Seahawks Earn Huge Win Over Cardinals, Take Lead in Division

After a red-hot start, the Seattle Seahawks have cooled down of late, falling to 6-3 last week in a loss to the Rams. As for Arizona, they were riding high coming into this division matchup, taking down the Buffalo Bills on a Hail Mary to star WR DeAndre Hopkins. In this game to kick off Week 11, Seattle outdueled Arizona, taking down the division rival by a score of 28-21. Let us look at how this game went down.

A Balanced Attack

For most of this season, the Seattle offense has followed the motto of “Let Russ Cook”. Despite this, the Seahawks have been more effective as an offense when they are balanced, running the ball to complement the pass.

With RB Chris Carson out, RB Carlos Hyde led the ground game to the tune of 14 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown. QB Russell Wilson also scrambled for 42 yards, while RB’s Bo Scarbrough and DeeJay Dallas combined for a line of 7/44. In total, the pass-heavy Seahawks ran for 165 yards and controlled the ball for over 35 minutes, a key stat to a victory.

While the ground game was effective, Russ was still able to cook, going 23/28 with 197 yards and two touchdowns, totaling a passer rating of 119.8. As for the receiving numbers, WR Tyler Lockett got the nod tonight, catching nine balls for 67 yards and a touchdown the only way Tyler Lockett could, a fade from the slot into the corner of the endzone. In two games, Lockett finished with a line of 24/267/4 against the Arizona Cardinals. WR DK Metcalf also found the end zone early in the game but was held for three catches on the night for 46 yards. Six other players caught passes from Wilson, completing the passing attack.

Seattle Has a Defense?

For most of the season, the Seahawks have been known as a team that was carried by their offense, and rightfully so. Seattle was dead last in YPG and 28th in PPG defensively, receiving criticism week in and week out. In this game, the defense stepped up when it mattered most, doing just enough to secure the victory. Pete Carrol’s bunch held Arizona’s lethal rushing attack to just 57 yards on the ground while also sacking QB Kyler Murray three times. Newly signed DE Carlos Dunlap made the biggest impact, totaling two sacks on the night, his second sealing the win for Seattle. LB’s D.J Reed Jr. and Bobby Wagner combined for 19 tackles to lead the defensive performance.

Cardinals Beat Themselves

Even though Seattle deserved this win, the Arizona Cardinals beat themselves all night with mental and physical mistakes. Arizona had a whopping 10 penalties for 115 yards. The three that stood out were a taunting penalty that led to a score, an intentional grounding that put Arizona on their own two, which was immediately followed by a holding in the endzone, resulting in a safety. Penalties have been an issue all season for Arizona. The Cardinals came into the game leading the league in penalties with 79 and are third in penalty yards. If Arizona wants to be legit contenders, they need to clean these up.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead to Week 12, the Arizona Cardinals will look to salvage their loss against a resurgent New England Patriots team (4-5) in Foxborough. As for Seattle, they will travel to take on the first-place Philadelphia Eagles (3-5-1) on Monday Night Football, looking to move to 8-3 and distance themselves in the division even more.

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas