What We Learned From Cardinals' Blowout Loss to Seahawks

Yes, Brissett has proven to be the better quarterback throughout each of their stints as the starter, but he’s not the answer to every, or even most, of Arizona’s offensive issues.

For starters, the offensive line was extremely disappointing. It couldn’t pick up the blitzes that Seattle was throwing at it, and it led to Brissett being thrown into the fire on most of his dropbacks.

The Seahawks totaled five sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two fumble returns for touchdowns, and most of the blame for that can be put on the offensive line. Seattle may have one of the best defenses in the league, but if your offensive line allows the pass rush to be this potent, you give Brissett almost no chance to be successful.

He can’t solve the offensive line’s problems, and he can’t fix the fact that the Cardinals’ rushing attack never really got going. It did total 129 yards, but a 55-yard rush when the game was out of hand skews that number severely.

Brissett threw for 258 yards on 22-for-44 passing, adding two touchdowns, but again, most of his production came when the Seahawks knew they could cruise to a big victory. He wasn’t bad by any means, but he wasn’t a needle-mover in the slightest.

While Brissett is still a talented passer, he’s not among the NFL’s elite. He needs a clean pocket and open receivers to be effective, and the Cardinals didn’t deliver the right circumstances for their quarterback to play well.

Debating whether Brissett should remain the starter is a moot point, but we learned against the Seahawks that he isn’t the sole answer to Arizona’s problems.

Defensive inconsistency continues

Arizona’s defense has looked like one of the best units in the league at times, but when it’s bad, it’s been an extreme liability.

On the Seahawks’ first three drives on offense, the Cardinals’ defense allowed a touchdown on all of them. Sam Darnold was able to find open receivers left and right, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba putting on a show despite leaving the game briefly in the first half.

The Seahawks’ top receiver made his mark early, as he hauled in a 43-yard touchdown to get the scoring started. Arizona’s secondary allowed him to finish with five catches for 93 yards and the TD, but Seattle didn’t need much of an air attack after it got out to such a large lead.

Up 35-0, the Seahawks began to rush the ball almost every play, but even then the Cardinals had no answer. Seattle ran for 198 yards, and while Arizona came up with three turnovers throughout the ballgame, the defense just wasn’t good enough.

It has the potential to be a solid defense, but its performance on Sunday was lackluster, and it showed that with a few injuries, it turned into a very below-average defensive unit.

Cardinals might be wasting McBride's talent

The Cardinals played a very disappointing game, and that’s not up for debate, but there’s one exception to that statement.

That is, of course, Trey McBride and the show he put on against Seattle. He totaled nine receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown, as he was Brissett’s go-to target all game long.

When the Cardinals needed to pick up a first down, he was Brissett’s first look, and when Arizona got into the red zone, he was the prime target. Seattle obviously put a point of emphasis on him, but he still had a fantastic statistical game even with a lot of coverage on him.

While McBride was sensational, his performance was mostly irrelevant because of the one-sided score. Seattle was up big, and with the game out of hand, the Cardinals were simply playing for their dignity and nothing more.

McBride was hustling every play, and you could see that he wasn’t fazed by the fact his team wasn’t within striking distance. He keeps making his case to be one of the best tight ends in the NFL, and the only thing holding him back might be the fact that he plays on a 3-6 team.

Arizona might be wasting his talent, as a player like McBride is of Super Bowl caliber, yet the Cardinals are obviously very far from competing for the playoffs, let alone a championship.

Against the Seahawks, there was one bright spot: McBride was great when the rest of the team struggled, begging the question of whether his talent is being wasted on an underachieving ballclub.