Trent Sherfield talked quietly. In the end, the Cardinals' loss was not on the rookie wide receiver, not in a game where the Cards again got leaky at inopportune times on run defense or had trouble sustaining overall offensive consistency. Such things were the story of the season, and again in Seattle. But Sherfield was down about the drop he had late in the game. Zane Gonzalez booted a 55-yard field goal on the next play to tie the game, but had Sherfield held on to the third-down throw, the Cardinals would have had a first down inside the Seahawks' 20 and, who knows? Maybe they finish the drive with a touchdown, eating much more time off the clock.

"No excuse for it -- I've got to come down with that play," Sherfield said of his diving attempt. "We've practiced it countless times, we knew what they'd be playing (defensively), we ran the right route. I've just got to come down with that play."

Guys like Sherfield, like quarterback Josh Rosen, they are rookies that should benefit from all the playing time they got this season. It didn't look good on the field much of the time. The hope is that it will pay off in 2019. The Cardinals, for their misery, get the No. 1 overall draft pick (and, because no one tied their record, the first pick of every round of the draft.) There is cap space to use.

But there is a lot of work to be done. First the status of the coaches has to be clarified. That'll be soon, one way or another. The dominoes fall after that. There also isn't much to be said in particular tonight. There will be more to say Monday. The Cardinals would've enjoyed a win in Seattle, but already the page is being turned to 2019. It was all but turned for a while -- which, frankly, is why it did mean a little something that the Cards nearly got their rivals on the road. A little.

-- Josh Rosen said he thinks he's a better quarterback than the guy who started against the Seahawks in Week 4 to begin his career. I think he probably is just with the work. But we are far away from knowing what Rosen can be. He will continue to be the story.

-- Gonzalez drilled the 55-yarder. The man has a huge leg. We'll see if the Cardinals put him through a kicking competition -- and he wasn't biting on the question of whether he feels he should have the job -- but that kick, in a pressure situation, was good to see for everyone involved.

"It was awesome," Gonzalez said. "It was an amazing way to end the season and go into the offseason like that."

-- The interception by David Amerson was the Cardinals' first pick since Week 7 against Denver, which is kind of crazy to think.

-- The Chandler Jones strip-sack/Patrick Peterson TD fumble return wiped out by the Haason Reddick defensive holding got some riled up on Twitter. But on the replay? Perhaps it could've been let go, but there is no question Reddick's quick hook, however brief, knocked Doug Baldwin off his route.

-- Andy Lee, averaging close to 50 yards a punt Sunday, led the NFL this season. Lee set a franchise record at 48.6 yards per punt.

-- I'm sure the Cardinals are wishing hard now that Rosen didn't take that sack late in the first half, costing Gonzalez a field goal try. Wilks said the Cards wanted one more shot at the end zone with 11 seconds left. But it bit them, and there was some blame for all involved.

-- Special teams was excellent. Jeff Rodgers (and assistant Randall McCray) have done a very good job with a unit that has not been good the last couple of years. And I don't know what kind of linebacker Dennis Gardeck can be, but the rookie is hellacious on special teams.

-- There will be a mailbag Tuesday, so if you want to send in a question, click here.

-- Finally, I've said it a few times, but I don't know what Fitz will do in terms of 2019. He said it himself Sunday, if he knew, he'd stop all the questions by saying what's what. But he doesn't. So he can't. He should've had some better numbers Sunday through no fault of his own. The guy can still play. I have zero doubt that if he wants to play, a contract -- which he currently doesn't have for 2019 -- will be quickly figured out. Either way, through all the ups and downs of the season, he's still pretty good. That's not hard to figure out.

Time to go home.