The Arizona Cardinals will have their fourth starting quarterback this season after coach Kliff Kingsbury announced that David Blough will get the nod for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

Blough, signed off the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad on December 14, will fill in for a still-injured Colt McCoy.

McCoy had cleared the NFL's concussion protocol earlier this week but reported a recurrence of symptoms following Thursday's practice.

Kingsbury told reporters on Friday that McCoy, who inherited the starting job after Kyler Murray tore his ACL in Week 14, will likely be held out of Arizona's final game of the season at San Francisco as well.

McCoy also missed the Cardinals' 19-16 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Christmas Day. Trace McSorley made his first NFL start and threw for 217 yards with one interception while completing 24 of 45 passes.

Kingsbury said the Cardinals want to get a further look at Blough, a five-game starter for the Detroit Lions in 2019, and then will decide between his options as to who will start on Week 18.

"We'll give him a chance, evaluate him, and see how that goes," Kingsbury said of Blough.

"The last week, we'll see where we're at and name a starter then.

"[Trace] is a competitor, but he understands the situation we are in and where we are at. There is some evaluation that needs to be done at this point."

Blough went 0-5 when pressed into duty as a rookie for the Lions. The 27-year-old threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns in his NFL debut on Thanksgiving Day of 2019, but completed just 52.9 per cent of his passes with five interceptions over his four subsequent starts.

He will be taking the field on Sunday for a Cardinals team that has lost five straight games and sits last in the NFC West at 4-11, one year after finishing 11-6 and reaching the playoffs. 

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said "you can't ask for anything more" from Colt McCoy after leading the NFL high-flyers to a 23-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Kyler Murray's absence.

McCoy started for the third straight game in Murray's absence, due to an ankle injury, completing 35 of 44 attempts for 328 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.

The 35-year-old quarterback struggled in last week's 34-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers, completing 11 of 20 throws for 107 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. He also picked up a pectoral injury but bounced back against the Seahawks.

"He was tremendous," Kingsbury said at the post-game news conference. "Last week was an overall struggle. The game plan, the execution was bad, everyone played poorly. That's hard to put anything on him.

"To be in his role and come in and get two divisional road wins against those teams like he did and play as efficiently as he did, you can't ask for anything more.

"He was tremendous. His leadership all week, the way he carries himself, he was awesome."

He added: "He's been through it. He's seen the ups, seen the downs. He knows he can play in this league and play at a high level."

"It's just my responsibility. That's how I see it," Arizona's backup QB McCoy said.

"I came here to be a part of this team and this group, and when your number's called, that's my role, and I'm proud to have won a couple games on the road."

The win moved the Cardinals to 9-2, sitting top of the NFC West division. Arizona also boast a 6-0 away record this season.

Arizona are the third team in league history to win their first six road games by double figures, joining the 1968 Cowboys and 1936 Bears.

"To not have those guys in November at all play, have the best record in football, be undefeated in the division, says a lot about that coaching staff and those player in the locker room," Kingsbury said.

"They continue to fight, continue to work hard, we've just got to continue getting better."

Despite an underwhelming Patrick Mahomes performance, the Kansas City Chiefs bailed out their star quarterback in a 19-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Mahomes did not throw or rush for a touchdown on Sunday, the former NFL MVP finishing 23-of-37 passing for 260 yards, an interception and a fumble.

But the Chiefs (7-4) leaned on their defence to take down Dak Prescott and the Cowboys (7-3) for their fourth successive victory.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 63 yards and a touchdown in his return from injured reserve in Kansas City, where Chris Jones and the Chiefs made life difficult for Cowboys QB Prescott.

Prescott was held to 216 yards passing while he was intercepted twice on the road by the Chiefs, whose defence have allowed fewer than 20 points in four consecutive games.

The last time they achieved the feat was a five-game streak from Weeks 11-16 in 2019, and just over a month after that streak they won the Super Bowl.

 

No Murray, No worries for Cardinals

Kyler Murray sat out his third straight game, however, the high-flying Arizona Cardinals still topped the Seattle Seahawks 23-13.

