If real life were Madden, then the Seattle Seahawks spent another weekend playing on “rookie” mode as they cruised to yet another absurdly dominant blowout win. Seattle is on an absolute tear right now, and the Arizona Cardinals were the Seahawks’ latest victim in a 44-22 loss.
Coming up with words to describe how much the Seahawks coasted in this one is actually more of a challenge than the Cardinals presented on the field as opponents. Seattle took charge from the first series on and never looked back. Quite frankly, take away some garbage time scores from Arizona late, and this game somehow is even less competitive than the score (which again, I remind you, the Hawks doubled the Cards) would suggest.
Seattle cruised to another victory, and we at Seahawks Wire are going to discuss the top takeaways as usual.
No. 1 – Seahawks start lightning fast once more
The Seattle Seahawks began the game with a 28-0 run, similar to last week against the Washington Commanders. In fact, it is only the third time in the Super Bowl era a team had back-to-back weeks with a 28-0 lead. However, this is becoming somewhat of a trend. In the top four first half scoring outputs this season, the Seahawks hold three of the top spots – with 38 points against the Cardinals and Saints, and 31 points against the Commanders. Seattle is cracking the code right now on how to get things going. Former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll used to “can you win the game in the fourth quarter?” and while the answer is still technically no… this Seattle team is doing their best to find a way to respond with a resounding YES.
No. 2 – Did the Seahawks finally get the ground game going?
Seattle has been wildly inconsistent on the ground this season, but on Sunday, it sure looked like they had it figured out. Zach Charbonnet led the way with 83 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Kenneth Walker III also had 14 carries and 67 yards as well. Overall as a team, the Seahawks bullied their way to 198 rushing yards, and that’s including -4 yards from backup quarterback Drew Lock on the kneel down at the end of the game. It is encouraging to see the Seahawks remain committed to the run regardless of the outcome, because I do believe eventually it’s going to pay off for them. Hopefully, what we saw on Sunday is evidence that it will.
No. 3 – This defense, man…
This is, without a doubt, the best Seahawks defense we have seen in years. Is it exactly the Legion of Boom 2.0? Nope, but that’s okay, because this unit is suffocating. They play fast, physical, tackle exceptionally well, and come up with big stops/plays in the most crucial moment. The pair of Sam Darnold fumbles that led to Arizona points is not indicative of how well this squad played, as they forced turnover on downs from the Cardinals at the goal line. Tyrice Knight forced two fumbles, and DeMarcus Lawrence returned said fumbles for two touchdowns. Knight also had two sacks out of the team’s five, and the secondary defended10 passes. Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori had nine tackles, half a sack, and four of those aforementioned pass defenses.
No. 4 – Weird day for Sam Darnold
Weird is the right word. Darnold only attempted 12 passes all afternoon, but completed ten of them. He threw for 178 yards and a touchdown, along with an interception. He also fumbled twice deep in his own territory, and those fumbles were recovered by Arizona. With those turnovers, the Cardinals did turn them into points eventually. It didn’t matter, ultimately, but had this been a more competitive game they would have factored in considerably more. Darnold needs to clean it up a little if they want to beat the Rams next week. Oh, and by the way…
No. 5 – The Rams loom large
Here we are, folks. The Seahawks will take on the Los Angeles Rams for the first time this season and they look just as good – if not perhaps a little better – than Seattle does right now. The Rams are also 7-2 and fresh off a waxing of another NFC West rival, the 49ers, themselves this week. Seattle will travel to the City of Angels, and put their lofty 11-1 road record under Mike Macdonald to its stiffest test yet. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has lot lost to the Seahawks since he became the Rams’ starter in 2021, and holds a frustrating 5-0 record over Seattle. On the line next week will be a spot in first place in the NFC West. Should Seattle win, they’ll not only hold onto first, but create real separation between them and Los Angeles. Should they lose, well, it won’t be the end of the world, but it further eliminates their margin for error in a tight NFC overall, and will make it harder to claim their first division title since the 2020 season.
#Top #Seattle #takeaways #NFL #Week #blowout