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710 ESPN’s Brock Huard believes Cardinals’ ‘All or Nothing’ mentality hurt them in 2016

Feb 22, 2017, 9:33 AM | Updated: 2:29 pm

Seattle Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka, left, and Arizona Cardinals free safety D.J. Swearinger (3...

Seattle Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka, left, and Arizona Cardinals free safety D.J. Swearinger (36) react after Hauschka missed a point after a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

LISTEN: Brock Huard, 710 ESPN Seattle radio host

Brock Huard is well-versed in the ongoing rivalry between the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks.

In addition to providing game analysis for college football on ESPN, Huard lives in Seattle and hosts a morning show for 710 ESPN.

He felt the pain when the Cardinals went to CenturyLink Field in Seattle in Week 16 and beat the Seahawk 34-31, effectively knocking them out of the number-two seed in the NFC playoff picture.

“That thing stung, it still stings,” Huard told Doug and Wolf Wednesday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I sat in my closet, cross-legged in my closet for some reason, like ‘will you just get your mind right? It’s Christmas Eve — you’ve got family and friends — you didn’t even play, knock it off.'”

Despite the loss, the Seahawks did still win the NFC West and won a playoff game before succumbing to the eventual conference champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round. The Cardinals, on the other hand, got to use season-ending road wins over Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams as fuel heading into the offseason after a disappointing campaign.

The landscape in the NFC West isn’t expected to change much in 2017, at least as far as the standings go. Huard expects it to be an Arizona-Seattle fistfight for supremacy, but questioned the Cardinals’ approach going into last year.

Arizona had their 2015 season, which ended in an NFC Championship Game loss to the Carolina Panthers, chronicled by NFL Films in an Amazon series entitled “All or Nothing.” It wasn’t just the name of the show; it became a much talked-about theme for the team last year.

Huard believes that mentality cost the Cardinals.

“It really is the antithesis of everything their main opponent in the division does in the Seahawks and Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson, who truly treat every game like it’s a championship game.

“I’m all in on every single game, I’m all in on every single practice, I’m all in on every single year. I will never quantify or make one season or one moment bigger than it is,” Huard said, describing Seattle’s personnel mindset. “I’ve watched that psychology pay huge dividends for the seven-year run that they’ve been on.”

The former NFL and University of Washington quarterback believes that the Cardinals’ “Super Bowl or bust” belief was detrimental — especially after they went 1-3 in the first four weeks of the season.

“It think that is a dangerous psychology — and I know they responded well at the end and they came up to Seattle and took care of them on Christmas Eve, but I think that mentality at the professional level is a dangerous one.”

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710 ESPN’s Brock Huard believes Cardinals’ ‘All or Nothing’ mentality hurt them in 2016