Desert downer: Cards lose game and control of playoff fate

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Quarterback Kyler Murray lingered on the bench for a moment or two in advance of finally limping towards the locker home adhering to the Arizona Cardinals‘ humbling 20-twelve loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday.

His suitable leg was hurting. His encounter was scrunched with a seem of anger and suffering.

The Cardinals managed their postseason destiny entering the weekend. Which is no for a longer time the scenario soon after shedding to an opponent that was down to its third-string quarterback and experienced dropped 6 of its earlier seven video games.

“I unquestionably didn’t see anything like this coming,” Arizona linebacker Haason Reddick claimed. “We really don’t seriously know what happened. I do know it wasn’t just just one particular person. It was a collective exertion. We didn’t get the position finished.”

Arizona (eight-seven) is however in the No. seven and last place in the NFC playoff race soon after shedding to the 49ers, but the Chicago Bears are just a 50 %-game guiding. If the Bears gain their last two video games — setting up with Sunday’s matchup towards the Jaguars — they will reach the playoffs since of a tiebreaker in excess of the Cardinals.

It was a aggravating game for the Cardinals’ offense, which moved the ball very well at occasions but struggled to strike on large performs. Tight conclude Dan Arnold dropped a go that would have long gone for a large get. Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins couldn’t make a hard capture that would have been a touchdown.

A few of ill-timed penalties hurt. So did a few of turnovers. It all included up to a deflating loss that could retain the Cardinals out of the postseason for a fifth straight time.

“We know how great we can be when we perform at our finest,” receiver Christian Kirk claimed. “Today is just just one of those days where by we just didn’t perform the caliber of football that we know we can perform.

“We let just one slip.”

Arizona’s defense gave up 227 yards hurrying, which includes 183 for Jeff Wilson. That intended there wasn’t as well substantially strain on third-string quarterback C.J. Beathard, who was producing his very first commence since 2018. Beathard threw 3 touchdown passes on just 22 go tries.

The biggest immediate worry for the Cardinals is Murray’s well being. The second-year quarterback was strike by the 49ers’ Alex Barrett soon after producing a throw as Arizona tried to rally in the closing seconds. The fourth-down throw fell incomplete, clinching the 49ers gain, and Murray rolled in excess of in suffering.

Trainers attended to him in advance of he limped off the subject soon after a few of minutes. Coach Kliff Kingsbury didn’t have an update on the quarterback’s status soon after the game, indicating the harm was being evaluated. The quarterback didn’t communicate to reporters soon after the game.

It was an uneven overall performance for Murray, who threw for 247 yards on 31 of 50 passing. He also ran for 75 yards on 8 carries. But he threw a critical interception in the conclude zone with 4:39 remaining when the Cardinals have been attempting to rally for the game-tying touchdown.

Now all the momentum that was acquired adhering to two straight wins in excess of the Eagles and Giants has vanished.

“We just have to discover a way to choose the subsequent action, not have these times where by we really don’t perform as very well we could and coach as very well as could,” Kingsbury claimed. “I just feel it is aspect of the system.”