The final image of the Week 3 loss was a gut-wrenching emotional blow. On the sideline, Kyler Murray was visibly shaken, jaw clenched, eyes wide as his “brother” and long-time teammate, RB James Conner, was carted off the field. Now, with Conner gone for the season due to a brutal ankle hit, the Arizona Cardinals are walking into Thursday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks with multiple injuries. Thing is, Mike Macdonald’s defense smells opportunity, and it’s a scent that’s all too familiar for the desert birds.

Ian Rapoport hit the button on a list. The Seahawks’ woes with Boye Mafe and Zach Charbonnet pale in comparison. For Arizona, rookie cornerback Will Johnson is doubtful. Receiver Zay Jones (concussion) has been ruled out. But the real rub, the true sting, is up front. All-Pro tackle Paris Johnson and guard Will Hernandez are both questionable, as is Evan Brown. So, it’s true that the Cardinals head into Thursday night beat up and short-handed.

To be precise, six players are questionable, including Kelvin Beachum (knee), Evan Brown (ankle), Akeem Davis-Gaither (elbow), Darren Hall (ankle), Will Hernandez (knee), and Paris Johnson (knee). Hernandez and Johnson already sat out last week’s loss to the 49ers, and with the quick turnaround, their chances of suiting up look slim. Beachum, who stepped in for Johnson, hasn’t practiced, and the rest of the group has been limited. If Johnson can’t go, Arizona could be missing five starters on top of already losing James Conner for the season. Add that to a long list of names stuck on IR or PUP, and it feels like the Cardinals are limping into Thursday with more holes than healthy bodies. But among all of these issues, Conner’s injury stress is the most serious for the quarterback.

Murray, speaking after the 16-15 loss, admitted he was clearly upset about the loss. “It’s unfortunate, not only is he my teammate, but I feel like that’s a brother of mine,” Kyler Murray said about James Conner. “To see him go down like that, you never want to see that and I understand it’s a part of the game, but it’s not ideal. All the work he puts in, [and] who he is as a person, you don’t want to see him hurt like that. So, yeah, it’s tough.”

That emotional weight is now a foundational part of this offense. Murray’s stat line against the 49ers—a 62.9 CMP% for just 159 yds and 1 TD—was a definite step back from his 72.4 CMP% for 163 yards and 2 TDs in the opener against the Saints. It’s a frustrating inconsistency that has the whole offense in a rut.

It’s one thing to lose a game, but it’s another entirely to face a new set of hurdles just 4 days later, especially when those hurdles come in the form of your starting O-line. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have their own issues, but the sheer scale of the Cardinals’ problem is something else entirely.

Kyler Murray’s Cardinals’ O-curse

In their last six games against the Seahawks, the Cardinals have been cooking up an average of just 13.5 points per game under Gannon. They haven’t scored more than 21 points against Seattle since their lone win in 2021, and that was with Colt McCoy at QB, because Murray was injured. The offense’s inability to find the end zone is something that has haunted them for what feels like a decade, a suffocating presence that smothers every drive. They had a shot against the Niners last week but came up just short.

It’s all part of the cycle. The last time the Cardinals beat the Hawks, Colt McCoy was slinging it for 328 yards and 2 TDs in a 23-13 win. Since then? Seven straight losses, one to Russell Wilson (who is now swapped with Dart post 0-3 as Giants QB), and the second-round pick Geno Smith.

Now they’ll face Sam Darnold, and the hope is that a change in opposing QB will break the curse. But is it really a curse, or is it simply a matter of their own self-inflicted wounds? And so, the stage is set. The Cardinals’ injury crisis has significantly exacerbated the stress on Kyler Murray after he pointed fingers for last week’s loss, making an already difficult situation worse.