There's no way the Cardinals come out of this bye week sluggish. There's no way we get a repeat of last year, when they were routed by the Rams 34-7. Not now that Kyler Murray's standards are starting to show.
"I'm a year more mature," Murray proclaimed after beating the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football last weekend. "This is year two for me, so understanding what happened last year... for me there is no bye week. Last year, you know, we kind of treated it as if there was a bye week. This year... our head stays down."
He wasn't referring just to himself. He was referring to his entire team. The same standards that made Kyler Murray a three-time state champion in high school, a Heisman winner at Oklahoma, and a first-round draft pick in football and baseball are starting to be projected onto his teammates.
Kyler has found his voice.
DeAndre Hopkins said Kyler Murray is the first quarterback to yell at him since entering the NFL.
"He got a high pitch voice so at first, you know... I was like man who's yelling at me?" Hopkins said on Patrick Peterson's All Things Covered podcast. "It was a miscommunication on my behalf. He gave a signal, I ran the wrong signal that he gave, and it ended up to him throwing an interception."
That stuff doesn't fly with Kyler, even if you are DeAndre Hopkins.
Especially, though, if you're not Deandre Hopkins. Backup tight end Darrell Daniels learned that the hard way after failing to block properly on a wide receiver screen in the third quarter of Arizona's Sunday Night Football game against Seattle. Murray lit Daniels up on the sideline.
After the game, Murray said, "When things need to be done, they need to be done... For me I just want to be great. My guys on the sideline understand that, and the locker room, they understand that. So, there was no hard feelings. At the end of the day we want to win the game."
Now, let's circle back to Kyler's declaration that this week will not be treated as a bye week. You think the rest of the team got that message? Given Murray's recent history of outspokenness, I'd imagine they heard loud and clear. At 5-2, and squarely entrenched in the playoff hunt, I doubt grogginess will be an issue for this year's Cardinals team.