The Arizona Cardinals were rested, relatively healthy and had been playing some of their best football in years.
That's why Sunday's sobering 16-6 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks was so surprising.
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Arizona Cardinals place kicker Chad Ryland (38) kicks a field goal during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) pauses before joining teammates before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. The Seahawks won 16-6. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Dante Stills (55) and linebacker Kyzir White (7) celebrate during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) tries to get past Seattle Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins (2) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
“Frustrating day offensively, especially the way we’ve been playing to come out here and lay an egg and get physically dominated in a sense,” quarterback Kyler Murray said.
The Cardinals (6-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped. Murray completed 24 of 37 passes for 285 yards, but made a brutal mistake, throwing an interception that was returned 69 yards by Seattle's Coby Bryant. The running game never got going, gaining just 49 yards. James Conner, the team's leading rusher, had just 8 yards on seven attempts.
“There were a lot of things where it felt like the flow of things just wasn’t in our favor,” receiver Michael Wilson said. "Some games go like that. And then we didn’t execute enough to make up for the game sort of not going our way.”
Arizona's still in decent playoff position, tied with the Seahawks on top of the NFC West with six games to play. But after all the good news and winning over the past month, Sunday's loss was humbling.
“We’re going to learn a lot from this game,” Gannon said.
Arizona's defense continued its remarkable midseason turnaround, giving the team every opportunity to win Sunday.
The front seven doesn't have any stars, but continues to cobble together a respectable pass rush. The Cardinals finished with five sacks, all by different players.
Second-year cornerback Garrett Williams intercepted a pass by Geno Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter, briefly giving the Cardinals some momentum as they tried to fight back. Williams — a third-round pick out of Syracuse in 2023 — is growing into a steady starting corner that the Cardinals have missed for years.
“I thought that they hung in there and battled, forced a bunch of punts, kept points off the board,” Gannon said. “I thought the interception by Garrett was fantastic, kept us in the game there, kept points off the board. We made some mistakes. We made some mistakes, starting with me.”
The Cardinals aren't going to win many games with a rushing performance like Sunday's.
Conner, held to a season low in yards rushing, did have 41 yards receiving. Rookie Trey Benson had four carries for 18 yards, while Emari Demercado broke a 14-yard gain.
Getting Conner going is key. Arizona has a 5-1 record this season when he has at least 100 total yards from scrimmage. Gannon said falling into an early hole affected some of the things the Cardinals could do, particularly in the second half.
“I thought there was plays there, but again, where you get down in that game, you’re not really playing normal ball there for a good chunk of the game,” Gannon said. “So we’ve got to do a better job earlier in the game to make sure we’re not playing left-handed.”
Fourth-year edge rusher Zaven Collins isn't necessarily the star fans hoped for when he was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft, but he has quietly had a productive season leading the team's no-name front seven.
Collins picked up his fourth sack of the season Sunday and put consistent pressure on Smith.
Murray's still having a great season, but the quarterback's MVP credentials took a hit with Sunday's mediocre performance.
He played pretty well at times, but the interception that turned into a pick-6 was a backbreaker. The sixth-year quarterback had largely avoided those types of plays this season, which is a big reason they're in the playoff hunt.
“Can't give them seven points, especially when our defense is playing the way that they’re playing,” Murray said. “I feel like if I don’t do that, we’re in the game four quarters because that’s the way it was trending.”
The Cardinals came out of Sunday's game fairly healthy. Gannon said starting safety Jalen Thompson (ankle) should be back at practice Wednesday. He missed the last two games.
12 and 133 — Tight end Trey McBride continued his breakout season with a career-high 12 catches for 133 yards.
The Cardinals have another difficult road game against the Vikings (9-2) on Sunday.
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Arizona Cardinals place kicker Chad Ryland (38) kicks a field goal during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) pauses before joining teammates before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. The Seahawks won 16-6. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Dante Stills (55) and linebacker Kyzir White (7) celebrate during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) tries to get past Seattle Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins (2) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden kicked off his final holiday season at the White House on Monday by issuing the traditional reprieve to two turkeys who will bypass the Thanksgiving table to live out their days in southern Minnesota.
Biden welcomed 2,500 guests to the South Lawn under sunny skies as he cracked jokes about the fates of “Peach” and “Blossom” and sounded wistful tones about the last weeks of his presidency after a half-century in Washington power circles.
