Watt: Cardinals' wild-card rout a 'massive failure'

Star defensive lineman J.J. Watt gave a blunt assessment of the Arizona Cardinals' 34-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round.

"It was a massive failure," Watt said, according to team reporter Darren Urban. "From what we were capable of doing, to what we showed we could do, to today. There is no other way to describe it."

The five-time All-Pro made an improbable return for the playoff matchup, his first game action since suffering a shoulder injury in a Week 7 contest against the Houston Texans.

Quarterback Kyler Murray echoed Watt's sentiment after the lopsided defeat. "I agree," he said. "I play to win the Super Bowl."

The two-time Pro Bowl passer struggled in his playoff debut, throwing for just 28 yards and tossing two interceptions by halftime. Murray finished the night passing for 137 yards, two interceptions, and having a passing rating of 40.9.

Murray shouldered the blame for the Cardinals' offensive woes.

"I put a lot on my shoulders," he said. "I put a lot on myself. My first game in the playoffs and to play the way I did, to play the way we did, it was disappointing."

Monday's performance was a far cry from the 7-0 start to the season for the Cardinals. Despite sporting a 10-2 mark toward the final stretch of the regular season, they dropped five of their final six contests, including the wild-card game.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that "overall, as an offense, we were out of sync."

The coach added that more experience will only help Arizona moving forward and stated that the club will examine ways to be more formidable late in the season, an issue for the Cardinals the past two years.

"We've got to keep looking at it," he said. "Keep trying to find new ways to improve later on in the season, whatever that may be. That's definitely a priority of the offseason."

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