The Cardinals were thrown out of the postseason in unflattering fashion on Monday night, falling to the Rams, 34-11. Arizona came out flat offensively and allowed L.A. to build up a 28-0 lead by the start of the third quarter that effectively eliminated any chance of a comeback. Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense opened the game with four-straight three-and-outs and then the quarterback threw back-to-back interceptions on the following two possessions, which included a pick-six.
“It’s disappointing that we didn’t make it a game and come out and play the football we know we’re capable of playing, that’s really the most disappointing part,” Murray said after the loss, via NFL.com. “Losing is one thing, but when you don’t even make it competitive, it’s another thing.
“I put a lot on my shoulders, put a lot on myself and to dream of this moment and then be in the playoffs, the first game of the playoffs and then to play the way I did, to play the way we did, it’s, like I said, disappointing.”
For the majority of the first half, the Cardinals were unable to get anything going offensively and had negative yards of total offense. During those four three-and-outs, the drives traveled 4 yards, -1 yard, -11 yards, and -1 yard, respectfully. At one point following the pick-six, the Rams defense had more yards of offense than the Cardinals offense.
Pass rusher J.J. Watt, who made his return off IR to play in this game, called the loss “embarrassing” and a “massive failure.”
“Yeah, I mean, I agree,” Murray said when talking about Watt’s assessment. “I play to win the Super Bowl. That’s the goal, that’s the mission is to win a Super Bowl, not to make it to the playoffs or go to the second round. The goal is to win the Super Bowl, we fell short of that. So, yes, I agree.”
Arizona finished the year 4-7 after jumping out to a 7-0 start.
