SEATTLE — Joshua Dobbs doesn’t need to be told that his entire season with the Arizona Cardinals is essentially an audition and that sometime in the next few weeks he’ll relinquish his starting role.
Eventually Kyler Murray will return to be the starting quarterback for Arizona. And if the Cardinals are going to snap their losing streak before Murray returns, they’ll need better from Dobbs than what he showed on Sunday in a 20-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“There is opportunities for me to improve, and it starts with me,” Dobbs said. “Especially on offense with how I start and how I find those completions and get the ball out of my hand, and then that will resonate throughout the entire offense.”
Dobbs made his seventh start for Arizona and the result was another game with missed opportunities and a frustrating conclusion. Dobbs was 19 of 33 passing for 146 yards. He was sacked four times, didn’t have a pass play for longer than 21 yards and failed to take advantage of three Seattle turnovers, two of which happened in the Seahawks’ half of the field.
The Cardinals scored just three points off those three takeaways and had only 88 yards in the second half.
“That’s probably the most frustrating thing about today,” Dobbs said. “Our defense, I thought they did a great job of forcing turnovers, keeping a really good offense behind the sticks, giving us some opportunities with field position. We weren’t able to capitalize.”
PHOTOS: Cardinals stumble again on offensive side in 20-10 loss to Seahawks
Dobbs was able to be a threat with the run and finished with 43 yards rushing on seven carries.
Arizona’s only touchdown came on Dobbs’ 25-yard run in the second quarter, the longest run play allowed this season by Seattle’s defense.
But that also came on the only drive for Arizona that gained more than 26 net yards. Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon was complimentary of Seattle’s defense and how it was able to limit the pass game.
“They do a good job covering up windows. They got some length out there; they can rush. It’s a good defense,” Gannon said. “Thought we probably left a couple plays out there, and when we watch the tape we’ll see that.”
There’s always been a timeline to when Dobbs’ run as the starter would come to an end. It seemed to be kicked into overdrive this week when Murray was activated off the physically unable to perform list and returned to practice.
With all that the Cardinals have invested in Murray he has to return to the starting role when he’s deemed ready to go. That seems unlikely to be this upcoming week against Baltimore, but it could be the following week at Cleveland or the week after that at home against Atlanta.
Dobbs said his attention is on next week and trying to jump start an offense that has scored just 25 points in the past 10 quarters.
“When I watch the film, (I) see how I can be better,” Dobbs said. “Ultimately if I start fast, this offense is difficult to stop. We’ve seen it throughout the season and so starts with me and ends with me.”
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