Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals: Full Report Card Grades for Arizona
An NFL roster can withstand only so many injuries before it begins looking like a Division II squad on game days.
The Arizona Cardinals (11-4) crossed that threshold on Sunday Night Football when they embarrassed themselves on a national stage, losing to the Seattle Seahawks (11-4), 35-6.
Last week's injury to quarterback Drew Stanton was the straw that broke the camel's back. Losing two quarterbacks and being down to a third starter will doom any NFL team.
You can't expect wins from a guy the team didn't even want before the season began—Ryan Lindley was cut before first cuts were announced at training camp.
Quarterback play was one thing, but the defense was something entirely different and was not affected by Lindley's performance. The two are separate.
What we saw from Arizona's usually stingy defense—at home, where it had allowed 15 points and 347 yards per game this season—was utterly disturbing. Blown assignments and missed tackles led to chunks of yards far too often.
The Seahawks racked up a franchise-record 596 yards of total offense. Patrick Peterson reacted to the yard total, per Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com:
"Patrick Peterson on when he heard the #Seahawks gained nearly 600 yards of offense: "I almost passed out. That's just unacceptable for us."
— Adam Green (@theAdamGreen) December 22, 2014"
The Cardinals had been the NFC's No. 1 seed since after Week 3. After this loss, they now sit as the fifth seed and need a small miracle to earn a bye.
Warning: These grades will not be pretty. You probably knew that, though.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Do you remember the year 2012? In case you forgot, that was the year Ken Whisenhunt's Cardinals started 4-0, then quarterback injuries led to four different starters taking snaps and completely blowing what could have been a decent year.
Does that sound familiar? Lindley was part of that team, starting four games and looking worse each time out.
Lindley, of course, is back with the Cardinals for the stretch run in 2014 solely because of injuries to Carson Palmer and his backup, Stanton. What Lindley did against the Seahawks on national television is give everyone watching another chance to pull out the "same old Cardinals" lines.
Revenge of the Birds' Jess Root noted Bruce Arians' take on Lindley:
"Interesting Arians quote about Lindley: He "did as well as I expected." Read into that what you want.
— Jess Root (@senorjessroot) December 22, 2014"
Lindley's line: 18-of-44 passing (40.9 percent) for 216 yards, no touchdowns and an interception for a 47.2 passer rating.
Arians expected that out of his quarterback, and he was just fine with it. At no point did he think to try his rookie quarterback—fourth-round pick Logan Thomas—in relief of the lousy Lindley. Per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com:
"Arians said he "never" considered putting Logan Thomas in to replace Lindley.
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) December 22, 2014"
Not only did Arians know Lindley would toil just to float below mediocrity, he fully intended on letting the unsatisfactory signal-caller sink without throwing him a life vest.
Regardless of the coach's decision, Lindley had a chance to prove he is worthy of being in the league as a backup. He's not.
Grade: F (because there is no grade lower)
Running Back
2 of 10
This will be short, because there wasn't much work for running backs against the Seahawks. Arians abandoned the run, and he abandoned his newfound star, Kerwynn Williams, the second his team trailed.
Stepfan Taylor carried 11 times for 19 yards (1.7 yards per carry), and Williams carried twice for four yards early before being more or less benched the rest of the game. Per Urban of AZCardinals.com:
"Arians said Kerwynn Williams was fine, isn't a good enough pass blocker to be in a lot for passes. BA acknowledged Cards should've run more.
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) December 22, 2014"
That's disheartening.
Grade: F
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It wasn't all bad on offense. Receiver Michael Floyd had mouthy cornerback Richard Sherman beat a few times and, if not for Lindley's inaccuracy, he'd have had three long receptions and probably a touchdown early.
That may have changed the game, or it may not have.
What it would have done is made the crowd at University of Phoenix Stadium louder and more into the game after a couple of Seahawks scores.
Being down 14-10 at halftime instead of 14-3 may also have made a difference in how Arians called plays. Perhaps the run game would have been more predominantly featured, and maybe Williams would have had a shot to duplicate his success from the previous two weeks.
We will never know.
At any rate, Floyd was the only bright spot among the receiving corps. Rookie John Brown had three late receptions for 54 yards to lead the team, but he wasn't impactful while the game was close.
