GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Arizona Cardinals’ 38-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday wasn’t just their third straight loss since their bye – it completed a rapid slide from the top of the NFC West to the bottom in less than a year a month.

On November 10, after defeating the New York Jets for the fourth straight year, the Cardinals took first place in the NFC West and were ready for the playoffs. Since then, they have lost all three games and are 6-7 in a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for last place, likely ending their playoff hopes.

After ESPN Analytics entered Sunday’s game with a 36% chance of making the playoffs, the Cardinals now have an 11% chance. The Cardinals now have a lot of questions about what just happened.

“I need to find some answers to get us going a little bit,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “We haven’t played great here in the last few weeks, that’s on me.”

“So we have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow, get these things corrected, get them in a better position and we have to win a game.”

To get those answers, Gannon said he and the Cardinals’ coaching staff will make sure they “think critically” about putting players in the right positions. Part of Gannon’s fixes will be to “tweak some things.” Gannon didn’t elaborate, but added that Arizona would stick with its process.

The Cardinals’ locker room was melancholy after the game, partly because of the loss and partly because of the position they had put themselves in – which Gannon described as “a bit of a hole.” Linebacker Kyzir White said the Cardinals knew Sunday was a “big game” for their postseason ambitions, but “losing the way we did was definitely a bad feeling,” wide receiver Zach Pascal called it disappointing but said the current situation was a lesson to be learned from.

“Situations like this will show you who you have on your team,” he said. “If you have someone who says, ‘Okay, we did it.’ I think we don’t even need you here. We’ll preach all the time, “Keep swinging, keep swinging, resilience, that’s what got us here.”

“So we have to continue on this path. We just have to get better results.”

However, among the tattered pieces of tape strewn across the locker room fall were a few answers to why the Cardinals have lost three straight and are in last place.

“We’re just not performing to our expectations and not meeting our expectations in all three phases,” White said. “I just feel like we should be more complete.”

Pascal added: “Penalties killed us. I mean, they killed us.”

Although Pascal felt Arizona had steadily improved, he said the Cardinals were “tired of the result.”

“I feel like we need to sort out our penalties,” he said. “We have to concentrate more on the technique and details in the game and on offense.”

“I just think we play a little too unfocused and don’t focus on details.”

The frustration of losing control of one’s own destiny spread throughout the locker room after the game.

“Yeah, it sucks. “Obviously it sucks when you feel like you put yourself in that position, but at the end of the day we have to show up,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “We have to be there, we have to be there. We have another home game next week. When it comes down to it, we do our best.”

Murray was responsible for the loss after throwing two picks, both of which the Seahawks turned into touchdowns. But the sixth-year quarterback doesn’t feel like he needs to apply pressure to turn losses into wins starting Sunday against the New England Patriots.

“I feel like I let the team down today,” Murray said. “It’s self-explanatory. That’s not possible.”