Arizona Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland nailed both of his field goal attempts in Thursday night's divisional collision with the Seattle Seahawks, including a 57-yarder late in the third quarter. He will not be remembered for any of that, however, as a costly mistake contributed to a brutal 23-20 loss for the home team.
Following a terrific game-tying scoring drive that saw the Cardinals erase a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit, Ryland kicked the ball short of the landing zone on the ensuing kickoff. Under the current rules — ball must land past the 20-yard line — the penalty for such a mistake is severe. The Seahawks began the drive on their own 40-yard line with 28 seconds left, sending State Farm Stadium into a fog.
Fans' worst fears were realized shortly after, courtesy of a 22-yard Jaxon Smith-Njigba reception and a game-winning 52-yard Jason Meyers field goal. There are plenty of reasons why Arizona fell to Seattle, but special teams gaffes will invariably draw much of the focus, especially when they occur in a tie matchup seemingly destined to go into overtime. Social media was filled with fury.
“If I’m not mistaken, Chad Ryland just invented a brand new way to lose a football game,” @esquiremichael1 posted on X. “Arrest Chad Ryland immediately,” @MattGambs remarked.
The former fourth-round draft pick obviously committed a massive blunder that squandered the momentum the Cardinals had built over the last few minutes, but instead of focusing solely on the short kick, one should ask why Arizona ostensibly went away from a strategy that had worked all night. The benefits of draining several more seconds off the clock are obvious, but there is also risk involved.
Cardinals stumbled in multiple areas
“The whole game Arizona kicked to pin Seattle & the kicker did it perfectly: Kicked to SEA 4, Kicked to SEA 5, Kicked to SEA 1, Kicked to SEA 0. Avg starting field position was the 28. Then they ask him to do something different & he blows it, kicks to SEA 21, placed at the 40, game,” @SharpFootball observed.
While fans are certainly not letting Ryland off the hook, they are also breathing fire toward Arizona's special teams coach.
“Jeff Rodgers is the most experienced coach on the staff,” @WBJMItch commented. “One would think that he would have said to Chad Ryland, ‘whatever you do, make sure you kick it beyond the 20.' Yet, based on the weak sauce Chad put on the kick, apparently the message wasn't given. Chad should know the rule, but it's a coach's job in that key moment to make sure.”
Beyond the kickoff debacle, the Cardinals missed on several opportunities to flip the game. They gave up the back-breaking Smith-Njigba catch and struggled to manufacture offense until the fourth. Before securing redemption with some late heroics, embattled wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. bobbled a pass that consequently turned into an interception. This bitter defeat should not only be on Ryland's shoulders.
But that errant kickoff does encapsulate a deeper issue facing this franchise: it cannot get over the hump. The Cardinals (2-2) will try to recover from back-to-back heartbreakers when they face the winless Tennessee Titans next Sunday.
