Faced with loss, Cardinals show growth
The Cardinals weren’t searching for an identity against the Seahawks. Instead, they needed to prove the ID they were carrying – one belonging to a contender for the playoffs and the NFC West title – was authentic.
As running back Chase Edmonds said after the game, you know Seattle is going to be playing in the offense, so “this is one of those games where you find out how real are we?”
The answer is fairly think. Maybe.
No, the Arizona defense hasn’t put together a complete game against a good opponent. Yes, a young quarterback tends to make bad throws at the worst possible time.
Both those things can happen, and can be overcome as the Cardinals proved by the end of the Week 7 game.
Nothing about the Cardinals’ 37-34 overtime victory was textbook, unless you are studying chaos theory.
One of the great mysteries of life, sporting life anyway, is how football coaches can work 70plus hours a week and still make so many bad decisions. Sleep deprivation?
How else do you explain Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury deciding to kick a 41-yard field goal in overtime against Seattle on second down? After his team had rushed for 47 yards on three plays against a tired defense? With nearly three minutes left? Then calling a timeout and making the same decision all over again?
This is why you arrive at the office at 5 a.m. and stay until most of the rest of us are in bed?
Zane Gonzalez missed, of course, giving the Seahawks a chance to win.
But in keeping with a bizarre night at State Farm Stadium, real,
I
the unexpected happened.
Rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons, the first-round pick who plays only a handful more snaps on defense than a landscaper, intercepted a pass from Russell Wilson, who was having an MVP season before the game.
So, just like Kingsbury drew it up, the Cardinals moved into field goal position again. Gonzalez made this one, a 48-yarder with 15 seconds left.
“A complete debacle” is how Kingsbury described the penultimate field goal attempt. “It was as bad a coaching job as possible.”
It was a head-scratching moment from Kingsbury, but it shouldn’t overshadow how far he’s led the Cardinals in less than two years on the job.
They already have one of the best offenses in the NFL, and after a disappointing first half, the defense limited Seattle to a touchdown.
“Pretty impressive,”
Kings
bury said of that performance.
The Cardinals came back from a 10-point deficit at halftime to tie the score with a field goal by Gonzalez on the last play of regulation.
The victory keeps the Cardinals (5-2) in touch with Seattle (5-1) in the NFC West. And it broke a seven-year streak of failing to beat the Seahawks in Glendale.
Nothing about that game was easy. In the first half, the Cardinals defense provided no more than an occasional speed bump for the Seahawks to navigate.
And by the time that group found themselves in the second half, it was second-year quarterback Kyler Murray who couldn’t seem to deliver.
The Cardinals shut out the Seahawks in the third quarter, and a long touchdown drive pulled them to within 27-24 as the fourth began.
When cornerback Patrick Peterson intercepted a pass from Wilson in the end zone early in
the fourth quarter, the Cardinals were in business.
But on the next play, Murray lobbed a pass in the general direction of receiver Andy Isabella, and the Seahawks intercepted.
It was a critical mistake, and the Seahawks pounced. Seattle turned it into a touchdown to take a 10-point lead with 6:43 left.
It’s the kind of mistake Murray will grow out of. He already has. He did it in this game by moving the Cardinals into scoring position time and again in tight situations.
Kingsbury’s decision in overtime wasn’t the only controversial decision he made in the game.
Had not the shenanigans late in the game occurred, much would have been made about Kingsbury’s decision to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the Seattle 3-yard line in the second quarter. A field goal would have closed the gap to 13-10.
The real damage was done after Murray’s incomplete pass on fourth down.
It took just six plays for the Seahawks to “drive” 97 yards and score a touchdown to go ahead 20-7.
The Seahawks had gains of 34, 28 and 24 yards in the possession.
To their credit, the Cardinals played better in the second half than the first. It was enough to stay close to a good team. It was enough to beat them in overtime.
But it didn’t have to be that hard. Maybe this off week, Kingsbury should focus on getting some much-needed sleep.