Cardinals’ loss to Seahawks not entirely on QB Kyler Murray
Dec 9, 2024, 7:37 PM
TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray takes centerstage when it comes down his team’s 30-18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Throwing interceptions on back-to-back drives — that Seattle’s offense later turned into touchdowns — the signal caller put Arizona well behind the eight ball in a game riddled with divisional and postseason implications.
Safe to say chances at winning the NFC West title or punching a Wild Card ticket are bleak.
Murray acknowledged as much postgame, saying he let the team down.
“On me.”
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said he felt like he let his team down in home loss to Seattle. pic.twitter.com/Edlbi83ncN
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) December 9, 2024
In a lot of ways, he’s right.
But while the quarterback rightfully takes on the brunt of the blame, Murray and his turnovers aren’t the only reasons for Arizona’s most recent failures against a divisional foe.
“Very disappointed with the loss. We did not play our brand of ball there,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday after reviewing the tape. “It starts with me and we’re going to get that corrected. We gotta play better football.”
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As for where those corrections might take place? Let’s take a look back at Sunday’s tape:
Cardinals’ nonexistent pass rush
In the two games immediately following the bye week, Arizona’s defense appeared to have turned a major page.
Among the most promising developments was the Cardinals’ improved pass rush.
Racking up 10 sacks, 32 quarterback pressures and 14 QB hits — with L.J. Collier (three sacks) and Mack Wilson Sr. (two) leading the way — Arizona defenders were feasting in the opposition’s backfield.
Before the two-game turnaround, the Cardinals had accounted for 24 sacks across 11 games played.
In Round 2 against Seattle, though, Arizona’s pass rush was nowhere to be found.
Registering the fourth fewest quarterback pressures all year with nine, zero sacks and just two quarterback hits, the Cardinals’ pass rush looked a lot like what many expected it to be ahead of the season.
The lack of pass rush played in mightily when looking at Seattle signal caller Geno Smith’s 233-yard and one-score effort on 80% passing.
Per ESPN’s Brady Henderson, Smith was pressured on 17% of his dropbacks. That’s the lowest pressure he’s faced since joining the Seahawks in 2020.
As far as the Cardinals pass rush?
“We gotta coordinate it better. Starts with me and Nick (Rallis). … Credit to them, but we’ll get back to the drawing board and get back to it.” pic.twitter.com/CEHgBkhxTm
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) December 9, 2024
“We gotta coordinate better. Starts with me and then (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis). We got to coach it better,” Gannon said. “We got to win some one-on-ones. I thought we had some chances and I thought (the Seahawks) did a good job.
“(Smith) got it out of his hand quicker and found some checkdowns when the rush did cave in. … Credit to them, but we’ll get back to the drawing board and get back to it.”
Ran. Over.
As much as the Cardinals’ pass rush was absent on Sunday, the same can be said about Arizona’s run defense.
Despite Seattle being down its game-changing running back in Kenneth Walker III, the Seahawks made light work of Arizona’s defense behind Zach Charbonnet.
The backup chewed up yards and defenders on his way to 134 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
He was a threat in the receiving game, too, catching all seven of his targets for 59 yards.
But here’s the ultimate kicker: 91 of Charbonnet’s rushing yards came after contact, per Henderson. That’s good enough for tops in the NFL this year.
The Seahawks again beat the Cardinals at their own game for the second time in three weeks, amassing 241 yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries compared to 170 yards on 37 attempts for Arizona in their two games against one another.
“Pad level, force on the football — the cup as I would call that — tackling, our motor; we got to make sure everyone’s running,” Gannon said when asked what the team needs to hone in on when it comes to the run defense. “We gotta play better, because we gave up way too many yards on the ground yesterday.”
Money downs (again)
The good news:
The Cardinals converted more third downs than they did in Week 12.
The bad news:
It wasn’t by much — one to be exact.
Posting a 33% conversion rate (4-for-12), Arizona’s offense struggled to stay on the field consistently.
Excluding Murray’s two turnover-laden drives and the team’s one-play possession before halftime, the Cardinals saw half of the eight qualifying drives end in four plays or fewer.
The net yardage on those four drives? A measly 17 yards on top of only two first downs.
More laundry to clean up
You know what doesn’t help a team’s third-down conversion rate? Penalties!
Once again, Arizona fell victim to the laundry.
While Week 14 wasn’t as egregious as last week’s 10-penalty showing in Minnesota, it was anything but clean with six.
Remember those four drives that stalled out? Penalties impacted three of those.
It was an especially uncharacteristic showing for starting left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., who was flagged three times for holding.
Before Sunday’s tilt, the second-year pro had committed four across 12 starts (98% of available offensive snaps).
Johnson hasn’t been the only culprit, though, as penalties have been rampant across the offense.
What does Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon attribute to the penalties plaguing the offense?
“Whether it be our feet, our hands, our eyes, our pad level, we got to do a better job there.” pic.twitter.com/MdCaMH7IpJ
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) December 9, 2024
“We can’t foul. (Fouling is) hurting us in the football game,” Gannon said Monday. “When I watch the tape, it’s really technique-driven for most of them that I’ve seen. Whether that be our feet, our hands, our eyes, our pad level, we got to do a better job there.
“That’s something we gotta get cleaned up fast, because we’re moving backwards. You’re not going to play good offense moving backwards.”
