The Arizona Cardinals are in a state of disarray. Win or lose on Thursday Night, Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury will have to answer for this heated exchange.
Kyler Murray and the Cardinals were up two touchdowns at halftime, but that doesn’t mean the offense was flawless. Rather, it was two defensive scores that gave Arizona the edge over the struggling New Orleans Saints and Andy Dalton.
Kliff Kingsbury is very much on the hot seat, so tensions are high in Glendale. Kingsbury’s job status changes by the week, and a loss in primetime to a team will not help matters.
Murray knows this. Kingsbury knows this. The entire team knows this.
That’s why an exchange involving expletives between the head coach and his face of the franchise was so surprising. Everyone is watching, guys.
Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury exchange brings out Twitter trolls
Murray and Kingsbury gave way to the trolls, as was expected on what’s been shockingly the most interesting Thursday Night Football game in weeks.
Kyler with some words for Kilff pic.twitter.com/WusfniEkVf
— Roto Street Journal (@RotoStJournal) October 21, 2022
Kliff Kingsbury listening to Kyler Murray yell at him pic.twitter.com/Y6tQedTPpG
— Jason Gendron (@JasonGendron16) October 21, 2022
Kyler Murray vs Andy Dalton tonight pic.twitter.com/eK9Yv3QXKS
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) October 21, 2022
Kliff Kingsbury: "So here's the play—"
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) October 21, 2022
Kyler Murray: pic.twitter.com/B8hLDRRNz4
Robbie Anderson seeing Kyler yell at Kliff on the sideline pic.twitter.com/M9JKVkWjNt
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) October 21, 2022
If someone told Kyler the play clock was like the clock in Warzone as the circle closes then the Cardinals wouldn’t have to use timeouts before delay of games
— Football (@BostonConnr) October 21, 2022
Kyler is hotter than fish grease!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) October 21, 2022
Kyler gonna break his controller
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) October 21, 2022
Kyler is so competitive. I don’t think it’s a bad thing he gets worked up because he wants to win.
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 21, 2022
https://twitter.com/FanDuel/status/1583274324970340352
https://twitter.com/NFLonCBS/status/1583267472836243457
This isn’t a good look. For either guy.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) October 21, 2022
pic.twitter.com/ULEFbOuHZJ
Surely, this was overblown to some extent. Both Kingsbury and Murray are competitors. They both want to win, and when the play on the field doesn’t reflect their work during the week in practice, there’s bound to be some tension.
This took place with the team trailing 14-6. The Saints were in much better shape, as they tied things up on a touchdown run by Keontay Ingram and a successfully made two-point conversion. But then, the team got two more touchdowns in the form of pick-sixes thrown by Saints quarterback Andy Dalton to enter halftime with a 28-14 lead.
Disagreements happen on an NFL sideline, and it just so happens to have been between quarterback and head coach on a national spotlight.