Giants prepare for challenge of Murray, Arizona’s Air Raid offense
EAST RUTHERFORD » When the Arizona Cardinals arrive Sunday at MetLife Stadium, you’d be forgiven for mistaking them for an SEC or Pac-12 team.
Four-receiver sets. Nohuddle improvisation. Lightning pace.
This season, coach Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray are operating the closest thing the NFL has seen to a full-blown Air Raid offense, a style created in the 1990s by college coaches such as Mike Leach and Hal Mumme.
“It’s kind of more of a college feel to it where guys are on the ball and they’ve got the spread on, they make you defend the whole field: screen to the right, then come back, screen to the left, screen to the middle — all kinds of stuff that they do,” Giants linebacker Alec Ogletree said after practice Wednesday. “So, it takes a lot of eye discipline and making sure guys are in the right positions.”
Ogletree, a seventh-year veteran, said he feels the league is trending more and more toward incorporating college concepts into the pros.
Murray is the third quarterback who hails from an Air Raid offense to be drafted No. 1 overall pick in the last four seasons. Murray and Baker Mayfield both played at Oklahoma, while Jared Goff starred at California.
And Patrick Mahomes, last season’s league MVP, played in the system under Kingsbury at Texas Tech from 2014-16.
“I think the most dangerous thing in our league with a quarterback with his skillset is when they drop back to pass, and then he takes off and runs,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said of Murray. “He’s done that on a consistent basis throughout (the season) and that’s where they’re dangerous, because then they have the ability to keep their eyes downfield and throw a late check down for 60 yards, or continue to run and move the chains. That’s part of his charm.”
Murray’s athleticism, of course, is well-documented. He was the No. 9 pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft, but the 5-foot-10 Heisman Trophy winner ultimately chose to play football professionally.
As opposed to Giants first-round pick Daniel Jones, whose mobility is utilized mostly when plays break down, Murray’s running is often by design. Only Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has more rushing yards than Murray’s 238.
“Those are kind of their main runs, where they zone read and read the end, or whoever is on the edge, and he can give it or he keeps it and runs it,” Ogletree said.
That elevates the challenge of trying to slow down the Cardinals’ no-huddle attack from a passing standpoint. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told the Arizona media after the team’s 3433 win against Atlanta that defenses have been “gasping for air” when making substitutions and suffering communication problems.
Murray is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to have at least 20 completions in his first six games. His career-best performance against the Falcons included 372 total yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers and a 128.2 passer rating.
“It’s very hard on a defense when you can’t keep a guy contained and he’s able to break the containment and stretch you down the field and force guys on the back end to cover for a long time,” Ogletree said. “So, we’ve got to do a good job with the way we rush and obviously making sure we stay on guys even if he does break the contain.”
It might be the most unique assignment all year for the Giants’ young defense, which is coming off an encouraging performance last Thursday in New England.
Despite the offense missing its top three play-makers, the defense held the Patriots to three touchdowns. One was only a 20-yard drive after a turnover, and another came with just 3:49 remaining after the Giants were trailing by 14 points.
“We’ve made big improvements, but we have to keep working,” cornerback Janoris Jenkins said. “Last week was last week, but we have to come out and do the same thing this week and start even faster.” Shepard (concussion) was limited Wednesday and is less likely to return this week.