GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals picked a bad time to go through their worst stretch of the season.
Kyler Murray threw two interceptions that led directly to first-half touchdowns and the Cardinals suffered a critical 30-18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
“Disappointing loss — didn't play our best ball there,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “I've got to find some answers because we haven't played great the past few weeks.”
Arizona has undergone a huge shift in less than a month.
The Cardinals (6-7) were atop the NFC West in mid-November, thanks to a four-game winning streak. A three-game skid since its bye week may have put Arizona in an insurmountable hole.
Dominant on both sides of the ball, the Seahawks (8-5) won their fourth straight to maintain a one-game division lead over the Los Angeles Rams, 44-42 winners over the Buffalo Bills.
The Cardinals' stumble in what felt like a must-win game dropped them two games behind Seattle — which also has the tiebreaker — with four games remaining.
“It's tough, obviously, when you lost to a divisional opponent, but we've still got four games left, still got a lot of ball left,” Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson said.
Arizona got off to a great start against its nemesis, scoring on the opening drive when Murray found Michael Wilson on a 41-yard touchdown pass.
Murray and the Cardinals spent the rest of the afternoon playing like they were stuck in the desert sand to lose their seventh straight in the series.
Seattle bottled up the usually elusive Murray, holding him to 16 yards rushing on three carries and preventing him from extending plays with his legs. Murray finished with 259 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-38 passing with two interceptions.
The two picks came at critical moments — just like last week.
The first came with Arizona leading 7-3 in the first quarter. Trying to hit Marvin Harrison Jr., he didn't see Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who intercepted the pass and returned it to Arizona's 19. Geno Smith hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a touchdown on the next play.
Murray then threw another interception on his next pass. Coby Bryant's pick set up Seattle at Arizona's 46 and Zach Charbonnet scored five plays later on a 1-yard run to put the Seahawks up 17-7. Murray also threw two key interceptions in last week's 23-22 loss to Minnesota.
“I feel like I let the team down today — self-explanatory,” Murray said. “I can't do that.”
It wasn't just Murray.
After Charbonnet broke off a 51-yard touchdown run, Arizona converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 29 late the first half, only to have it negated by a holding call against left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. The Cardinals punted and trailed 24-10 at halftime.
Arizona finally got its offense going again late in the third quarter, trimming Seattle's lead to 27-18 with a 2-yard shovel pass from Murray to James Conner and a 2-point conversion. The Cardinals later had a chance to pull within six after driving to the Seattle 21, but Chad Ryland missed a 40-yard field goal.
The Cardinals' defense also had its share of miscues, allowing Seattle to run for a season-high 174 yards — 134 by Charbonnet — and finish with 409 total yards.
“Ultimately, all three phases couldn't pull it together,” Gannon said.
And now the Cardinals are running out of time.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates his touchdown with quarterback Geno Smith (7) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon reads his play card during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, right, and linebacker Boye Mafe (53) celebrate after sacking Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition leader offered Sunday to work with the government to ease the political tumult as officials sought to reassure allies and markets, a day after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
Liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, whose party holds a majority in the National Assembly, urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on Yoon's impeachment and proposed a special council for policy cooperation between the government and parliament.
Yoon's powers have been suspended until the court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. If Yoon is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
Lee, who has led a fierce political offensive against Yoon's embattled government, is seen as the frontrunner to replace him. He lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by a razor-thin margin.
He told a televised news conference that a swift court ruling would be the only way to “minimize national confusion and the suffering of people.”
The court will meet to discuss the case Monday, and has up to 180 days to rule. But observers say that a court ruling could come faster. In the case of parliamentary impeachments of past presidents — Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016 — the court spent 63 days and 91 days respectively before determining to reinstate Roh and dismiss Park.
Lee also proposed a national council where the government and the National Assembly would work together to stabilize state affairs, and said his party won't seek to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, a Yoon appointee who's now serving as acting president.
“The Democratic Party will actively cooperate with all parties to stabilize state affairs and restore international trust,” Lee said. “The National Assembly and government will work together to quickly resolve the crisis that has swept across the Republic of Korea.”
It's unclear if Lee's proposed council will be realized.
In a meeting with the parliament speaker, who touched upon Lee's idea, Han said he will closely cooperate and communicate with the National Assembly but didn't specifically say whether the government intends to join the council. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, separately criticized Lee's proposal, saying that it’s “not right” for the opposition party acting like the ruling party.
Kweon, a Yoon loyalist, said that his party will use existing PPP-government dialogue channels "to continue to assume responsibility as the governing party until the end of President Yoon’s term.”
The Democratic Party has already used its parliamentary majority to impeach the justice minister and the chief of the national police over the martial law decree, and had previously said it was also considering impeaching the prime minister.
Upon assuming his role as acting leader, Han ordered the military to bolster its security posture to prevent North Korea from launching provocations. He also asked the foreign minister to inform other countries that South Korea’s major external policies will remain unchanged, and the finance minister to work to minimize potential negative impacts on the economy from the political turmoil.
On Sunday, Han had a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, discussing the political situation in South Korea and regional security challenges including North Korea’s nuclear program. Biden expressed his appreciation for the resiliency of democracy in South Korea and reaffirmed “the ironclad commitment” of the United States, according to both governments.
Yoon’s Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, the first of its kind in more than four decades, lasted only six hours, but has caused massive political tumult, halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets. Yoon was forced to lift his decree after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.
Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament in an effort to stop the vote, but they withdrew after the parliament rejected Yoon’s decree. No major violence occurred.
Opposition parties have accused Yoon of rebellion, saying a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and would have no right to suspend parliament’s operations even in those cases.
Yoon has rejected the charges and vowed to “fight to the end." He said the deployment of troops to parliament was aimed at issuing a warning to the Democratic Party, which he called an “anti-state force” that abused its control of parliament by holding up the government’s budget bill for next year and repeatedly pushing to impeach top officials.
Law enforcement institutions are investigating Yoon and others involved in the martial law case over possible rebellion and other allegations. They've arrested Yoon's defense minister and police chief and two other high-level figures.
Yoon has immunity from most criminal prosecution as president, but that doesn’t extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. He's been banned from leaving South Korea, but observers doubt that authorities will detain him because of the potential for clashes with his presidential security service.
Lee called for authorities to speed up their probes and said that an independent investigation by a special prosecutor should be launched as soon as possible. Last week, the National Assembly passed a law calling for such an investigation.
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
People attend at a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. The letters read "Impeachment." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In this photo released by South Korean President Office via Yonhap, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol bows while delivering a speech at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach Yoon Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, front left, and its floor leader Park Chan-dae, front right, leave a room at the National Assembly in Seoul after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, and his party members bow at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Kim Ju-hyung/Yonhap via AP)
