Was Kyler Murray’s performance the most frustrating part of Cardinals’ loss to Panthers?

The Arizona Cardinals certainly had their chances, but at the end of the day, they failed to keep their playoff hopes alive in Carolina.

For quarterback Kyler Murray, the most frustrating part of the loss stemmed from not finishing off the comeback in overtime.

“We had an opportunity to win the game and we didn’t,” Murray told reporters postgame. “We showed we were a resilient bunch but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done. Losing is not fun.”

And what a way to go out.

After failing to show up early on, the Cardinals dug themselves into a hole they never could fully climb out of in the 36-30 overtime loss to the Panthers.

The missed opportunity late will be one that’ll hang over the offense when looking back at the tape.

But the problem areas from Sunday’s loss go well beyond the Cardinals’ final drive.

And it begins with Murray.

Kyler Murray ends on another ‘What was that?’ moment

For the sixth time in five games, Murray again gave the ball to the other team.

It couldn’t have come at a worse time with less than five minutes to play and Arizona trailing 30-27.

After scoring on the ground and watching the defense force a punt on the prior two drives, Murray and the offense had field position at the Panthers’ 49-yard line following a defensive pass interference call.

The spot on the field wouldn’t matter much, though, after Murray’s errant throw to the other team on third-and-11 with 3:20 left in the game

While tight end Trey McBride was open for the first down, the quarterback tried to go for it all with wide receiver Michael Wilson deep. Instead, Murray got burned.

“Was trying to make a play. Just didn’t get enough on it,” Murray told reporters postgame.

“I think Mike would have been a touchdown and Trey was underneath. Yeah,” the signal caller added.

Murray continues to struggle in meaningful late-season games.

After posting a 100.8 passer rating and an interception-to-touchdown ratio of 12-3 in the 10 games before the bye week, Murray has regressed behind an 80.2 rating while throwing six interceptions to just four touchdowns in his past five starts.

‘The (hamper) is full!’

Shoutout to “Christmas Vacation” for the inspiration, because here we go again.

The Cardinals failed at the little things behind 11 penalties — eight alone came in the first quarter — for 82 yards on Sunday.

For a team that has been plagued by fouls since the bye week, it’s wild to see the Cardinals still sitting tied for first in the league in fewest penalties with 82.

“I think there’s a series of things, but I just think we didn’t play good football collectively,” tight end Trey McBride told reporters postgame. “We had a ton of penalties in all three phases. We just didn’t play clean football today and I think that’s what ultimately got us beat.”

It also didn’t help that there were some questionable flags thrown on Sunday, specifically Marvin Harrison Jr.’s offsides call to open up the game.

“I’ve never been called for offsides all year. I always check with the referees and if anything, (the referees) at least give you a warning,” Harrison told reporters postgame.

“To call an offsides on the first play of the game, I think is kind of crazy, but they decided to call me offsides there.”

Marv

The frustrations surrounding the wideout didn’t stop with the penalty.

Once again, Harrison struggled to reel in contested catches, especially in overtime. He continued to look out of sorts connection-wise with Murray, though that’s not entirely on him.

Much like his signal caller, Harrison has taken a step back of late.

In the five games since the bye week, Harrison has caught 18 of his 40 targets (45% catch percentage) for 227 yards and just one touchdown.

It’s a far cry from his 499 yards and six scores on 33 catches (60 targets) across the first 10 games of the year. Even then, Cardinals fans were asking for more from the No. 4 overall pick, who hasn’t hit the century mark in yards since Week 8 and has two 100-yard games through 15 games.

And that’s before looking at the stat lines of Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers, a pair of rookie wideouts who went after Harrison in the NFL Draft.

Thomas’ workload of 73 catches for 1,088 yards and nine touchdowns through 15 games is what many envisioned Harrison doing in Year 1, not Jacksonville’s No. 23 overall pick.

Still, the No. 4 overall pick is nowhere near bust territory. Give him a full offseason to properly prepare now knowing the rigors of a season firsthand and build more chemistry with Murray and let’s see what happens.

But for now, it’s about finishing these last two games strong while proving some doubters wrong in the process.

Run down

Given how much Carolina had struggled in the passing game, all signs pointed to the Panthers utilizing their run game behind Chuba Hubbard.

Even with the writing on the wall, the Cardinals had no answer for the fourth-year running back.

Hubbard turned in his best game of the year on Sunday behind 152 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. His two rushes in overtime, one for 28 yards and another for a 21-yard touchdown, accounted for Carolina’s quick game-winning drive.

“We knew Chuba was a good player and we knew we needed to stop him and hold him under 100 to get to Bryce Young,” defensive lineman L.J. Collier told reporters postgame. “That’s one of the goals we didn’t get to today. Hats off to him. He’s a great player and his resume shows it.”

Throw in Young’s five carries for 68 yards and a score and there wasn’t much Arizona could do to stop Carolina’s ground game.

It’s yet another sign that general manager Monti Ossenfort has work to do this offseason when it comes to shoring up the front seven.

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