In the NFL, there's a big difference between a bad day and a bad team.
The Cardinals are straddling a precarious line.
Following a 30-18 loss to the Seahawks Sunday at State Farm Stadium, they can no longer be considered a good team. They are no longer a winning team. They are 6-7 and sinking fast, a team whose playoff odds plummeted all the way to 12 percent.
"Disappointing loss," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said. "(We) didn't play our best ball there. I've got to find some answers to get us going a little bit."
The turnabout has been ugly and demoralizing.
The Cardinals entered their bye week with a three-game winning streak, including two consecutive blowout victories. Gannon was in the mix for Coach of the Year honors while Kyler Murray was flirting with MVP candidacy.
Three weeks later, they've been exposed upfront; Murray is once again in the crosshairs of a growing legion of critics; and the Cardinals are now owners of a three-game losing streak.
Once, there was real hope. Today, there is real disgust. Murray is playing his worst football of the season. His two first-quarter interceptions led to 14 Seattle points, marking the first time in his career he has thrown picks on consecutive passes.
Since the bye week, Murray has lost twice to Geno Smith and is now 0-5 lifetime against the Seahawks quarterback. He also made a series of late mental errors in a loss to Sam Darnold's Vikings. The NFL is a league for closers and finishers, and Murray has a history of struggling mightily in December, where he has now lost 13 of 20 games. It appears he is fading once again.
After the game, Gannon thought Murray fought admirably after the two interceptions, and issued the following statement to his critics:
"The reason we're playing meaningful games in December ... he's a huge part of that," Gannon said.
Even more frustrating, their conservative approach on offense has turned cowardly. One negative play and it feels like offensive coordinator Drew Petzing immediately hoists a white flag, resulting in give-up plays and passive checkdowns.
It's the opposite of what Valley fans are getting from ASU football under Kenny Dillingham, which makes the aesthetics even worse.
Credit the Seahawks, a team with a long history at State Farm Stadium. They threw away a Super Bowl victory here against the Patriots in 2015. Marshawn Lynch made an obscene gesture here while catapulting himself backwards into the end zone. They lost Earl Thomas in this building, a player who suffered a serious injury and flipped off his head coach (Pete Carroll) as he was carted off the field. This is the site of Russell Wilson's first and last game in Seattle.
On Sunday, it was all good for the visiting Seahawks, who amassed 176 rushing yards; held Trey McBride without a reception in the first half; and earned a two-game lead over the Cardinals with all the tiebreakers. And it continued a slippery slide for the Cardinals, who blew a chance to post four consecutive victories at home for the first time since 2015.
Maybe the Cardinals are not ready for prime-time or the postseason. Entering Sunday's game, they had beaten only one team with a winning record (Chargers). Maybe they just need more time.
Or maybe they're still lacking a real franchise quarterback and a lot further away than anyone cares to admit.