GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals picked a bad time to go through their worst stretch of the season.
Kyler Murray threw two interceptions that led directly to first-half touchdowns and the Cardinals suffered a critical 30-18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
“Disappointing loss — didn’t play our best ball there,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “I’ve got to find some answers because we haven’t played great the past few weeks.”
Arizona has undergone a huge shift in less than a month.
The Cardinals (6-7) were atop the NFC West in mid-November, thanks to a four-game winning streak. A three-game skid since its bye week may have put Arizona in an insurmountable hole.
Dominant on both sides of the ball, the Seahawks (8-5) won their fourth straight to maintain a one-game division lead over the Los Angeles Rams, 44-42 winners over the Buffalo Bills.
The Cardinals’ stumble in what felt like a must-win game dropped them two games behind Seattle — which also has the tiebreaker — with four games remaining.
“It’s tough, obviously, when you lost to a divisional opponent, but we’ve still got four games left, still got a lot of ball left,” Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson said.
Arizona got off to a great start against its nemesis, scoring on the opening drive when Murray found Michael Wilson on a 41-yard touchdown pass.
Murray and the Cardinals spent the rest of the afternoon playing like they were stuck in the desert sand to lose their seventh straight in the series.
Seattle bottled up the usually elusive Murray, holding him to 16 yards rushing on three carries and preventing him from extending plays with his legs. Murray finished with 259 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-38 passing with two interceptions.
The two picks came at critical moments — just like last week.
The first came with Arizona leading 7-3 in the first quarter. Trying to hit Marvin Harrison Jr., he didn’t see Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who intercepted the pass and returned it to Arizona’s 19. Geno Smith hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a touchdown on the next play.
Murray then threw another interception on his next pass. Coby Bryant’s pick set up Seattle at Arizona’s 46 and Zach Charbonnet scored five plays later on a 1-yard run to put the Seahawks up 17-7. Murray also threw two key interceptions in last week’s 23-22 loss to Minnesota.
“I feel like I let the team down today — self-explanatory,” Murray said. “I can’t do that.”
It wasn’t just Murray.
After Charbonnet broke off a 51-yard touchdown run, Arizona converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 29 late the first half, only to have it negated by a holding call against left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. The Cardinals punted and trailed 24-10 at halftime.
Arizona finally got its offense going again late in the third quarter, trimming Seattle’s lead to 27-18 with a 2-yard shovel pass from Murray to James Conner and a 2-point conversion. The Cardinals later had a chance to pull within six after driving to the Seattle 21, but Chad Ryland missed a 40-yard field goal.
The Cardinals’ defense also had its share of miscues, allowing Seattle to run for a season-high 174 yards — 134 by Charbonnet — and finish with 409 total yards.
“Ultimately, all three phases couldn’t pull it together,” Gannon said.
And now the Cardinals are running out of time.
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