Dan Bickley

azcentral sports

There is a good chance you loathe the Seahawks, and many reasons why: Pete Carroll’s incessant gum chomping, the motor-mouth of Richard Sherman and those smug Seattle fans who believe their team and their city is profoundly better than yours.

You will not be very happy this week.

Of all the crazy things that have gone down at University of Phoenix Stadium over the years, this game might be the strangest of all: a 6-6 tie against the Seahawks that included a last-second reprieve yet ended up feeling like a dreadful, nauseating loss for the Cardinals.

Because that’s what it represented, a lost opportunity to jump back into the divisional race. And in the end, the Valley’s rudest houseguest had left its mark once again.

“It’s just unfortunate that we got a tie,” Cardinals defensive lineman Frostee Rucker said. “Because a tie feels like a loss in this locker room.”

There was nothing inequitable about overtime. Both teams inexplicably missed game-winning field goals. Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians threw his play-calling chart down in anger. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll looked on in disbelief, just as he did when his team blew the Super Bowl in this very stadium.

RELATED: Cardinals tie showcases all sides of Arians

But there was nothing equitable about the outcome. The Cardinals left points all over the field. They had two kicks blocked, including a fourth-quarter punt that ruined the shutout and the evening. And just when their offense stepped up and did something clutch, producing a field goal on their first possession of overtime, their defense went to sleep and Chandler Catanzaro failed them again on "Sunday Night Football."

The Cardinals’ placekicker missed a game-winner against the Patriots. He missed a short-range attempt against Seattle that could have changed the tone of the NFC West race. He is not in a good place with Arians, who kept trying to score a touchdown at the end of overtime. Now you know why.

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And guess what he said to his kicker?

“Make it,” Arians said. “This is professional (football). This isn’t high school. You get paid to make it.”

Inside the locker room, the Cardinals defended Catanzaro, although this is the kind of ending that can breed contempt within a football team.

“We have the best kicker in the league,” Cardinals linebacker Deone Bucannon said. “Everybody knows that in this locker room.”

That will be little consolation in the days ahead.

RELATED: Special teams gaffes lead to a tie for Cardinals

The Cardinals should have won this game with defense. They have allowed nine points and zero touchdowns in the past two games. They often put Seattle in 3rd-and-forever. Who would have ever believed this team’s identity would shift away from an offensive juggernaut to that side of the ball?

They should have won this game with toughness. While he was awful for most of the night, Michael Floyd flattened a Seahawks defender with a vicious block. Jermaine Gresham sent an opponent flying out of bounds with a powerful elbow. Cardinals defenders hit Russell Wilson all night, usually with malice. There was a level of sustained physicality that we haven’t always seen from this team.

“I think that was obvious,” Arians said.

This game was pivotal on many levels. The Cardinals needed a victory to close the gap in the NFC West. They needed to win for the pride of football fans in the Valley, who have grown tired of being taunted inside their own stadium. The previous three games at University of Phoenix Stadium had been non-competitive, with Seattle outscoring the Cardinals by a wide margin (105-34) and punching them in their collective mouth (547-86 edge in rushing yards).

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Cardinals fans held their own, too. In recent years, their nest has been overflowing with Seahawks faithful, a fan base that hates the 49ers but loves weekend trips to Arizona even more. This time, it appeared that most Cardinals fans resisted the urge to sell their tickets to the enemy.

But the offense continues to struggle. Wide receivers refuse to make big plays. Floyd keeps dropping passes, including a big one on the first possession of overtime.

This wasn’t Carson Palmer’s fault. The quarterback dismissed concerns about his injured hamstring and his abilities in the clutch. He even scrambled for an eight-yard gain, the second-longest run by either team in the first half.

But none of that matters when you squander a game you deserved to win, and afterward, Arians was so mad at the officiating crew that he took a heavy shot at the league.

MORE: Injury, illness force Cardinals to juggle WRs

According to Arians, Bobby Wagner twice made contact with his center on a field goal attempt. The first resulted in a highlight-reel play, with Wagner jumping over the long snapper to block the kick.

“I’m sure I’ll talk to the league and we’ll get some kind of explanation that’s all bulls--t like normal,” Arians said.

Nevertheless, Wagner’s block marked the third miscue from the field goal unit this season, following a botched game-winning field goal against New England and the play in Buffalo that cost the previous long snapper his job. It symbolized all the little things that the Cardinals aren’t doing well, the stuff that’s driving fans crazy.

“It’s disheartening to play that well and not come out of here with a victory,” Arians said.

The Cardinals remain 1½ games behind Seattle, but will face another stiff challenge. They must flush the disappointment of a tie that feels like a loss. They must return to Carolina, site of their last two playoff losses, against a Panthers team coming off a bye week.

Neither task will come easy. Very little has been during this strange season in Glendale.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him at twitter.com/danbickley. Listen to “Bickley and Marotta,” weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.