Well, the Arizona Cardinals laid an egg again on Thursday Night Football for the second year in a row. There wasn't much to be pleased about, but much to pick apart. Here are some of the worst.
1. More turnovers
This continues to plague the Cardinals week after week. Carson Palmer threw another two interceptions, bringing him to 13 on the season. He threw 14 all last season. The only way the Cards have a chance win games against quality teams, especially with the offensive inconsistencies, is to not turn the ball over. Turnovers cost them a win in San Francisco. They weren't the reason for Thursday's loss, but they certainly did not make things better.
2. No running game
After 109 yards against a stout 49ers defense, there was hope that they could continue the trend and have at least a running threat. Nope. Not against Seattle. They had 18 carries for 30 yards. Andre Ellington, who had been a big play machine thus far, managed only three yards on three carries. It looked early like they would be able to do it, Rashard Mendenhall's second carry was for six yards. His third was for five yards. But then only one other carry the rest of the way went for more than three yards.
3. Those damn tight ends
Tight ends scored another pair of touchdowns. That is now five of seven games in which opposing tight ends score two touchdowns. It has reached the absolutely absurd with how bad the Cards are at covering them.
4. Sacks and more sacks
The offensive line in six previous games had only allowed 13 sacks, despite bad offensive line play. Seattle sacked Carson Palmer seven times on Thursday. It is very reminiscent of the 2012 Week 5 game on Thursday Night Football. In four previous games, the Cards QBs were sacked only 14 times, but Kevin Kolb was sacked nine times in St. Louis. It was a week later that Kolb was hurt for the rest of the season.
Palmer is a quarterback that MUST have at least some protection or he is going to be terrible. How you can see why he has 13 interceptions.
5. Where did the great rush defense go?
For the second week in a row, the Cardinals' rush defense was not the unit it was the first five weeks of the season. They gave up 135 yards rushing to the Seahawks and they averages over four yards per carry. Marshawn Lynch had 21 carries for 91 yards. The tackling was not great. They made some plays, but overall were just unable to have the same success defensively. Was that great defense against the run just a mirage?
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Clearly there are more issues. Talk about them in the comment section. Which negatives were the biggest ones? What did we miss?