Can the Arizona Cardinals Still Make the Playoffs?

“They got it done and we didn’t.” Those were the words of head coach Coach Kliff Kingsbury used to summarize the Arizona Cardinals’ 34-31 loss over this past weekend to the visiting Miami Dolphins. The game ended when Arizona kicker Zane Gonzalez failed to make the potentially game-tying field goal in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

This was a loss that came as a disappointment, as Arizona was expected by many to win this game after coming off of a bye week, their previous game being a 34-31 overtime win against current NFC West division leader Seattle Seahawks, sparking playoff rumors. Sunday’s game has now put Arizona’s playoff chances into question, making them tied for second place with the LA Rams in the NFC West at 5-3.

This expectation was set up due to the fact that Miami’s Quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, was only in his second starting game of the season. While Miami won their game last week against the LA Rams, Tagovailoa only threw for just shy of one hundred yards. In this most recent outing against Arizona, Tagvailoa completed 20 0f 28 passing attempts, adding to a total of 248 yards (zero interceptions, two touchdowns). On top of that, he also made seven rushing attempts for 35 yards.

In an interview for Press Pass, when asked what him and the team are doing to prepare for the upcoming game against the Bills, Coach Kingsbury said: “You watch film with your staff, make sure everybody’s on the same page, it’s never as good as you thought it is was and its never as bad.” When asked about whether or not he got the performance he wanted coming out of the bye week, he made it very clear that he didn’t. “No. We wanted to win the game. We didn’t play good enough, and that’s the bottom line.”

Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray on the other hand, had a decent game despite falling short, with 283 passing yards and 103 rushing yards for one score. So far in his career Murray has thrown for 5000+ yards, 30+ touchdowns, rushed for 1000+ and 10+ ground scores. He is currently the only quarterback in NFL history to do so in the first 24 games of his career.

Looking into the weeks ahead, Kingsbury and Murray still have a chance to lead the team into the playoffs, but it will be an uphill battle. Their next game will be up against the Buffalo Bills, who are currently ranked third in the AFC at 7-3, who, like the Cardinals, just came off a win against Seattle, who are now 6-2, and are still seen as one of the dominant teams in the NFC.

When it comes to their chances against the Bills, experts are surprisingly optimistic.

“The Cardinals are favored by two and a half points. The Bills defense isn’t as good as it has been,” says sports analyst Lee Kostroski. “Whether it be the players that they’ve lost, or it could be that they’re returning to normal after playing exceptionally well last year.”

Offensively, however, they seem to be doing well, with Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen went toe to toe with Russell Wilson, the current MVP frontrunner, and won against Seattle 44-34. Allen definitely took some hit from the Seattle defense, being sacked seven times. He made up for it however, by tying his record number of passing yards.

So, the Cardinals path to the playoffs is there, however it is going to be an uphill battle. When asked about the attitude during practice this week in a Press Pass interview, Murray said: “Yeah, I don’t want to get used to this cycle of losing and being underdogs and being hyped, and then coming up against a good team. Obviously, that’s not what I want to get into, I want to win every week.”