“It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful,” Biden said, taking note of his impending departure on Jan. 20, 2025. That's when power will transfer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the man Biden defeated four years ago and was battling again until he was pressured to bow out of the race amid concerns about his age and viability. Biden is 82.
Until Inauguration Day, the president and first lady Jill Biden will continue a busy run of festivities that will double as their long goodbye. The White House schedule in December is replete with holiday parties for various constituencies, from West Wing staff to members of Congress and the White House press corps.
Biden relished the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys, named for the official flower of the president's home state of Delaware.
“The peach pie in my state is one of my favorites,” he said during remarks that were occasionally interrupted by Peach gobbling atop the table to Biden's right. “Peach is making a last-minute plea,” Biden said at one point, drawing laughter from an overflow crowd that included Cabinet members, White House staff and their families, and students from 4H programs and Future Farmers of America chapters.
Biden introduced Peach as a bird who “lives by the motto, ‘Keep calm and gobble on.’” Blossom, the president said, has a different motto: “No fowl play. Just Minnesota nice.”
Peach and Blossom came from the farm of John Zimmerman, near the southern Minnesota city of Northfield. Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, the group that has gifted U.S. presidents Thanksgiving turkeys since the Truman administration after World War II. President Harry Truman, however, preferred to eat the birds. Official pardon ceremonies did not become an annual White House tradition until the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
With their presidential reprieve, Peach and Blossom will live out their days at Farmamerica, an agriculture interpretative center near Waseca in southern Minnesota. The center's aim is to promote agriculture and educate future farmers and others about agriculture in America.
Separately Monday, first lady Jill Biden received the official White House Christmas tree that will be decorated and put on display in the Blue Room. The 18.5 foot (5.64 meters) Fraser fir came from a farm in an area of western North Carolina that recently was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm lost thousands of trees in the storm “but this one remained standing and they named it ‘Tremendous’ for the extraordinary hope that it represents,” Jill Biden said at the event.
The Bidens also traveled to New York City on Monday for an evening “Friendsgiving” event at a Coast Guard station on Staten Island.
Biden began his valedictory calendar Friday night with a gala for hundreds of his friends, supporters and staff members who gathered in a pavilion erected on the South Lawn, with a view out to the Lincoln Memorial.
Cabinet secretaries, Democratic donors and his longest-serving staff members came together to hear from the president and pay tribute, with no evidence that Biden was effectively forced from the Democratic ticket this summer and watched Vice President Kamala Harris suffer defeat on Nov. 5.
“I’m so proud that we’ve done all of this with a deep belief in the core values of America,” said Biden, sporting a tuxedo for the black-tie event. Setting aside his criticisms of Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, Biden added his characteristic national cheerleading: “I fully believe that America is better positioned to lead the world today than at any point in my 50 years of public service.”
The first lady toasted her husband with a nod to his 2020 campaign promise to “restore the soul of the nation,” in Trump’s aftermath. With the results on Election Day, however, Biden’s four years now become sandwiched in the middle of an era dominated by Trump's presence on the national stage and in the White House.
Even as the first couple avoided the context surrounding the president's coming exit, those political realities were nonetheless apparent, as younger Democrats like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Biden's Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg not only raised their glasses to the president but held forth with many attendees who could remain in the party's power circles in the 2028 election cycle and beyond.
First lady Jill Biden, right, walks with her grandson Beau Biden after receiving the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
First lady Jill Biden, second right, walks with her grandson Beau Biden, right, to receive the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
First lady Jill Biden waves as she walks with her grandson Beau Biden after receiving the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The official 2024 White House Christmas Tree arrives on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden, center right, departs with his grandson Beau Biden after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkeys during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden, center right, departs with his grandson Beau Biden after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkeys during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden speaks after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden speaks and pardons the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, as John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation and his son Grant, look on. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Beau Biden, grandson of President Joe Biden, is pictured with the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach and Blossom, after a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden is pictured with John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation, from left, and Zimmerman's son Grant, after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey Peach during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden pardons one of the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Beau Biden, left, looks at Peach, the national Thanksgiving turkey who was pardoned by President Joe Biden, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Grant Zimmerman, son of John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation, watches at right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden stands with one of the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden, right, stands with John Zimmerman, left, chair of the National Turkey Federation, his son Grant Zimmerman, center, and the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The national Thanksgiving turkeys Peach and Blossom are pictured before a pardoning ceremony with President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Beau Biden, grandson of President Joe Biden, is pictured with the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach and Blossom, after a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Joe Biden is pictured after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
