Sep 25, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals place kicker Chad Ryland (38) kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Cardinals Kicker Named Biggest Loser From NFL Week 4 Action

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Sep 28, 2025 2:31 PM ET

The Arizona Cardinals fell to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football for a variety of reasons - though the final kickoff from Chad Ryland has been heavily under the microscope.

Ryland, after the Cardinals scored to level the game with little time remaining, fell just short of the target zone on his kickoff, giving Seattle possession at their own 40-yard line.

A few plays later, the Seahawks kicked the game-winner - and discussion has been sparked since on the NFL's new kickoff rules.

Cardinals Kicker Named Loser From Week 4

Bleacher Report says Ryland was one of the week's biggest losers because of the blunder.

"While kickers aren't always to blame for losses, Chad Ryland's costly mistake came at a critical moment," wrote Brent Sobleski.

"His failed kickoff late in the fourth quarter let Seattle start at its own 40-yard line—a pivotal error in a tied game.

"Seattle capitalized on the field position, reaching range in three plays before Jason Myers sealed the victory with a 52-yard field goal."

Cardinals Not Pinning Loss on Ryland

“Keep it in play," Jonathan Gannon said of the play immediately after the game. "That's kind of one of the things we talk about late in the game there with the amount of timeouts and time and what they needed, we were trying to burn off some time there.

"(K) Chad (Ryland) played his ass off. The game doesn't come down to one play. We didn't do enough collectively for 60 minutes to win the game.”

When meeting with reporters the day after, Gannon continued with:

"The rules are kind of the rules. We were saying it's going to be interesting to see through seven, eight weeks what those numbers look like because that plays into what you're doing. I thought we played well on kickoff all day, kind of just mis-hit that one. It's the difference of a yard and a half. ...

"We look at all that. And there's decisions that I made last night that you look at it, and some of them worked and some of them didn't work from a game management standpoint. I always try to look at those critically. And sometimes when things work, you're not off the hook. And some things, when they don't work, you still think it's the right decision. That's the chair that I'm in, and that's okay."

Ryland has been critical for Arizona since arriving last year - though he and the rest of the league will continue trying to shift and adapt to the dynamic kickoff.