The message was clear, from the time Bruce Arians talked about it last Monday to the inactives list pre-game to the players on the field to begin the game: The Cardinals were going to play to win, regardless of whether the NFC’s No. 1 seed was possible.
But the message apparently did not translate to the practice field during the week, and it definitely did not translate to the play against the Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“This was a valuable lesson today because you could see it coming all week,” Arians said after the Cardinals were whipped, 36-6.