It was right there for the taking. Vikings running back Aaron Jones was putting the ball on the ground. The defense was hounding QB Sam Darnold. The offense was moving the ball and the Arizona Cardinals were poised for a big win in Minneapolis that would have kept them tied with the Seattle Seahawks atop the NFC West.
Marvin Harrison’s 15-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone on a perfectly thrown ball from Kyler Murray gave the Cardinals a 13-point lead with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Then the wheels came off.
Minnesota went 70 yards on six plays to record just the second TD against the Cardinals defense in the past four games and pull within six points. Kyler Murray threw an interception, the teams traded field goals and with the game in its hands, the Cardinals defense could not stop Minnesota from going 70 yards on eight plays to take the lead for good in a 23-22 win that dropped the Cardinals back to .500 and a game behind the Seahawks, who won in New York.
Murray had the chance to engineer a game-winning field goal drive, but the offense never managed a first down on its final drive and Murray threw his second pick to end the game on a desperation heave whose play call he did not appear to like when he came away from the sideline.
The Cardinals still have a chance to win the NFC West. If they beat the Seahawks next week, they’ll be back in first place, but there is no more margin for error with this team.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Cardinals beating Cardinals
A lot of the focus will be on the Cardinals’ offensive woes in the fourth quarter when they had the chance to seal the win with just one more big play. But if Arizona had capitalized on any of its first-half opportunities with touchdowns instead of field goals, the fourth quarter wouldn’t have mattered.
The Cardinals moved the ball inside the Vikings 20-yard line four times in the first half. They came away with three field goals and a missed field goal — nine points that could have been 28, 21 or 14; all of which would have made the difference between winning and losing.
Whether you want to blame it on poor execution, poor play-calling or both, the Cardinals didn’t get it done in the red zone and that will have to be a focal point in practice this week.
“We didn’t make enough plays,” Murray said. “It came back to bite us.”
So did penalties. The Cardinals, who had been the NFL’s least penalized team, committed 10 penalties on Sunday; too many of them offensive penalties that backed the team behind the sticks.
They had two on the missed field goal drive. They had three on their second field goal drive. They had one on their fourth field goal drive. They had one on their touchdown drive, and they had two on their final field goal drive.
The Cardinals had a first-and-goal at the Minnesota 5-yard line with less than five minutes to play, but tight end Tip Reiman was whistled for his fourth penalty of the game, a third false start, and on the next play Murray was called for intentional grounding that cost the Cardinals 15 more yards, leading to a field goal and a six-point lead that Minnesota overcame with its final TD and PAT.
“We fouled too much today,” Gannon said. “To have almost 100 yards in penalties, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.
“It’s the pre-snap penalties on offense, and we’re going backward because of our own accord. We’ve got to get that cleaned up.”
Darius Robinson’s debut
Rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson made his long-anticipated NFL debut and the early returns were very encouraging, if limited.
Robinson played a total of eight snaps because the coaching staff wants to be careful with him. Here’s what had happened on those eight snaps for the Vikings offense.
Incompletion
8-yard run
7-yard sack
9-yard sack
9-yard pass
8-yard sack
Incompletion
Incompletion
Robinson didn’t get any of those sacks, but he consistently pushed the pocket back or line back, a skill set that will pay increasing dividends over the final five games.
“I thought he did good,” Gannon said. “He’ll play better next week.”
Robinson wasn’t as pleased with his effort, however. He complimented the rest of the defense; not himself.
Cardinals o-line rebounds
Despite Reiman’s penalties, and despite the Cardinals’ inability to execute in the red zone, Arizona’s offensive line redeemed itself after its poorest showing of the season the week before in Seattle.
Kyler Murray was only sacked once despite heavy pressure from one of the NFL’s best pass-rushing defenses, the ground game got going (154 yards on 31 attempts against the NFL’s top-ranked run defense), and the cohesiveness that we saw from the unit before the bye was mostly present despite an elite opponent and a hostile, noisy environment.
(Getty Images)
More McBride Magic
Trey McBride moved within seven yards of Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers for the lead in receiving yards among tight ends. With 12 catches for 96 yards, McBride has a career-high 877 yards and will almost certainly eclipse 1,000 yards; a stated goal at the start of the season.
Oddly, McBride still does not have a TD catch, although he fell on a fumble for a TD and he has a rushing TD.
NFC West/playoff picture
The NFC playoff picture didn’t change much despite the Cardinals loss in Minnesota and wins by the Seahawks and Rams. The Cardinals are still in second place in the NFC West, and if they beat the Seahawks at State Farm Stadium next week, they will be back in first place and in control of their own destiny.
Conversely, if they lose to the Seahawks and fall two games behind Seattle with four games to play, it will essentially be a three-game lead for Seattle, which will have swept the season series.
A loss next week would likely be a death blow to the Cardinals’ playoff hopes.
Extra points
- One day after signing a two-year, $19-million contract extension, running back James Conner carried 17 times for 68 yards, leading a Cardinals rushing attack that managed 154 yards.
- One week after a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in Seattle, Michael Wilson was at it again. First he made a spectacular 22-yard catch on this play. Then, on what should have been an interception after Kyler Murray’s pass was tipped, he made a one-handed catch with incredible concentration.
- Marvin Harrison caught just five of his 12 targets. At least three of those were his own fault. He ran the wrong route on one, he didn’t come back to the ball on another, and he didn’t find the ball quickly enough on a back-shoulder throw that had Murray grabbing his helmet in disbelief after throwing a perfect ball.
- Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. had a terrific game with two sacks and a pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage.
- The Cardinals have lost 12 straight games in Minnesota dating to 1977.
Top photo via Getty Images
