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Five Takeaways From Cardinals' 34-26 Loss to Vikings

The Arizona Cardinals seemed to take one step forward and two steps back in all phases of their Week 8 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Ryan Sanudo

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The Arizona Cardinals fell short to the Minnesota Vikings, losing 34-26 on the road Sunday.

They've now lost their last two road games after winning their first two games away from State Farm Stadium. Week 9 will be pivotal for the Cardinals as they'll be entering with a 3-5 record and going up against the divisional rival Seattle Seahawks for the final time.

Here are the team's three takeaways following their Week 8 loss.

Poor Rush Defense 

The theme of the day was the dominance of the Vikings' rushing offense. 

Dalvin Cook headlined the group, rushing 16 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Backup Alexander Mattison had five rushing attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown. 

Even Kirk Cousins joined the party with a 17-yard rushing touchdown of his own.

Minnesota's running backs benefited from missed tackles throughout the game. 

Arizona had defended the run well entering Week 8. The Cardinals' defense ranked 6th in the league against the run coming into today. They had not allowed more than 139 yards on the ground through its 3-4 start.

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will have to look at the film and figure their rushing defense out fast. The Cardinals face the Seahawks, who have a valiant rushing attack that begins with Kenneth Walker.

Kyler Murray Has So-So Day

While the Cardinals lost, it's hard to put much of the blame on Murray. The fourth-year quarterback completed 31 of 44 passes for 326 yards and three passing touchdowns with two interceptions. One of Murray's interceptions was a miscommunication with Ertz as Murray anticipated him to go up the seam.

Murray ended up with a 95.5 passer rating. 

In one of Murray's passing touchdowns, he found DeAndre Hopkins, who one-handed a six-yard pass with under a minute remaining in the second half.

He also led the team in rushing with 36 yards on six carries. But he was also sacked four times.

At the end of the day, it wasn't a terrific, or disappointing outing for Murray.

Turnovers Were the Difference

The second half was a nightmare for the Cardinals when it came to turnovers. 

Murray threw two second-half interceptions. The Cardinals lost another possession on a muffed punt from Greg Dortch, which gave the Vikings great field position at the AZ 25. Minnesota would later score a touchdown on a Cousins five-yard pass to KJ Osborn.

Arizona only forced one turnover and that came from an Isaiah Simmons strip-sack on Cousins. 

The Cardinals didn't post an interception and the defensive backs had a tough time covering Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, as both combined for 12 receptions on 155 yards.

Penalties Were Killer

With Halloween approaching Monday, penalties haunted the Cardinals and it hurt them badly. They had 10 penalties for 67 yards.

With less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Eno Benjamin was called for an illegal block in which Murray ran for six yards and was getting out of bounds. That play made it 1st-and-25. While Murray did complete a pass for 24 yards to Hopkins on the next play, Arizona later give up two sacks to end the game.

Overall, things need to be tightened up under head coach Kliff Kingsbury as communication continued to be a concern for the team. 

Keep Feeding Nuk

Good things happen when Murray and DeAndre Hopkins connect.

Hopkins caught 12 receptions for a whopping 159 yards, including a one-handed touchdown snag.

The veteran receiver has 22 receptions for 237 yards in the two games since returning from his six-game suspension. Arizona should continue to target Hopkins each week, no matter what.

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Ryan Sanudo
RYAN SANUDO

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