The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 16-6 on Sunday. It was a poorly-played game, riddled with mistakes and penalties on both sides of the ball.

As I predicted earlier this week, much to the chagrin of Twitter/X, Arizona faced an unfavorable matchup in a tough road environment, and could not get the job done in a critical moment, despite a final score that gives the illusion of a close contest.

The Cardinals fall to 6-5, albeit not the worst position to be in, but will relinquish first place in the NFC West to the Seahawks, who are looking hotter by the week.

With playoff implications rolling out as the calendar nears December, here’s what the loss means for the Cardinals:

The Cardinals didn’t need to win to remain in playoff contention. With that said, it sure feels like Sunday’s loss might be setting an inauspicious tone for the rest of the season. On paper, Arizona has favorable matchups, but most (not this writer) probably assumed they had a favorable matchup coming into week 12.

With today’s loss, the Cardinals’ playoff chances drop to 40%. That in and of itself isn’t the worst number to see, but a win would’ve given them a 76% chance, with a temporary two-game lead in the division.

Now, Seattle holds the division. The 49ers aren’t coming to save the day, and no one truly knows what the Rams can and can’t do in 2024.

I also wrote this during the bye week: Arizona’s playoff hopes ride very heavily on the two matchups with Seattle. A loss at home in Week 14 would likely put this season on ice, unless they somehow win out all their other games.

After four straight wins, and coming off a bye week, it’s actually quite understandable to see a bit of a dud in this type of situation. What’s not acceptable is to do so against a division rival, with first place on the line.

Jonathan Gannon was swept out of the NFC West last season, again, understandably so with the roster he had. Prior to Sunday, he’d gone 2-0, blowing out the Rams at home and coming back to beat the 49ers in Santa Clara.

Those are both great wins, no doubt about it. Gannon, his coaches and his squad deserved the credit they got for doing so. But to truly succeed in this league, you have to be able to win games like Sunday’s in Seattle.

You have to be able to win the close, ugly, sloppy games against a tough opponent in a tough environment. It’s eat or be eaten in the NFC West, and a loss of this caliber is not encouraging as to their ability to play in critical moments down the stretch.

There are three NFC West matchups remaining, and the stakes will only get higher. 2-1 is the worst Arizona could go without sinking to the depths of the division, and they’ll need to play better in brighter lights.

Arizona’s defense played a very good game on Sunday. They allowed just 10 points, with six coming from a Seattle defensive score, picked off Geno Smith in a crucial down, and generated tons of pressure, including five sacks. The Seahawks only managed 285 yards of offense.

With that said, the Cardinals’ offense was the difference in the game – and not in a positive way. There were plenty of missed opportunities, some bad officiating and penalties that hurt them, and mental mistakes on everyone’s part, but Sunday’s loss was one of the most incompetent offensive games we’ve seen Arizona play.

Kyler Murray, who has been quietly playing elite football, was very poor. He threw for 285 yards, but was sacked five times, couldn’t break contain, and was inaccurate, with a costly pick-six in the third quarter.

He looked uncomfortable overall in the pocket, wouldn’t commit to running, and seemed to be in a twitchy state, leading to overthrows and poor decisions.

Part of that was on the poor offensive line play. Murray was pressured 14 times and was a mere 1-for-8 on those dropbacks. But game-breaking running back James Conner was also held to just eight yards on only seven carries. Arizona only ran the ball 14 times, despite never trailing by more than 10.

The Cardinals’ offense is run-first, and it seemed that they never attempted to establish it. When this unit becomes one-dimensional, bad things happen. Outside of a monster 133-yard (and zero-touchdown) day from Trey McBride, even the passing game looked pedestrian.

The Cardinals will face a tough opponent in the Minnesota Vikings next week, before the ultimate showdown rematch with Seattle the week after. If they can flush some of these issues, we’re in for some good, high-stakes football, but it’s hard to be optimistic after a showing like Sunday’s.

With 18 of their 22 suspended players back for the 2A semifinals, the 12th-seeded Scottsdale Christian Eagles pulled the biggest upset of the small-school state football playoffs Saturday.

They avenged their season-opening loss to No. 1-seed Gilbert San Tan Charter with a 34-21 victory at Mesa Westwood High School.

Scottsdale Christian (9-4) will face No. 3 Pima (12-1), which stunned No. 2 Tonopah Valley 40-34 in the earlier semifinal on Saturday.

SCA and Pima will play next Saturday at Glendale Mountain Ridge High School at 2 p.m. It is a rematch of last year’s state championship game that Scottsdale Christian won 41-22. The teams met in Week 7 this year with Pima winning 20-17.

Scottsdale Christian had 22 players suspended for leaving the sideline in the final minute of its first-round upset of No. 5 Eloy Santa Cruz, after a fight broke out.

The Eagles were able to escape Phoenix Veritas Prep 26-24 with a depleted roster, before getting most of their players back for San Tan Charter, a powerful team led by Arizona State-bound Uriah Neloms, a wide receiver who played quarterback in his final high school season.