In the absence of their star quarterback due to an ankle problem, backup Colt McCoy stepped up in an impressive performance as he threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns away to the Seahawks in Seattle.

Russell Wilson was outplayed by McCoy in his first home start since finger surgery, the Super Bowl champion completing 14 of 26 passes for 207 yards but no touchdowns, while he sacked on four occasions.

The Cardinals improved to 9-2 as the slumping Seahawks (3-7) lost for the fifth time in their past six games.

It took Aaron Rodgers a while to find his rhythm as he returned on Sunday, but the Green Bay Packers' defence eased the way for him in a 17-0 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. 

Rodgers missed the Packers' Week 9 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for COVID-19 and sat out practice all this week before being cleared to play on Saturday.

That rust was evident in his comeback as the Packers (8-2) could not find the end zone until AJ Dillon rushed for the first of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns with 10:37 to play in the game. 

Rodgers ended up completing 23 of 37 passes for 292 yards with an interception, but the good news for Green Bay was that Seahawks star Russell Wilson was even less effective in his own return.

Seattle (3-6) were shut out for the first time ever with Wilson at quarterback after he went just 20-of-40 passing for 161 yards with a pair of interceptions and was sacked three times.

Wilson's 39.7 passer rating was the fourth-worst of his 166 career regular-season and playoff games following his comeback from finger surgery.

 

Panthers pound Cardinals in Newton's return

Just three days after signing with his former team, Cam Newton made an immediate impact for the Carolina Panthers as they handed the Arizona Cardinals just their second loss of the season with a 34-10 defeat.

Carolina drove deep into Arizona territory on their first two possessions of the game and sent Newton in to replace starter P.J. Walker at quarterback, with the Panthers favourite running for and passing for touchdowns on his first two snaps. 

Those scores put Carolina (5-5) on the path to a 23-0 half-time lead and Arizona (8-2) could not find a way back with Kyler Murray still absent due to an ankle injury. While his backup Colt McCoy played well in a Week 9 victory, he completed just 11 of 20 passes for 107 yards with no touchdowns and an interception against Carolina. 

Walker was 22-of-29 passing for 167 yards with an interception for Carolina, while Christian McCaffrey led all players with 95 rushing yards and 66 receiving yards. 

The Green Bay Packers' first look at life without Aaron Rodgers was not a pleasant one, as their offence sputtered with backup quarterback Jordan Love at the helm and the Kansas City Chiefs held on for a 13-7 victory. 

The Packers (7-2) had averaged 27 points during the seven-game winning streak that ended on Sunday after reigning MVP Rodgers missed the game following a positive coronavirus test during the week. 

The visitors did not get on the scoreboard until Love hit Allen Lazard for a 20-yard touchdown pass with five minutes remaining for his first career NFL TD.

That gave Green Bay some hope after their previous drive had ended with L'Jarius Sneed picking off a Love pass on Kansas City's five-yard line, but the Packers ran out of time. 

While the Chiefs (5-4) were not about to complain about the victory that got them back over .500, their season-long concerns about their offence continued as Patrick Mahomes had another unimpressive game. 

Former league MVP Mahomes completed 20 of 37 passes for just 166 yards but avoided throwing an interception for the first time since the season opener. His 54.1 completion percentage was his worst in a regular-season game since completing 51.2 per cent in a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5 last season. 

 

Cardinals cruise past 49ers without Murray

The other red-hot team playing without their star quarterback fared better, as the Arizona Cardinals rolled to a 31-17 defeat of the San Francisco 49ers despite Kyler Murray's absence through an ankle injury. 

Veteran Colt McCoy stepped in for the Cardinals and completed 22 of 26 passes for 249 yards, while James Conner rushed for 93 yards and a pair of scores as Arizona improved to 8-1. 

Three turnovers proved critical for San Francisco (3-5) as the 49ers lost two fumbles in the first half and had trouble sustaining drives throughout the game, with only 23:13 of possession compared to 36:47 for Arizona. 

Jimmy Garoppolo completed 28 of 40 passes for 326 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for San Francisco. 

In Philadelphia, Dustin Hopkins' 29-yard field goal with two seconds to play gave the Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) a 27-24 victory over the Eagles (3-6). 

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