Kliff Kingsbury had watched his team fall behind by 10, then by 13, then 13 again in the first half. He’d seen Russell Wilson put his MVP credentials on display. He watched a potential pick-six by his best defensive player, Budda Baker, get wiped out by the freakish athleticism of Seattle’s rising young star D.K. Metcalf, and he and his team had somehow survived one botched game-winning field-goal attempt in overtime already.
It felt like his Cardinals were on their 10th life, past midnight on the East Coast.
And yet, what the second-year Arizona coach saw on his sideline as Isaiah Simmons picked off Wilson with less than a minute to play, to create one more chance for the home team to win the game, belied all the zaniness we witnessed in primetime.