ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals had an opportunity to push themselves in the NFC West lead on Sunday, erasing some doubt on their ability to win big games and establishing control of their postseason destiny the rest of the way.

Instead, the Cardinals failed to rise to the occasion. dropping a crucial divisional matchup to the Seattle Seahawks in 20-18 fashion.

Disappointing loss. We didn’t play our best ball there. I have to find some answers to get us going a little bit because we haven’t played great here the last couple weeks, so that falls on me,” said head coach Jonathan Gannon following the loss.

“We have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow, get these things corrected, put them in better positions and we have to win a game. I thought we spotted them a lot of points there, but then we battled back. I appreciate their effort. That was good. We battled back there, had a couple chances to even cut the lead a little more, but ultimately didn’t get it done. So give them credit and I have to do a better job.”

The Cardinals have now lost three straight out of their bye week. Once 6-4 and leading the division, their playoff chances have dwindled.

I don’t really know. You gotta watch the film and judge that yourself,” said linebacker Mack Wilson.

“There are some things obviously that we all have to work on. Offense, defense, special teams. We just have to keep working at the end of the day, that’s what it all boils down to. Keep working, keep your head up and just keep grinding it out.”

That crucial bye week seems to be a massive talking point for the Cardinals, as their performance has been night and day since their time off.

I feel like guys are ready to play every Sunday. We just fell short. We just have to find a way to make more plays than they do. That’s really been the theme these past three weeks,” Wilson continued.

“They have just made more plays than us. We just have keep working. That’s what it comes down to. Move on to the next week. It’s all we can do. Flush it and just try to win out. Honestly, it’s that simple, we gotta win out. If that’s what y’all want to hear, we have to win out.”

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray – who threw two interceptions in the loss – says the team simply needs to bounce back and finish the rest of the schedule strong.

“I’m super confident when I go to sleep at night, in this locker room and with the guys that I play football with. I don’t worry or have fear when I step on the field with them at all. And I mean that wholeheartedly,” he said post-game.

“… It sucks when you feel like you put yourself in this position, but at the end of the day we have to show up again. We have another home game next week, and we’ll put our best foot forward when it comes down to it.”

Arizona isn’t completely out of the postseason picture yet, though it’ll take a lot for the Cardinals to extend their season past Week 18.

Playoff football is now out of their control, though the only thing Arizona can do moving forward is finish the season strong – which will only come if their self-reflection is open and honest about what needs to change.