Arizona Cardinals’ Ryan Lindley struggles in first start since 2012
Dec 22, 2014, 6:29 AM | Updated: 6:29 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s almost cruel to have a home game this important only to have to go into it with a third-string quarterback making only his fifth NFL start.
That’s the scenario the Arizona Cardinals found themselves in Sunday night when they hosted the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks with a chance to clinch the NFC West crown and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
With Carson Palmer out for the season and Drew Stanton unavailable with knee injuries, Ryan Lindley — who spent a good portion of the season on the San Diego Chargers’ practice squad — got the call to start.
It didn’t go well against a Seattle defense that is playing at a championship level.
Lindley completed 18-of-44 passes for 216 yards and an interception in a 35-6 loss to the Seahawks Sunday night at University of Phoenix Stadium.
While the Cardinals weren’t very good in any area of the game, the third-year pro out of San Diego State took the bulk of the responsibility.
“We’ll look at the film and see where specifically we can make more plays, but the buck starts and stops here,” Lindley said. “For me, that’s not how I wanted to go out and play and I know we’ll get better going forward.”
Seattle’s defense dominated the game, holding the Cardinals to two field goals, 216 total yards and just 20 percent (3-of-15) on third-down conversions. They also intercepted a pass and sacked Lindley four times.
“That’s a good group. They’re the No. 1 ranked defense in the National Football League, so they’re the cream of the crop,” Lindley said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to go out and you’ve got to execute. This is a job and you’ve got to be a professional.
“The coaches set up a good game plan for us to succeed and there were some things, starting with myself, that we didn’t execute.”
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity midway through the second quarter. On a third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, guard Ted Larsen committed a false start penalty. From the 9-yard line, Lindley’s pass to John Brown was incomplete and Arizona settled for a 27-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro. They had the lead, yes, but a touchdown may have changed the complexion of the game.
“We had a shot,” Lindley said. “We had that one nice drive where we got down there. We’ll look on film to know for sure, we’ve just got to punch it in.
“That’s going to fall on my shoulders; getting the ball in the right place and the other guys getting the ball in the end zone.”
Head coach Bruce Arians didn’t pin the offensive struggles on his inexperienced quarterback.
“I think he needed some more help. He put us in position sometimes,” he said. “He didn’t jump offside on third-and-goal from the four, that’s for sure. Points were going to be at a premium for us.
“But, overall, he did about as well as I expected. He threw one bad ball there at the end for the interception, but that’s it.”
The Cardinals had no semblance of a running game, gaining just 29 yards on 15 carries. Arians admitted after the game that they should have run more, but Lindley didn’t want to use that as a crutch.
“I wouldn’t put anything on that, or use that as an excuse,” he said. “I think part of the reason for that is when you’re in the second half and you’re down a couple of scores, you have to pass the ball a little bit. You can’t sit on it.”
After trailing 14-3 at halftime, the Cardinals threw 29 times in the second half and ran the ball on only six occasions.
It’s unknown if Lindley will get another start in next week’s regular-season finale on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. The hope is that Stanton, who was inactive for Sunday’s game, will be healthy enough to play. But if Lindley gets the call, he’ll be ready to go.
“At the end of the day, there’s another opportunity next week. We’ll get after it,” he said. “Like (Coach Arians) said to us today, we’re in the playoffs. It’s not like this is the end of the road or this is the end-all, be-all for us.
“We have another opportunity next week to get better and we’ll see who we play, given what happens around the league, who we play a week after that.”