The Seahawks were able to beat the Cardinals 28-21 on Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks came into this game struggling as a whole, but came out of this game much improved. They were able to be more balanced on offense. If Seahawks can continue to play like they did against the Cardinals, they may be on their way to winning the NFC West division.
The Seahawks offense were able to be more balanced against the Cardinals. Russell Wilson had 28 passing attempts for 182 yards and two touchdowns. The running game had 31 rushing attempts for 165 yards and one touchdown. You can’t be more balanced then that. The only area of concern going forward is the offensive line. The Seahawks had to mix up the offensive line by playing Rookie Damien Lewis at Center, which was a switch from his normal position (Right Guard). Damien Lewis has never played a snap at Center in the NFL and it showed. There were several mistakes that Damien Lewis committed (bad snap and penalties), but to be honest it could have been much worse. Russell Wilson did not commit any turnovers and protected the ball. You can’t ask Russell Wilson to play better than he did. I think this more balanced offense is who Pete Carroll and the Seahawks want to be. They don’t want to have to put it all on Russell Wilson’s shoulders. It was evident the physical running game wore down the Cardinals defense.
The Seahawks defense played much improved and were physical. They played their best game of the season last night against the Cardinals. It is safe to say the Carlos Dunlap trade was a smart move by Seahawks GM John Schneider and Pete Carroll. The Seahawks defense were able to pressure Kyler Murray and limit his opportunities. Seahawks defense allowed 257 passing yards and impressively only allowed 57 rushing yards. Like I mentioned earlier, the Seahawks defense was able to pressure Kyler Murray. This is something they couldn’t do the last time they played the Cardinals. The Seahawks were able to sack Kyler Murray 3 times (one was the last play of the game to seal the game by Carlos Dunlap). Coming into the game the secondary was a big question mark, but they really held their own. The secondary did not give up more than 62 yards to a receiver, which quite honestly is impressive. I still felt like the secondary played off the receivers and allowed the underneath throws, which a couple times they allowed the receivers to convert long downs. But overall to limit DeAndre Hopkins to 51 yards is a huge accomplishment.
The Seahawks will now go on a mini-bye before they play the Eagles on Monday Night Football. The Seahawks should get some players back from injury (Chris Carson and Shaquill Griffen to name a couple). Expect the Seahawks to go on a run in the next several weeks. They are slated to play the Eagles (3-5-1), Giants (3-7), Jets (0-9), and Washington Football Team (2-7). The Seahawks definitely does have the easiest schedule among the rest of the NFC West and should be able to make the most out of it. They need to continue to play at the level they played at against the Cardinals.
The Seahawks were able to rebound and get back to their winning ways against the Cardinals. They will need to be near perfect going forward. The NFC West race should be fun to watch and the winner should be one of top seeds in the NFC playoffs.
The Ball Game Report 