Just minutes after pushing a 53-yard FG wide right, one that could’ve sealed the game and sent the home crowd shuffling for the parking lots, Seahawks kicker Jason Myers was back on the Arizona turf. The clock was a blip away from zero. The stadium held its breath. A 52-yard walk-off field goal. Seattle wins, 23-20. And in that one, final, perfect kick, the story of the entire night changed. It started as a concussive, ugly slog, a slow burn of mistakes and stalled drives. However, the Cardinals did not just lose the game; they also lost their wide receiver, Simi Fehoko, to an injury.

It was in this haze that the news broke: “Cardinals WR Simi Fehoko just walked out of the locker room in street clothes,” reporter Josh Weinfuss noted. “Looks like he’s done for the day.” A guy with just 10 career receptions and one solitary TD to his name, even before he could note a stat, was ruled out with a concussion.

Fehoko was a fifth-round pick back in 2021 and landed on the Cardinals’ practice squad after missing the initial 53-man cut in late August. But when Joey Blount went down with a neck and concussion injury, the door opened. He was bumped up to the active roster, where he was expected to help on special teams and provide depth in the wide receiver room as the season rolls on. But his recent injury is a perfectly brutal metaphor for a Cardinals team that looked like it had taken a few too many shots to the head.

Before that kick, the narrative was of a beaten-down team. After it? It’s a story of a stunning, albeit incomplete, comeback. A tale of how a team can look hopelessly broken, only to find a pulse. The early part of this desert night was an exercise in futility for the Cardinals’ offense.

Kyler Murray, who finished with just 116 passing yards in the first half, was cooking up more turnovers than TDs (Had been chased out by Lawrence before his thigh injury). Coby Bryant picked him off, only to run into his own teammate in a bizarre moment of football-as-slapstick, fumbling the ball back to the Cards for a single, ugly FG.

Then came the second INT, a truly brutal one. A perfect throw from Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. on a critical third and 11, and the player bobbled right into the arms of Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV. And it didn’t stop there. A second-half drive was the perfect encapsulation of a team that couldn’t get out of its own way. A second-and-17 where protection crumbled so fast Murray had to bail for no gain. A screen pass that Greg Dortch just dropped. It was a mess.

But something flipped. Somewhere around the 6-minute mark of the fourth quarter, with the Seahawks leading 20-6, the tide turned.

From maelstrom to momentum

The Cardinals’ offense, which had looked so lifeless, found its footing. It started with Harrison Jr. He’d been struggling all night, but when he came alive, he did so in cinematic fashion, making a magnificent, acrobatic catch over top Seahawks corner Devon Witherspoon for a TD that cut the lead to 20-13. Then, after Myers’ miss from 53 yards out, Arizona got the ball back with a chance to tie.

Emari Demercado, sneaking out of the backfield, cruised in for a 7-yard TD pass to tie the game with less than a minute remaining. Ultimately, though, a special teams blunder, Chad Ryland’s kickoff landed short, giving the Seahawks a short field at the 40-yard line. Sam Darnold, who was efficient all night with a 111.4 rating and no turnovers, didn’t miss his opportunity, eventually winning the game. However, they too, lost a player to the injury. 

Like the Cardinals, the Seahawks lost DeMarcus Lawrence in Week 4. The defensive end left the game with a thigh injury in the second quarter, after trying to chase down Kyler Murray for a sack. He went to the medical tent and did not return to finish the game.

So, all in all, for the Cardinals, it was a second straight week of losing on a last-second kick. For everyone else, it was a reminder that even in the most brutal of games, a moment of beautiful redemption can be just a swing away, as HC said. “I’m proud of the resiliency of the group,” Gannon said, “but everybody has to be better.” The Cardinals are now sitting at the bottom of the NFC West with a 2-2 record.