SCA quarterback Sean Helgeson passed for three touchdowns, including a 70-yarder to Lawson Lavallee that broke a 14-14 tie late in the third quarter. Midway through the final quarter, Caleb Randall, a top small-schools linebacker who added running back duties this season, scored on a 2-yard run to give the Eagles a 27-14 lead.

On STC’s ensuing possession, sophomore Caleb Murphy intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a score, sealing the win.

“This time we just concentrated on us,” SCA coach Mike Sheahan said. “We have had so much adversity the last couple of weeks and, honestly, all season, that we had to slow down and just do our thing.

“All attention was inward and the opponent just happened to be 12-0 and the No. 1 seed. These boys played for each other and the SCA community with heart.”

In the August loss to San Tan Charter (12-1), SCA was without its best player, Randall. He’s been a difference maker since returning from an injury that caused him to miss the first three games.

3A final set

The 3A football championship game is set between No. 2 ALA West Foothills of Waddell and No. 4 Tucson Pusch Ridge at 6 p.m., Saturday at Mountain Ridge. This is the American Leadership Academy school’s first trip to the championship in only its third year.

ALA West Foothills has been The Arizona Republic’s No. 1-ranked 3A team since preseason. Coach Chad Mitton’s team got past No. 3 Thatcher 34-22 in Saturday’s semifinal at Mesa High. But the Guardians will be without their best player, two-way star J.J. Brutus, who suffered a broken leg in the final quarter. Brutus, a running back/edge rusher, had two first-half rushing TDs. He also had a fumble recovery.

The Guardians (13-0) led by as much as 27-9, before Thatcher (10-3) scored two touchdowns to become the first team to score more than three touchdowns against ALA West Foothills this season.

Pusch Ridge (12-1) avenged its only loss this season to Benjamin Franklin Queen Creek with a 24-13 win.

Since losing to Benjamin Franklin 31-7 on Sept. 6, Pusch Ridge has reeled off 11 wins, giving up no more than two touchdowns in any of those games.

Pusch Ridge led 14-0, before Talan Speir scored on a 16-yard run with five minutes left in the third quarter to cut it to 14-7. In the final minute of the quarter, Pusch Ridge increased its lead to 21-7 on Blake Reed’s 4-yard scoring run.

After Benjamin Franklin (11-2) scored with a minute to play, Pusch Ridge recovered the on-side kick and ate up the remaining time.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

An already crazy college football season got a whole lot crazier on Saturday.

And Arizona State was right in the middle of it.

The Sun Devils held off BYU 28-23 in a game that ended twice, creating a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12.

After it appeared Arizona State had run out the clock with a fourth down throw that sailed 50-plus yards down the sideline and landed in the stands, Sun Devils fans stormed the field and brought down the goalposts.

But the game wasn’t over. Officials determined that Sam Leavitt’s throw landed in the stands with one second on the clock. So they cleared the field, put the goalposts back up, and gave BYU one final play from midfield.

On the final play, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught short of the goal line, officially ending the game.

Then the fans stormed the field again.

“We won the football game,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We beat another ranked team at Mountain America Stadium. So this is all about the guys. These guys battled, these guys fought and found a way to win. Whatever happened at the end, it happened.

“You know what? We got to rush the field twice, how about that?”

Losses Clear CFP Path For Arizona State

The upsets on Saturday started early and continued all day.

Seven Top 25 teams lost, including No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 16 Colorado.

Arizona State’s win over No. 14 BYU, coupled with Colorado’s 37-21 loss to Kansas, means the Sun Devils will be the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the next College Football Playoff Rankings.

So how high will the Sun Devils climb?

You can make a case that they should be in the top 10.

Indiana (10-1) has played a historically soft schedule and showed it has no business being in the top 10 with a blowout loss to Ohio State — the only ranked opponent they will play all season.

Alabama (8-3) was soundly beaten by an average Oklahoma team and now has three losses. Ole Miss (8-3) also has three losses, including a bad one to Kentucky.

All three teams should drop out of the top 10 — and Arizona State should move in.

Predicting the Next CFP Rankings

Arizona State easily had the best win of any Top 25 team on Saturday. And they have repeatedly showed they are one of the best college football teams in the country, with NFL talent all over the roster. What they have accomplished is not a fluke.

They’re better than Indiana and Boise State. The Broncos barely beat a Wyoming team that the Sun Devils blasted 48-7 earlier this season.

Here’s how the Top 13 of the next CFP Rankings should look:

1. Oregon (11-0)

2. Ohio State (9-1)

3. Texas (9-1)

4. Notre Dame (9-1)

5. Penn State (9-1)

6. Miami (9-1)

7. Georgia (8-2)

8. Tennessee (8-2)

9. SMU (9-1)

10. Arizona State (9-2)

11. Alabama (8-3)

12. Indiana (10-1)

13. Boise State (9-1)

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter where Arizona State is ranked because they just need to win two more games to get in — next week at Arizona, then the Big 12 championship game.

But the national respect for the Sun Devils — and the Big 12 — is long overdue.

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