The Arizona Cardinals had a tough stretch at the worst possible time.
Kyler Murray threw two interceptions that led to first-half touchdowns, and the Cardinals lost 30-18 to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
“Disappointing loss — didn’t play our best ball there,” said Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon. “I’ve got to find some answers because we haven’t played great the past few weeks.”
The Cardinals (6-7) have seen a major change in less than a month.
In mid-November, Arizona was on top of the NFC West after a four-game winning streak. But now, after a three-game losing streak following their bye week, Arizona is in a tough position.
The Seahawks (8-5) have won their fourth straight game, keeping a one-game lead in the division over the Los Angeles Rams, who won 44-42 against the Buffalo Bills.
Arizona’s loss to Seattle dropped them two games behind the Seahawks, who also hold the tiebreaker, with only four games left.
“It’s tough, obviously, when you lost to a divisional opponent, but we’ve still got four games left, still got a lot of ball left,” said Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson.
Arizona started strong against Seattle, scoring on their opening drive when Murray connected with Michael Wilson for a 41-yard touchdown pass.
But after that, the Cardinals struggled, losing their seventh straight game in this series.
Seattle was able to contain the usually dangerous Murray, holding him to just 16 yards rushing on three carries and preventing him from extending plays. Murray finished the game with 259 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-38 passing but threw two key interceptions.
The two interceptions came at important moments, just like last week’s loss. The first pick came with Arizona leading 7-3 in the first quarter. Murray tried to hit Marvin Harrison Jr., but didn’t see Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who intercepted the ball and returned it to Arizona’s 19. Geno Smith then threw a touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the next play.
Murray threw another interception on his next pass. This time, Coby Bryant picked him off, setting Seattle up at Arizona’s 46-yard line. Five plays later, Zach Charbonnet ran it in for a touchdown to put Seattle ahead 17-7. Murray also threw two interceptions last week in a 23-22 loss to Minnesota.
“I feel like I let the team down today — self-explanatory,” Murray said. “I can’t do that.”
It wasn’t just Murray’s mistakes.
After Charbonnet broke off a 51-yard touchdown run, Arizona converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 29 late in the first half, only to have it wiped out by a holding penalty on left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. The Cardinals had to punt, and they trailed 24-10 at halftime.
Arizona showed some life late in the third quarter, cutting Seattle’s lead to 27-18 with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Murray to James Conner and a 2-point conversion. The Cardinals later had a chance to get within six after driving to the Seattle 21, but Chad Ryland missed a 40-yard field goal.
Arizona’s defense also struggled, allowing Seattle to rush for a season-high 174 yards, with 134 yards from Charbonnet, and giving up 409 total yards.
“Ultimately, all three phases couldn’t pull it together,” Gannon said.
Now, the Cardinals are running out of time.
