Arizona Cardinals’ 2nd-half tailspin continues with Christmas loss to Colts

GLENDALE — Remember the old rule of bad things happening in threes?

The Arizona Cardinals are hoping it isn’t just an urban legend at this rate.

Like watching a car crash in slow motion, the Cardinals sat back as Saturday’s matchup against the Indianapolis Colts unraveled in front of their eyes into a 22-16 loss at home.

It marks the third time this season the Cardinals have failed to pick up a win on the national stage. It’s also the third straight game Arizona hasn’t risen to the occasion and punched a ticket into the postseason.

And with each loss, the self-inflicted mistakes more than stand out.

The pressure is mounting. Frustration is boiling over.

“Everybody’s got to look in the mirror first, myself included, and just find ways to become better every single day and find ways to not do those mistakes,” running back Chase Edmonds said after the game.

“I think we just got to get more disciplined, we got to get more attention to detail and guys got to really lock in for these last two weeks. I know it’s easy to just say that, but it’s crunch time right now.”

Whether it be a penalty committed by the offensive line on the first drive of the game — a weekly occurrence lately — a questionable challenge in the second quarter by head coach Kliff Kingsbury, an eyebrow-raising non-challenge just before halftime or the numerous mental errors and miscues on top of kicker Matt Prater’s worst night as a Cardinal, Arizona could not get into a consistent groove all night.

Those lapses have directly impacted the scoreboard and not in a good way.

“We feel it, you see it, and good teams don’t do that,” quarterback Kyler Murray said after the game. “We weren’t doing that early in the season and now you see it’s killing us in crucial moments.

“We’re not scoring touchdowns because of it and vice versa on the other side of the ball as a collective group offensively and defensively, it’s just mental mistakes you can’t keep making. If we want to win these games that we know we’re supposed to be winning. It’s bad football.”

One of the most glaring statistics from Saturday night wasn’t the Colts’ 8-of-15 third-down conversion rate (53%), it was the 11 penalties — including two roughing the passer calls — resulting in 85 yards for the Colts.

“We continue to find ways to lose,” Kingsbury said after the game. “Critical situations, penalties and things of that nature. We’ve got to get a turnaround somewhere. So, we’ve got to get back to work next week and be better.

“The answers are in that locker room and those coach’s offices and we’ve got to figure it out,” the head coach added.

Arizona limps into Week 17 with two games left on the docket — a rough tilt against the Dallas Cowboys before a divisional season finale against the Seattle Seahawks — and has yet to lock up a playoff spot.

And while the Cardinals may not need to necessarily pick up a win to get in, given the potential another team helps them out over the next two weeks, tracking non-first-round bye or non-NFC West-winning playoff scenarios isn’t something many would have envisioned after the team’s incredibly hot start.

It’s yet another example of the Cardinals’ inability to close out a season strong behind Kingsbury, who sports a 15-5-1 record through the first sevens weeks and an 8-18 mark after.

“I think everybody has to just focus on their job,” Kingsbury said. “I think with some of the guys out, guys are trying to do too much at times and we’ve got to just take it one play at a time, do your job, reset, and do it again.”

EXTRA POINT

– Kingsbury on injured running back James Conner (heel) and how close he was to playing on Saturday:

“Not that close. He’s still working through it. We didn’t want to press it. We want to make sure he’s 100% when he’s out there.”

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