Everyone must face their own demons.

For some, it’s navigating distractions. For others, it’s overcoming negative beliefs. For many, it’s dealing with fear. For Kyler Murray, it’s all three – especially when he plays against the Los Angeles Rams.

Oh, don’t get it twisted. The Cardinals quarterback is a cognizant, fully adept competitive spirit, but when it comes to facing the NFC West rival Rams, let’s just say it hasn’t been pretty. Actually, it’s been more like a nightmare.

Murray is 1-7 in eight career starts against Los Angeles, including that ugly 34-11 playoff loss at the end of the 2021 season, and has more interceptions (8) than touchdown passes (7) in those games. He’s also been sacked 20 times, has rushed for just one touchdown against the Rams and has been injured twice while playing them.

By contrast, he’s 3-5 and 2-3 against divisional rivals Seattle and San Francisco, respectively, but his numbers overall are much better against the Seahawks and 49ers than they are against the Rams. He’s had five games against Los Angeles without a touchdown pass and has been held to under 200 passing yards in four of them.

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Surely, that type of history will be on Murray’s mind on Sunday when the Cardinals (2-9) host the Rams (4-6) at State Farm Stadium, yes?

“No,” coach Jonathan Gannon said.

Why not?

“Because every team is different. Every game is different. And I don’t think he lives in the past,” Gannon replied.

Murray, who has had some good moments and some bad ones in his first two starts back from offseason knee surgery, said his record against the Rams is what it is. He respects them, but he’s just focused on the game plan and is treating this week no different than any other, even though they’ve had his number.

“I think the first four years, it was tough for us to have success against them,” he said this week. “They’re coached well. They’ve had really great players over there. But the past is the past. I look forward to this next challenge.

“They’re a good team, have a great quarterback (Matthew Stafford) and a great coaching staff. Obviously, we’ve seen this defense a numerous amount of time and we’ve got a ton of respect for them, so we know they’ll be ready to go.”

So will Murray, who swears he’ll only be happy if he and the Cardinals start winning regularly and finally bring a Super Bowl championship to Arizona.

“Winning. It’s really all I play for,” he said. “There’s no other answer other than to win a Super Bowl. That’s the goal, is to get to the Super Bowl and win it. Obviously, we’ve got to take it one day at a time. Right now, our record doesn’t speak that, but like I said, take it one day at a time, get better each and every week. That’s the goal right now.”

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Murray was exceptionally frustrated with himself following last Sunday’s 21-16 loss at the Texans. He noted how Arizona’s defense gave him and the offense more than enough opportunities to win the game, but said he failed and let the team down.

He was grousing about his performance throughout the night and into the next morning, according to Gannon.

“He takes the arrow in the forehead,” Gannon said Monday. “He’s wearing me out on the plane, at night driving home and this morning. I’m sure he wants to play today. But it’s about understanding that it’s not about one guy. It never is. But what I’ve learned is he’s ultra-competitive and he wants to do everything he can to help our team win and I appreciate that.”

It’s what a leader does, Gannon said, and from the start of his rehab process, through his return to practice and now to the starting lineup, Murray’s been demonstrating that over and over.

“The type of accountability that he has bleeds onto the rest of the team and our team’s been great about it,” Gannon said, adding of his quarterback, “I mean, he is the ultimate pro. He takes huge accountability and it’s why he is who he is.”

If Sunday’s game against the Rams goes south – LA opened as a 1-point favorite – Murray’s reaction will be worth watching. If he tore himself to pieces after a 5-point loss on the road, how will he respond if he falls to 1-8 against the Rams and loses at home?

Drew Petzing, the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, said learning to deal with failure comes with the territory for a starting quarterback.

“It’s a big part of playing in the NFL,” he said. “I think the last undefeated NFL team (the 1972 Miami Dolphins) was probably before I was born (1987), so it’s likely that you’re going to go through these games. Certainly, the way he owned it and the way he reacted after the (Houston) game is a very appropriate reaction.

“I thought he did a really nice job of being honest with himself, his teammates, with me, about, ‘Hey, here’s what I could have done better. Here’s where I feel like I excelled. Here’s what we need to do moving forward.’ Those conversations are going to continue and certainly I think the No.1 thing is, he cares.”

Murray may be a lot of things to a lot of different people. But win or lose, nobody can say he doesn’t care.

“He’s really into it. He’s been that way the whole time,” Petzing said. “And it does eat you. If you’re in a locker room with a guy it doesn’t bother, you’re probably in the locker room with the wrong guy.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals’ Kyler Murray hasn’t had much luck against Los Angeles Rams