TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - In the aftermath of a strange game loaded with “what if” scenarios, Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was asked if there was anything he learned about his team.
“Oh yeah,” he said after reviewing video of the game. “I think we’re a very good football team. I’m very confident of that. … Mentally our football team is very, very resilient. It’s a long journey to the end.”
And was Sunday night’s 6-6 tie with the Seattle Seahawks one of the more bizarre games he’s experienced?
“It was a different one for sure,” Arians said at his Monday news conference. “I’ve only been doing it for about 40-some years, but that’s in the top five.”
Chandler Catanzaro’s missed 24-yard field goal try in overtime was only the last of a series of missed opportunities.
A blocked punt set up the only Seattle score of regulation. The Cardinals failed on a fourth-and-one try at the Seahawks 19-yard line, time ran out before the Cardinals could get off a field goal try in the final seconds of the first half, and David Johnson came within inches of scoring what would have been the game-winning touchdown in OT.
Michael Floyd dropped a pass deep in Seattle territory.
And that’s not to mention Bobby Wagner’s amazing block of Catanzaro’s 39-yard field goal try.
“I don’t know how many plays we had,” Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer said after the game. “It felt like 100, but we’re a tired football team right now. … We’ve got to bounce back. We’ve got a big game next week.”
Actually, Arizona ran 90 plays in the game, the second-most in franchise history. The Cardinals ran 94 plays against Washington in 1994.
Johnson touched the ball on 41 of those plays, 33 as a ball carrier and eight as a receiver. The second-year running back had 171 yards from scrimmage - 113 rushing, 58 receiving. He leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,004.
The Cardinals had the ball a whopping 46 minutes, 21 seconds, the second-most in NFL history. The New York Jets had the ball for 47:08 against Cleveland in 2010.
Still, Arizona managed just two field goals.
Arians praised the Cardinals defense.
“One of the best defensive performances I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” he said.
Until the overtime, the only time the Seahawks were in Arizona territory was after the blocked punt.
The Cardinals haven’t allowed a touchdown in the last two games.
Arizona sits at 3-3-1 heading to Carolina and a stadium filled with bad memories. The Cardinals lost playoff games their last two trips there, most recently a blowout defeat in last season’s NFC championship game.
And this wasn’t the only Sunday night missed field goal that has plagued the Cardinals.
A bad snap helped lead to Catanzaro’s missed field goal that would have beaten New England in the season opener.
Arians said he still fully supports Catanzaro.
“The kicker just needs to kick it through the two poles and we’d be 5-2,” he said
Notes: The Cardinals will be without wide receiver Jaron Brown for the rest of the season. He tore an ACL against the Seahawks and is out for the season. Brown’s absence will especially be missed on special teams. … Arians is optimistic that wide receiver John Brown will be back after sitting out Sunday night’s game due to what the team called sickle cell traits that caused leg pain. … The coach said outside linebacker Alex Okafor will miss the Carolina game with a strained calf.
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