Cardinals’ offensive line contributes to disappointing performance against Seahawks

Carson Palmer’s 12th and 13th interceptions on the season might have highlighted the Arizona Cardinals’ inability to muster much of an offensive attack in their 34-22 loss to the Seattle Seahawks Thursday night, but they weren’t the only story.

Arizona ran for a season-low 30 yards on 18 carries, and the offensive line also allowed a season-high seven sacks to go along with 13 quarterback hits.

If not for a nine-play, 71-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter, Bruce Arians’ squad would have finished on the south side of both 20 points and 200 yards.

“Obviously it wasn’t our best,” Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said when asked what he thought of the offensive performance. “The last few drives were okay when we were in the two-minute catch-up, but you’ve got to be able to run the football with some semblance of success. And we didn’t get that done.”

Although the name and face might be different, the 12-point loss brought about a recurring theme that’s plagued the organization for several years: poor pass protection at left tackle.

Thursday night, it was Bradley Sowell who struggled to maintain Seattle’s edge rushers — be it Chris Clemons or on occasion Bruce Irvin.

Asked what he thought of the 24-year-old’s struggles, Arians said he wasn’t going to be quick to rush any judgements.

“I can’t walk in here and talk about a guy’s performance without watching the tape,” said Arians. “Obviously, he was battling his tail off. I know he gave up at least one sack, but I don’t grade guys watching games.”

Sowell, who was making just his third start of the season after the team traded Levi Brown back on Oct. 2, spoke with the media after Thursday’s game and noted that because of the deficit Arizona faced in the second half, Seattle’s front four had a much easier time scheming against the pass.

“When you’re playing against the Seahawks and you’re in a two-minute drill in the third quarter and you can’t establish the run, obviously it’s one-on-one pass rush for the whole game,” Sowell said. “They know it’s a pass, and you just have to go out there and fight. [Chris Clemons] got me outright tonight on a sack, but other than that I followed him the best I could.

“He’s a great player obviously and been playing a long time. I went out there and battled my hardest, whatever happened happened. We were in a tough situation from the get go.”

That situation might get even tougher, depending on the health of left guard Daryn Colledge. Colledge left Thursday’s contest in the third quarter after Palmer’s second interception due to an apparent lower back injury.

Arians said after the game that Arizona ‘would wait and see’ on his status for the team’s Week 8 game against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 27.

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