m just off the front of the green into a back bunker on No. 15 for another double bogey there. "Its just so brain dead," he said. "Seriously, I feel like Ive been walking around out there like t

Coach Bruce Arians is the first to admit his Arizona Cardinals did not play well during the first quarter of the season, digging an early hole during a 1/3 start in September.However, after consecutive victories by a combined score of 61-24, the defending NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals (3-3) have a chance to close to within a half-game of the division lead when the Seattle Seahawks (4-1) visit University of Phoenix Stadium for Sunday nights prime-time tilt at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.Weve been playing better. Each season is a new year, Arians said. We did not play well in September, surprising to me, but we did play very well the last two weeks, and hopefully we can continue that.Granted, beating up on the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets, who are a combined 2-10, is a different animal than facing Seattle. The Seahawks are coming off a hard-fought win over the Atlanta Falcons, their first victory over a team with a winning record this season. It is fair to say this is a strong litmus test for teams that have combined to win 10 of the past 12 NFC West titles.The Cardinals have won four of the past five meetings, but the Seahawks have a three-game winning streak at University of Phoenix Stadium, including a 36-6 victory in Week 17 last season after Arizona already clinched the division and a first-round bye in the playoffs.12s show up, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said of the teams fan base. I was asked that by their press, too, theyre aware of it as well. I guess our people like to get out of the Northwest and get down there, get to Arizona. I dont know. We have had great crowds down there, and theyve been really good to us.On the field, the Cardinals boast a dynamic weapon in running back David Johnson, who enters Sunday with 568 rushing yards (third in the NFL) and eight touchdowns on the ground to go with 20 catches for 265 yards through the air. Seattle counters with the leagues third-ranked run defense and the top unit in yards allowed per game (283.6).Arizona is still looking to get its passing game untracked, with Arians acknowledging too many potential big plays failed to be executed through six weeks. The Seahawks are fifth in fewest passing yards allowed, but they did get beat for a pair of late big plays to fall behind against Atlanta last week. One miscommunication resulted in Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman yelling at defensive coordinator Kris Richard and inactive strong safety Kam Chancellor on the sideline.I mean its another week, its another opponent, everything starts over, said Sherman. Were frustrated, if theyre going to score, its going to be a very difficult score. Its going to be something that was just a dog fight. We hate to give up easy ones.Sherman may not shadow a receiver with the Cardinals sporting several playmakers. Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer, with some of his receivers matched up against Seahawks cornerbacks DeShawn Shead and Jeremy Lane, will have a prime opportunity to regain his form. He enters with seven touchdowns against five interceptions and an 84.1 passer rating.Its been not as easy as in the past. Weve missed some, theyre there, we just havent hit them, Arians said of the Cardinals passing game. Well get our opportunities, and we just have to keep throwing at them.Arians knows his team will be equally challenged on the other side of the ball. Arizona sports the leagues No. 5 defense entering Sunday, but last year, it did not successfully handle the Seahawks transformation to a more wide-open attack based on the throwing of quarterback Russell Wilson.Wilson completed 19 of 28 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns in Week 17 last season, and he enters Sunday with a streak of 158 consecutive passes without an interception. In fact, he has thrown only two in 12 games dating back to Week 10 of last season.He compiled those figures despite playing on right ankle and left knee sprains that clearly limited his mobility. Arizona has 19 sacks on the season and is facing a reworked Seattle offensive line that continues to experience growing pains, but Arians said the 5-foot-11 Wilson has developed into far more than a scrambling quarterback who hurts defenses on the run and on busted plays.Years ago everybody said, Make him stay in the pocket, Arians said. Now you rush him and hope you can contain him because hes lighting everybody up from the pocket.More to the point, Wilson is steadily getting closer to full health.Were just continuing to count on him to get out there and do his thing, Carroll said. He feels better again, hes markedly improved than he has been the last couple weeks. Lets see how that goes.Were going to keep running the stuff and count on him to read the things out and do all that he knows how to do. Were not restricting him at all.Arizona travels for a rematch against struggling defending NFC champion Carolina next week before hitting its bye week, while Seattle travels to New Orleans before returning home for a Monday night tilt against resurgent Buffalo and a trip to New England before playing host to Philadelphia. So the outcome of Sundays game could have a significant impact on what will be at stake when the Cardinals pay a visit to Seattle on Christmas Eve in Week 16.While Carroll harped on the importance of his 12s, Arians had a bit of a different take on why the home-field advantage might not be as significant as many assume. In his view, the crowd noise impacts his defense just as much in trying to contain Wilson & Co.I think one of the big things is the home-team defense is really hard to communicate, Arians said. 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Cheap Off White Vapormax China .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Wholesale Vapormax 2020 . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.GULLANE, Scotland - Rory McIlroy was ready to get some help after a fat 42 on the back nine almost surely put him out of contention in the British Open barely after it began. Not with his swing. With his mind. "Sometimes I feel like Im walking out there and Im unconscious," McIlroy said. McIlroy imploded with a startling series of missed shots on the back nine Thursday on his way to a 7-over 79 that demonstrated just how much the former No. 1 player in the world is struggling with his game. He was a staggering 13 shots off the lead even though he felt he hit the ball decently all day. It left him talking about seeing a sports psychologist to figure out why he cant score like he used to even after doing everything he could to make his game work. "Its a very alien feeling," McIlroy said. "Its something Ive never had to deal with before." McIlroy seemed bewildered after a round of missed opportunities, missed putts and even a putt that went into a bunker. By the time he tapped in for a final bogey on the 18th hole and shook hands with playing partners Phil Mickelson and Hideki Matsuyama it was all he could do to add up the damage and sign his card. A few days earlier, McIlroy was talking about how hopeful he was that he was finally ready to come out of a season-long slump. On this unusually warm day on the Scottish coast he sounded like he was searching desperately for something, anything really, that could save his game. "I just need to try to think more," he said. "Im trying to focus and trying to concentrate. But, yeah, I cant really fathom it at the minute and its hard to stand up here and tell you guys whats really wrong." It was just 11 months ago that the 24-year-old McIlroy won the PGA Championship for his second major championship win. Since then, he ditched the clubs that had served him well to sign a rich endoorsement deal with Nike.dddddddddddd He put a new driver in the bag for the Open, hoping to straighten out a flaw that had him leaving his tee shots to the right. But thats just where he was on the 10th hole, deep in knee-high rough on his way to his first bogey on a back nine littered with big scores. The swing, he insisted, was fine. But the mental errors added up quickly, with McIlroy making a double bogey on the 12th hole after short siding himself with a short iron and putting from just off the front of the green into a back bunker on No. 15 for another double bogey there. "Its just so brain dead," he said. "Seriously, I feel like Ive been walking around out there like that for the last couple of months. Im trying to get out of it. I just dont quite know why." McIlroy, who has yet to win this year and finished tied for 41st last month in the U.S. Open, was candid as he answered questions after his round in a steamy interview area off the 18th green. He stood with his hands in his pockets and talked about how things werent all that bad before he began making mental errors on the back nine. Its the first time in his career that he has struggled for so long, and McIlroy acknowledged it was difficult to deal with. But he rejected the notion that having big success at such an early age may have set him up for some failures now. "I dont think so," he said. "All youre trying to do is get the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots as possible. Thats all youre thinking about out there or trying to think about. And thats what Ive been so good in the past, and obviously thats the point Im trying to get back to." If McIlroy needed any reminder of how far he has fallen it came when he was playing the back nine and his name appeared on a leaderboard just off the 15th hole. It was a mistake, and quickly taken down. ' ' '