The Cardinals left Week 9 with a 17-3 loss to the Seahawks and a lot more questions on offense than answers. Arizona fell to 3-6, and while the defense did enough to keep things respectable, the rest of the day was a grind for Mike LaFleur’s side of the ball.
Gardner Minshew’s first start in Arizona brought some buzz, but it never had much of a chance to breathe. The protection was shaky from the jump, and Minshew was sacked three times while taking plenty of other hits and pressures.
One of the roughest moments came late in the second quarter, when he was strip-sacked on an end-of-half play and briefly hurt before returning. With backup linemen all over the place, the offense had a hard time finding any rhythm, and Seattle’s four-man rush still had Arizona on the back foot.
The Cardinals also kept getting hammered by injuries at receiver, which has opened the door for fifth-round rookie Reggie Virgil to see more snaps. His stat line didn’t jump off the page, but he did flash with a 25-yard toe-tap catch in the first half, a play that hinted at the upside he showed in college.
Arizona did get Walter Nolen III back, but it lost Roy Lopez, and that was a major blow to the defensive front. Lopez had been a steady part of the run defense, but he exited in the first half with a toe injury and didn’t return. Once he was out, Seattle was able to wear down the line and start opening up rushing lanes for its backs.
Even with the loss, the Cardinals’ defense had plenty of bright spots. Max Melton was hit with a questionable pass interference call that helped set up a Seahawks touchdown, but he also broke up multiple passes. He, along with Kalen King and Kei’Trel Clark, stood out in run support, making open-field tackles and helping keep Seattle’s short passing game under control for most of the afternoon.
The discipline wasn’t there, though, and that became a problem fast. Arizona finished with nine penalties for 97 yards, with several coming before the snap. LaFleur has talked all season about playing clean and avoiding mental mistakes, but this was one of the sloppier outings of the year, and it hurt the Cardinals when they were trying to mount a second-half push.
Trey McBride was one of the few offensive players who consistently gave Arizona something to work with. He didn’t post a monster game against Seattle’s defense, but he still caught seven of eight targets for 54 yards.
His biggest moment came on a fourth-down toe-drag grab late in the fourth quarter to keep the comeback alive. On the final drive, McBride would have scored if Minshew had put the ball in a better spot.
The red zone issues LaFleur said weren’t a problem this week showed up quickly. Arizona went 0-for-2 inside the 20, settling for a field goal on its opening drive and later turning it over on downs late in the fourth quarter. Seattle’s defense deserves credit, but the Cardinals still left points out there.
The final box score won’t fully capture it, but Arizona’s defense played well enough to win more often than not. The game plan was sound, the execution was there for long stretches, and Rallis deserves credit for keeping a dangerous Seahawks offense in check on the road. The offense just couldn’t match it.
In Other News...
Cardinals Win Over Dallas Comes With A Costly Postgame Twist
The Cardinals Week 8 win over Dallas came with an extra layer of scrutiny once the league handed down its latest round of fines for illegal use of the helmet. Seven players were docked in all, including Arizona defensive lineman L.J. Collier and Cowboys lineman Rashan Gary on penalties that were flagged during the game, while other infractions were reviewed later and still drew discipline.
Among the most notable postgame punishments was one tied to a late hit on Tyler Guyton that helped swing a key Dallas sequence, a reminder that some of the games biggest moments never make it onto the penalty sheet in real time. Another fine came from a helmet hit on the overtime play that helped set up Arizonas game-winning field goal, adding a costly footnote to a victory the Cardinals would have preferred to leave cleanly in the standings. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans May Not Love What This Trey McBride Interest Means
The tight end market is already starting to take shape, and Trey McBride has found himself right in the middle of it. Denver reportedly checked in on the Cardinals standout as it looks for a more dynamic option at the position, a sign of how highly McBride is viewed around the league and how much teams are willing to explore as the trade deadline approaches.
For Arizona, the bigger takeaway is less about one inquiry than what it says about McBrides value and the kind of attention he can draw. The Broncos are also looking at Dallas Goedert in Philadelphia, which only underscores the need theyre trying to fill, but McBride remains a central piece for the Cardinals and not the sort of player teams expect to pry loose easily. [Read more 🡒]