Grade: D
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Four sacks, nine quarterback hits and multiple passes batted down at the line—not to mention the 1.9 yards per carry for Cardinals running backs.
That's a bad night for an Arizona line that had blocked really well for quarterbacks and running backs of late. Missing left guard Jonathan Cooper and having right guard Paul Fanaika back in the lineup really impacted the blocking of the team.
Negatively, of course.
Grade: D-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
"Uninspired" is how you describe a performance by a defense that allowed 267 yards on the ground and 7.9 yards per carry.
Marshawn Lynch carried the ball only 10 times, but he totaled 113 yards (11.3 YPC) and two touchdowns, including one of the more impressive runs of the year when he rumbled 79 yards for a score.
The tackling effort on that play was a perfect representation of the Cardinals defense on Sunday night.
The Seahawks had too many gaping lanes through which to run, and Arizona did not contain quarterback Russell Wilson at all. He ran for 88 yards on six carries (14.7 YPC), gashing the defense at the most inopportune times.
In all, this was the most disappointing game of the season from the defensive line.
Grade: F
Linebacker
6 of 10
Part of containing Wilson is the linebackers stepping up and getting to him when they have the opportunity. The linebacking corps failed miserably in this aspect of the game.
The linebackers had plenty of opportunities to bring him down, but they froze, getting caught looking too many times and being burned for it.
Outside linebacker Alex Okafor recorded the only sack of Wilson despite having multiple other shots at him throughout the game. He could have had up to three sacks by my count.
Grade: D+
Secondary
7 of 10
Each week, someone from the secondary gets burned for a big play or two. This week, multiple defensive backs fell victim to the toaster.
Cornerback Antonio Cromartie and safety Rashad Johnson both had games to learn from. Cromartie was completely uninterested in tackling anyone, and Johnson once again forgot he was the deep safety on a play, leading to an 80-yard touchdown from Wilson to tight end Luke Willson.
For as well as Johnson plays at times, he sure has a lot of mental errors. It's getting to the point where it might be time to let rookie Deone Bucannon play safety and find someone else to play inside linebacker in dime formations.
That's how bad Johnson is at times.
Grade: F
Special Teams
8 of 10
Just like last week's game, the Cardinals would have been shut out if not for their rookie kicker. Chandler Catanzaro connected on both field goals in this one, hitting from 27 and 32 yards, respectively.
Though Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka missed all three of his attempts, Arizona's special teams had little to do with it. He simply shanked three kicks in a row.
Punter Drew Butler struggled some, leaving Seattle with great field position multiple times. He did pin the Seahawks deep twice, including once inside the 10-yard line.
Grade: C+
Coaching
9 of 10
It's one thing to stick with your quarterback through struggles when that quarterback is proven, because you have some faith he can work his way out of it as the game progresses.
But when your starting quarterback enters the game with zero touchdowns, seven interceptions and a career 46.8 passer rating, there has to be a point during a game where you say to yourself, "This player will not improve, so I'm going to try another option."
That other option—the rookie, Thomas—stood on the sideline all game, probably wondering why he wasn't getting a chance to play. The much talked-about package Arians had for him consisted of one play, and protection broke down on that play, rendering it useless.
To the bench with you, Thomas.
Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles did all he could in this one, but his players just did not come out ready to play on the biggest stage of the season.
One sack and four quarterback hits are disappointing; then the breakdowns in coverage and in the run game are added, and it goes from disappointing to embarrassing.
Grade: F
Final Grade
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| QB | F |
| RB | F |
| WR | D |
| OL | D- |
| DL | F |
| LB | D+ |
| Secondary | F |
| Special Teams | C+ |
| Coaching | F |
| Cumulative Grade | D |
Arians may have made a couple of poor personnel decisions this week, but the fact is the Cardinals are still in the playoffs. They still have one game to improve their record, and they still can earn the top seed in the conference.
Here's how:
First off, Arizona needs to beat the 49ers. That's how this is made possible. Next, the Rams have to beat the Seahawks in Seattle. You can't count the Rams out of any game this season. They've played tough for the most part.
And lastly, the Lions need to tie or beat the Packers. As long as Green Bay doesn't win, along with the other two games going as needed, Arizona will lock up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Now, let's put this game behind us and look toward San Francisco.
All stats gathered from ESPN.com.
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