2021, he threw for 3,787 yards to go along with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 423 yards and five more scores.