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A Sunday Night To Remember, And Seahawks Aftermath

Forgive if there were flashbacks, a little PTSD after Zane Gonzalez missed that field goal in overtime. I mean, it wasn't Chandler Catanzaro, but if the Cardinals had played the Seahawks on "Sunday Night Football" and tied again … or worse, ended up losing.

But they didn’t. And here the Cards are, going into the bye, suddenly feeling pretty good, scoring 38 and 37 points in back-to-back national TV games in which the world saw Kyler Murray and friends have some good moments. They will need the bye to heal up – we'll see what happens with Kenyan Drake and his ankle – but a 5-2 record going into the break is an excellent place to be, especially with back-to-back home games coming up.

This one felt a little special.

-- There were so many things going on that Larry Fitzgerald's very important game got somewhat lost, but he was a huge factor at the end of the half and at the end of regulation with his catches. His first reception got him career No. 1,400, but he has 1,407 now and the Cards needed every one of them. He said he'd answer the bell when needed. He did.

-- Both teams went for it on fourth down at the other team's 3-yard line Sunday night. The Seahawks threw a TD pass, a play that looked like it would be the Cards' death knell. The Cards' play didn't work and Kyler Murray had to throw it away. But Kliff Kingsbury, who had been perfect on his fourth-down calls this season up until that point, said he had no regrets.

"That's the leading scoring team in the NFL, with arguably the leading MVP of the season so far, so you're not going to beat that team with field goals," Kingsbury said. "I would do it 10 out of 10 times."

-- Kingsbury did take responsibility for the overtime field goal miss, and admitted Murray told him never to be conservative again. The Cards had had a first down at the Seattle 18 and were carving up a demoralized Seattle defense.

"I felt like we could've attempted to score (a touchdown)," Murray said. "But that's coach's call. I can't be mad at it."

-- Murray, talking about the gravity of a game against the Seahawks, mentioned "I don't think I smiled all game." Except he did, right as he was throwing a TD pass to DeAndre Hopkins. Those cameras will catch you every time.

-- It's hard to know exactly what is going to happen with Isaiah Simmons going forward – he only played five defensive snaps Sunday – but that interception couldn't have been a bigger play.

"You saw tonight, the ability he has and to make that play in that situation was huge," Kingsbury said. "It will do wonders for him moving forward."

-- Since 2012, when Russell Wilson became Seattle's starting QB, the Seahawks were 30-0 in the regular season when leading by at least 10 points at the half. That streak, thanks to the Seahawks' 27-17 lead at the break, is over.

-- Murray was caught on camera yelling at tight end Darrell Daniels after Daniels had missed a block on a screen to DeAndre Hopkins. (It wasn't a great night for Daniels, who also dropped a wide-open pass to begin the game.)

"You know me, when things need to be done they need to be done," Murray said. "As far as evolution of leadership, that could have happened last year it could have happened two years ago, it doesn't really matter. For me I just want to be great, and the guys on the sideline understand that, the guys in the locker room understand that. There were no hard feelings, at the end of the day we want to win the game, and luckily we were able to do that."

-- The defense isn't going to put this game up in its Hall of Fame. But they got turnovers, and once the Cards pulled within three with 2:28 left in regulation, the Seahawks had three possessions and did not score. In overtime, the Cards sacked Wilson twice. It was going to be a shootout all along and you saw it unfold. In fact, to think that the Seahawks only scored seven points over the final two quarters and overtime, the defense actually adjusted its night pretty well.

-- Speaking of sacks, Murray wasn't sacked. And he didn't even officially take a hit. Considering the number of passes he threw, that's truly impressive.

OK, that's enough for tonight. It'll be an enjoyable bye week, even with the daily testing.

QB Kyler Murray throws a pass against the Seahawks in a home game in 2020
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