The Arizona Cardinals' hopes of reaching the NFC playoffs last season were dashed by a second-half slump, and it looks as though another inopportune December skid is transpiring.
For the second time in less than a week, the Cardinals balked at the chance to clinch a coveted postseason spot, as they lost in stunning fashion to the inferior Detroit Lions, 30-12, on Sunday at Ford Field. Arizona, which started the season a perfect 7-0, has dropped four of its last seven games and now owns the NFC's fourth seed. Last Monday, they were atop the conference.
"Pretty alarming, in the sense that it feels like they had a Rams hangover. It's like they couldn't handle that loss, didn't respond to it," former NFL player and current podcast host Ross Tucker told The DA Show on Monday. "It's one of the reasons why I was all over the Lions. When I took the Lions on Tuesday last week, they were getting 14 points. And I loved them because you know the Fightin' Dan Campbells are going to give you everything they have.
"And also, I knew it was a bad spot for the Cardinals -- short week, on the road. But still, it's disturbing that the Cardinals could perform that poorly in that spot. Because usually, it's like, 'Okay, we don't have it, it's not our day.' But you still need to find a way to be able to win. I mean, that game wasn't even close. Not a single phase of the operation performed even halfway decently for the Cardinals."
From start to finish, the Cardinals' offense was out of sync. The unit failed to score a single point during the first half, and by the time they finally reached the end zone, there were only four minutes left in the fourth quarter. All cases for Kyler Murray to win MVP have been dismissed -- he completed just 23 of 41 passes for 257 yards with a touchdown, a pick, and a 72.9 passer rating.
Arizona (10-4), which is now slated to host a game during wild card weekend, will take on the Indianapolis Colts (8-6) in a marquee Week 16 home matchup on Christmas night. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Cardinals have a 65-percent chance to win the NFC West and just a 1-percent chance to earn the conference's first-round bye.
The entire NFL conversation between Tucker and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.