TEMPE, Ariz. -- When the Arizona Cardinals walked out of State Farm Stadium and into the night on Oct. 25, they were in a good place.

They had just beaten the Seattle Seahawks, 37-34, to stay tied with the Los Angeles Rams for second-place in the NFC West, a game off first. Quarterback Kyler Murray was starting to be mentioned more in the MVP conversations. Arizona owned a 67% chance of making the playoffs after Week 7, according to the ESPN Football Power Index.

But something changed for the Cardinals when they returned from their bye in Week 9. And it hasn't been good since.

Arizona has lost four of its past five and that one win was clinched with a Hail Mary as time expired against the Buffalo Bills. Sunday's loss to the Rams was the Cardinals' third straight and dropped Arizona to 6-6. They now have a 43% percent chance of making the playoffs and are currently No. 8 in an NFC field that only has room for seven playoff teams.

So what happened?

It's been a combination of offensive and defensive inconsistencies. Arizona's goal-to-goal efficiency dropped from 94.4% in the first seven games to 76.9% in the last five. Arizona's time of possession dropped an entire minute in the past five games. The Cardinals are averaging 3.2 fewer points per game.

Kyler Murray's rushing numbers have dropped. He averaged 62.4 yards per game and 6.72 yards per carry through Week 7, but those numbers have dipped to 45.6 and 6.16 in the past five games.

DeAndre Hopkins has struggled as well. He went from averaging 100.6 receiving yards per game and 12.35 yards per reception through Week 7 to 63 and 11.25 in the past five games.

"We kind of hit a wall as far as offensively," Murray said. "I think the first half of the season, it was kind of effortless. We were moving the ball, having fun, playing fast and stuff like that. When you face a little bit of adversity, how you react, how you adjust, which we ended up doing, but it was just a little too late.

"We've been in those games, and I think we just have to find a way to execute when we have to. I don't think we've done that. That's honestly the difference. In the NFL, there's going to be a one-score game, and whoever usually finds a way to make that one play when it's crucial, when it's crunch time, they usually win the game."

One especially troubling trend is how much trouble the Cardinals' defense has had getting off the field on third down during the past five games. They are allowing teams to convert 50.8% of their third downs during that span compared to 36.8% through Week 7.

Of the 15 drives by their opponents that resulted in a touchdown in the past five games, the Cardinals allowed at least one third down to be converted on 12 of them.

On offense, the Cardinals have converted 41.9% of third downs the past five games compared to 43.7% in the first seven.

"Critical situations continue to show up," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "Big third downs, on both sides of the ball. We have to find a way to stay on the field offensively. And defensively, in the third-and-long situations like that, we have to find a way to get off the field.

"We continue to have critical situations rise up and we're not always handling them the best way. Coaches and players. In this last month that we are guaranteed, we have to really look at that and examine how do we get better in those moments."