Kyler Murray is dropping hot.
That's not because the passer's performance has been subpar in 2022, but more because "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II" hits shelves this Friday. Murray, a devoted "Call of Duty" player and Twitch streamer, has squad-ed up with the world-famous FaZe Clan and even has gone a few rounds with TimTheTatman.
His love for football might only be matched by his love for "COD," and that might not be a great thing for Arizona. Earlier this year, Reddit users noticed an interesting trend for the Cardinals quarterback: His fantasy football production numbers take a small bit of a dip following the yearly releases of the game. The same is, likely coincidentally, true of the overall passing numbers.
With the latest game in the first-person shooter series now out, fans are going to keep a close eye on the remainder of the QB's season in Arizona.
MORE: Is 'Call of Duty' to blame for Kyler Murray's second-half swoons?
Here's what internet sleuths uncovered, and how Murray has stacked up this yeaar:
Kyler Murray and Call of Duty
Correlation isn't causation, but there is a curious trend surrounding Murray's performance and the release of the latest games in the "Call of Duty" series.
A bit of statistical analysis introduced by conspicuous Redditors seems to indicate a relation between the release of popular games and a slight dip in Murray's fantasy football numbers in each year since he's been in the league.
Someone graphed Kyler Murray’s average career fantasy points, then marked when the new Call of Duty game comes out ever year 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/SxVVJXx5eK
— Kyle Ledbetter (@SportsDSD_) July 27, 2022
Here is Kyler Murray’s fantasy points for each game of his career. The line in orange is when the annual Call of Duty game released. Coincidence? @Danny_Heifetz @DannyBKelly @noahmoreparties @pahowdy pic.twitter.com/kGhxe0CEje
— rosecitypeach (@rosecitypeach) July 25, 2022
Murray, a well-known "Call of Duty" player, has his own Twitch channel where he streams "Madden," among other things. Curiously, his Twitch profile currently has no videos posted to it, no scheduled streams, and no highlights or clips.
More from Reddit:
A statistical analysis of NFL Quarterback Kyler Murray's performance shows that he plays worse when there's active Double XP weekends happening in Call of Duty. There were rumors stating that they he played a lot of Call of Duty, even during the season. https://t.co/47sI8lwN8u pic.twitter.com/PcBMs33RcY
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) August 2, 2022
A user analyzed Kyler Murray’s performance on @CallofDuty 2XP/3XP weekends and it’s tough to see pic.twitter.com/SoalbvmdDu
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 2, 2022
Murray's high-level passing stats paint something of an interesting picture, too:
| Year | G | Yards | TDs | INTs | Rating | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Pre-COD release | 7 | 1,768 | 7 | 4 | 86.8 | 3-3-1 |
| 2019 Post-COD release | 9 | 1,954 | 13 | 8 | 88.0 | 2-7 |
| 2020 Pre-COD release | 8 | 2,130 | 16 | 7 | 99.3 | 5-3 |
| 2020 Post-COD release | 8 | 1,841 | 10 | 5 | 89.3 | 3-5 |
| 2021 Pre-COD release | 8 | 2,276 | 17 | 7 | 110.4 | 7-1 |
| 2021 Post-COD release | 6 | 1,511 | 7 | 3 | 89.3 | 2-4 |
Again, it's important to note that correlation isn't causation, but it's also hard to ignore a little bit of a dip, especially in the last two seasons. It's entertaining food for thought, if nothing else.
Some of those dips can be contributed to head coach Kliff Kingsbury, whose notorious second-half swoons have seemed to follow him to the NFL after his stay in college.
Whatever the case is, it's worth watching if Murray escapes the Gulag the remainder of the season.
Kyler Murray stats
In 2022, the Cardinals quarterback is having a pretty Kyler Murray-esque season: Over nine games, he's thrown 12 touchdowns to six interceptions, averaging 240.9 passing yards per game. The Cardinals have had a subpar season as a whole, sitting at 3-6 entering Week 11.
For your consideration, Murray's stats with a breakdown after
| Game | Yards (passing) | TDs (passing) | Yards (rushing) | TDs (rushing) | Turnovers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 vs. KC | 193 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| Week 2 at LVR | 277 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 1 |
| Week 3 vs. LAR | 314 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Week 4 at CAR | 207 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 1 |
| Week 5 vs. PHI | 250 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 1 |
| Week 6 at SEA | 222 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 2 |
| Week 7 vs. NOR | 204 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Pre-COD release | 1,667 | 7 | 263 | 2 | 5 |
| Week 8 at MIN | 326 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 2 |
| Week 9 vs. SEA | 175 | 2 | 60 | 0 | 1 |
| Week 10 at LAR^ | — | — | — | — | — |
| Post-COD release | 501 | 5 | 96 | 0 | 3 |
Passer rating pre-COD release (seven games): 83.7
Passer rating post-COD release (two games): 98.1
*"Call of Duty" released after Week 7 (Oct. 28, 2022).
^Murray did not play in Week 10 (injured).
Kyler Murray's Call of Duty stats
Obviously, Murray is a notorious "COD" player, and has seemingly taken a liking — as has a large portion of the gaming world — to playing the battle royale "Warzone."
According to COD Tracker, Murray has the following "Warzone" stats, under the K1 Activision profile:
- 187 all-time victories;
- A 0.57 K/D ratio;
- 1,328 hours of total playtime;
- 4,500 matches total.
Interestingly, the K1 account game log says that the user hasn't played since mid-September, around the start of the NFL season.
A wise man once said: "Bravo 6, going dark."
