Kyler Murray named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after performance against Minnesota Vikings

The Arizona Cardinals have won a Player of the Week award in each of the first two weeks of the season as the team sits at 2-0 heading into their matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This week, it was Kyler Murray’s turn as he won the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

From the team:

This is Murray’s fifth career “Offensive Player of the Week” award, tying him with Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner for the most “Offensive Player of the Week” selections in team history. Murray won the award three times last year after being selected once as a rookie in 2019.

It is the second consecutive week Arizona had a “Player of the Week” winner after linebacker Chandler Jones was named “Defensive Player of the Week” following the Cardinals season opening win at Tennessee. It is also the first time since the awards began in 1984 that the Cardinals had players selected in each of the first two weeks of the season.

Last week against Minnesota, Murray completed 29-of-36 pass attempts (80.6%) for 400 yards, three TDs and a passer rating of 117.6. He also added 31 rushing yards and a TD on five carries.

Combined with his performance in the season-opener at Tennessee (4 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD), Murray became the first player in NFL history with at least three passing TDs and a rushing TD in each of the first two games of a season. Last week’s game was Murray’s fifth with at least three passing TDs and a rushing TD, the most such performances in NFL history in a player’s first three seasons.

It was also Murray’s second career game with 400+ passing yards, 3+ passing TDs and 1+ rushing TD. He joins Peyton Manning (2) and Aaron Rodgers (2) as the only players in NFL history to accomplish that feat twice.

Murray and Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady are tied for the NFL lead with nine total TDs (passing & rushing) in 2021.

In last week’s win, Murray – while playing in just his 34^th career game - also established new franchise career records for rushing TDs by a QB (17) and games with at least one passing and one rushing TD (12).

Congratulations to Murray and the Cardinals.... Now it is on Matt Prater or Rondale Moore to complete the trifecta and nail the Special Teams Player of the Week.