Kyler Murray apparently tears his ACL, and the Cardinals are down to Colt McCoy at quarterback. On the one hand, he’s one of the more capable backup quarterbacks. On the other, he’s definitely a backup.

McCoy has had some success when he’s been in there. Most notably, he won starts against Seattle and San Francisco last year, helping Arizona to a playoff berth. He’s 3-2 as a starter over the last two seasons.

McCoy started twice previously this season, beating the Rams before getting overwhelmed by a good San Francisco defense in Mexico City. He threw for 238 and 218 yards in those games, with 1 TD and 1 interception.

McCoy came off the bench and completed 27 of 40 passes for 246 yards on Monday night, with the offense generating a touchdown (on a run) and two field goals. McCoy threw one interception and was sacked 6 times.

I don’t think the passing game will collapse without Murray. It’s not as if he’s been lighting things up. Through some combination of injuries, lesser play and scheme flaws, Arizona thus far has averaged 242 passing yards per week, with 15 TD passes in 13 games. I don’t think that kind of production is wildly out of range for McCoy.

But at the same time, he’s not as good as Murray. He doesn’t have as much arm strength, and he doesn’t have the ability to scramble around, creating big plays.

Below see Arizona’s 31 quarterback starts of the last two years. They’re ordered by passing production (using the scoring system of 4 for TD passes and 1 for every 20 passing yards). The intention here is to consider passing production, so I’ve left out the scrambling stats (which would, of course, favor Murray).

Even setting aside the rushing numbers, Murray as a passer has been a lot more productive than McCoy.

McCoy in his five starts the last two years has averaged 228 passing yards, with 4 TDs and 2 interceptions.

Murray in his 24 full regular-season games the last two years has average 256 passing yards, with 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

ARIZONA'S STARTING QUARTERBACKS (last 2 years)
StarterYearOppResultComAttYardsTDIntPts
Kyler2021Min.W 34-3329364003232.0
Kyler2021at Ten.W 38-1321322894130.5
Kyler2022at Min.L 26-3431443263228.3
Kyler2021at Clev.W 37-1420302294027.5
Kyler2021Hou.W 31-520282613125.1
Colt2021at Sea.W 23-1335443282024.4
Kyler2021at LARW 37-2024322682021.4
Kyler2021at Dall.W 25-2226382632021.2
Kyler2021LARL 23-3032493830219.2
Kyler2022at Car.W 26-1623322072118.4
Kyler2022at L.V.W 29-2331492771117.9
Kyler2022K.C.L 21-4422341932017.7
Kyler2022LACL 24-2518291912117.6
Kyler2021at Det.L 12-3023412571116.9
Kyler2022Sea.L 21-3125351752016.8
Kyler2022Phi.L 17-2028422501116.5
Colt2021at S.F.W 31-1722262491016.5
Kyler2021Ind.L 16-2227432451016.3
Kyler2021Sea.L 30-3828392401016.0
Kyler2021S.F.W 17-1022312391016.0
Colt2022at LARW 27-1726372381015.9
Kyler2021at Jac.W 31-1928343160115.8
Kyler2022LARL 12-2037583140015.7
Kyler2022N.O.W 42-3420292041014.2
Kyler2021at Chi.W 33-2211151232014.2
Kyler2021G.B.L 21-2422332740213.7
Kyler2022at Sea.L 9-1923372220111.1
Colt2022S.F.L 10-3824342180110.9
Kyler2022at LARL 11-341934137026.9
Colt2021Car.L 10-341120107015.4
Kyler2022N.E.L 13-2711900.5

—Ian Allan