The Arizona Cardinals entered Sunday's game with with Kyler Murray inactive with a hamstring injury. That left backup Colt McCoy to start Sunday's game in Los Angeles against the Rams. As if that wasn't tough enough to overcome, during the first quarter the Cardinals lost their veteran tight end Zach Ertz.

Ertz reeled in a 12-yard reception from McCoy and appeared to suffer a knee injury. His return is questionable, but that sounds rather optimistic. Ertz was seen being carted to the locker room with his head in his hands, as noted by ESPN's Josh Weinfuss.

The Cardinals and Rams are likely playing in an elimination game. Los Angeles enters Sunday's game at 3-5, third place in the NFC West. The Cardinals are in last place at 3-6. The division-leading Seattle Seahawks lost Sunday morning in Germany to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping them to 6-4.

The Cardinals offense received a jolt a couple weeks ago when wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins returned from his six-game suspension for PED use. But losing Ertz could be a death blow to this offense. He leads the team in red zone targets this year and was quietly having a very good season.

Entering Week 10, Ertz had 46 catches for 394 yards and four touchdowns. He has been Kyler Murray's safety blanket underneath this season.

After starting 7-0 last year, the Cardinals faded away as the season progressed and ultimately were blown out by the Rams in the Wild Card round. They have a chance at some measure of revenge if they can pull off the win on the road.