👋 Good morning! I hope you’re having as happy a Monday as can be expected after being subjected to that Cardinals game yesterday.

Don’t worry, I’m here to help you talk through it — or blissfully ignore it and turn your attention to an exciting weekend of NCAA activities.

In (figurative) rain or shine, I’m here to break it all down. Let’s get the ugliness out of the way, shall we?

— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

The Cardinals, coming off the emotional high of a 27-17 Monday night win, flipped the script for the worse this Sunday, falling 44-22 to the incessant Seattle Seahawks.

Jonathan Gannon has not beaten Seattle since taking over as Arizona’s head coach (0-6 in three seasons). How far we’ve fallen from a once-proud, once-chaotic, once-unpredictable rivalry.

Sunday’s game never felt close. The Cardinals went down 35-0 early in the second quarter, allowing Seattle to set the cruise control and begin drafting their victory graphics.

Are they a much tougher team than the Cowboys? Absolutely. But this type of loss is quite costly against a divisional opponent. Both the win-loss column and the mental state of this team (and all us loyal, long-suffering fans) took a major hit this weekend.

The Cardinals allowed Seattle to dominate in the trenches, giving up five sacks (two for defensive touchdowns in the first quarter). They struggled to move the ball at all until the second half, the defense played poorly, and newly-crowned starting QB Jacoby Brissett was under pressure all game.

Arizona is in trouble. They’ve got two matchups with the Rams, one with the 49ers and a handful of other tough opponents coming up. While Sunday lined up too much in Seattle’s favor prior to kickoff to be considered a must-win, it’s very difficult to overcome a 3-6 record and an 0-3 start to divisional play.

It’s a tough division, undoubtedly. But in year three, it’s time to hold your own against them.

In the first game after Kyler Murray went on Injured Reserve, Brissett had his worst performance of the season. He completed only 22 of his 44 passes and was strip-sacked twice.

Brissett looked more inaccurate than his previous three starts, missing some open targets and taking hit after hit.

Still, the veteran put out 258 passing yards and two touchdowns, with 31 more yards on the ground.

Before you get on my case — yes, it was mostly in garbage time. Arizona was never in this matchup, and Brissett did not have a good game. But would it have been better with Murray under center?

My Take: As much as this was not Brissett’s best game, there was so much more than QB play that went wrong for the Cardinals. Arizona’s defense was gashed for nearly 200 yards by Seattle’s run game, and in the few instances Sam Darnold had to throw the ball, he was finding open receivers.

Don’t let the three turnovers cloud your judgement: Sunday was a poor defensive performance by Nick Rallis and the defense.

Would Murray have, perhaps, avoided one or both of those strip-sacks? Maybe. Would he have completed a higher percentage of throws? Probably. But I’d have to wholeheartedly disagree that Arizona’s (former?) franchise QB might have won a game that was 35-0 at one point.

The unfortunate reality is the Cardinals simply did not play well in any area. McBride’s performance was the only one worthy of praise. If anything, Arizona appeared unprepared, and both sides of the line of scrimmage were simply overmatched in entirety.

Look at it this way, at least they don’t have to play the Seahawks again… until next season.

A win, at what cost: After a dominant debut, recently-returned guard Jalen Green exited early with what looked like an aggravation of his significant hamstring injury. He’s expected to be out 4-6 weeks. Just brutal.

The Suns did get the win over the Clippers, taking down their LA foes 114-103 behind 21 points from Devin Booker and 19 from Mark Williams.

Phoenix is back to .500 and playing good basketball — but at what cost…

The Suns will take on the Pelicans at home tonight, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Happy Homecoming: What a weekend for the Wildcats. First and foremost, Arizona football is bowl eligible again (for the first time under Brent Brennan) after engineering a 24-20 comeback win over Kansas to improve to 6-3. RB Quincy Craig scampered for the winning 24-yard score, and QB Noah Fifita’s two TD passes lifted him into a tie for the all-time program record.

Meanwhile, Arizona men’s basketball beat Utah Tech 93-67 to improve to 2-0. Three players shared the scoring lead. Freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat, as well as Anthony Dell’Orso each had 18 points, while Tobe Awaka gathered an impressive 18 rebounds.

But that’s not all. Arizona’s triathlon team won their second-straight women’s title, with senior Kelly Wetteland taking the individual victory. Arizona women’s basketball earned their second victory of the season 75-61 over UC Irvine behind a 31-point masterpiece by Mickayla Perdue.

To top it off, coach Tommy Lloyd landed four-star recruit Cameron Holmes. Quite the successful homecoming weekend for the Wildcats.

Hurley’s Heroes: Arizona State Basketball improved to 2-0 on the young season with an 81-66 win over Utah Tech in Tempe. Freshman 7-footer Mor Massamba Diop had another excellent performance, leading the Sun Devils with 18 points and six rebounds. Not a fun trip to Arizona for the Trailblazers…

Arizona State women’s basketball took a sturdy 73-58 win over Eastern Washington, as senior guard Gabby Elliott led the charge with 15 points.

Sun Devil Women’s Volleyball took a 3-1 upset win over No. 21-ranked BYU on Friday, and will play their Territorial Cup matchup this coming week.

Phoenix Sinking: Rising FC was bounced from the USL playoffs after a 1-0 loss to FC Tulsa. It was a heartbreaker, as Tulsa scored in the 121st minute of what had been a tense 0-0 game. Maybe next season.

Yeah, that about sums it up…