The play was a microcosm of the Cards night: Good enough to stay in it, but not enough to overcome the self-inflicted wounds.

At 10-3, Arizona fell from first in the NFC to third with the loss and opened the door for the Rams in the NFC West. The Cards sit with a one-game lead in the division with four to play.

Arizona’s miscues could either be cause for concern in the desert or a sign that there were plays to be made that could have turned a loss into a win.

Murray missed a wide-open A.J. Green on the first drive for a would-be TD. The QB threw a red-zone pick on the game’s second drive when Arizona could have gone up double-digits early. He threw another INT that led directly to a TD in which the Rams needed only go 19 yards. DeAndre Hopkins had a fourth-down pass careen off his normally sure hands. Conner was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 play later in the quarter. The defense gave up big plays. And multiple penalties kept Rams drives alive.

The Cards lost a game in which they outgained the Rams 447 to 356 in total yards of offense, and had the first-down edge 22-18. It was the miscues that, much like the end of the loss to Green Bay, haunted Arizona.

“We lost, and obviously everybody wanted to win,” Murray said. “It was a big game for us. But I’m not discouraged by what happened.”