By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Seahawks flex muscles in 31-7 win over Cardinals

The Seahawks flexed their muscles on both sides of the ball in a dominant 31-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks offense started the game with a bang when Drew Lock connected with Jaxson Smith-Njigba on an 82-yard touchdown play to take a 7-0 lead. The jaw-dropping play occurred on the offense’s second play of the game.  

After stalling on its first two drives, the Cardinals answered the Seahawks’ score with their lone touchdown of the game. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s two-yard pass to Kyer McBride on 4th and 2 from the goal line gave the Cardinals belief.  Belief turned to conviction when the Cardinals’ Zach Collins ripped the ball out of Jadarian Price’s hands for the fumble recovery.

SEAHAWKS DEFENSE STEPS UP TO THE TASK

Sensing the Cardinals’ confidence, the Seahawks defense quickly shut it down by forcing a three-and-out.

“We had some uncharacteristic communication — not issues, but we just weren’t ahead of plays as much as we should have been. I think it was just a matter of taking a deep breath, realigning and then just keep playing, ” said Macdonald after the game. “We made a couple adjustments in terms of setting the front and things like that. They ran a run that they hadn’t shown yet, so we had to adjust to that but other than that, we kept finding solutions and guys kept playing.”

Another stout defensive effort forced another Cardinals punt, giving the ball back to the Seahawks offense. Still lacking belief, the half ended with a minus-16-yard sack by Budda Baker.

OFFENSE FINDS ITS RHYTHM

 While the Seahawks defense was confident, the offense felt the opposite.  A punt on its next offensive series was followed by frustrating, lackluster effort that saw Emmanuel Wilson stopped at the one-yard line on 4th and one.

The Seahawks offense found its rhythm and turned the defensive slugfest into a track.  On the opening kick of the second half, Rashid Shaheed fumbled the return, which Chaz Surratt picked up and advanced another 37 yards. A 27-yard run by Price gave the Seahawks a 1st and goal at the 7-yard line.  Two plays later, Lock rifled a pass to Smith-Njigba for his second touchdown of the day.  Julian Love intercepted a Brissett pass on third and seven, giving the ball back to the Seahawks offense. In full rhythm with belief and conviction, the Seahawks offense tacked on a Jason Myers 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-7.

ONE DIMENSIONAL

With the Cardinals struggling to establish a run game and facing a ten-point deficit, Brissett grew agitated and flustered by the Seahawks’ ferocious pass rush. The Cardinals’ offense gave the ball back to the Seahawks offense on its next possession.

HAT TRICK

 A ten-play, 80-yard drive ended with another Lock-to-Smith-Njigba touchdown.  On third and six from the Cardinals’ 12-yard line, Lock stood tall in the pocket and rifled the ball to the back of the end zone to free-running Smith-Njigba, who recorded his first hat trick of the season.

The Seahawks defense’s block party continued when it forced the Cardinals’ sixth punt of the game.  The  Seahawks offense added a dance move of its own when AJ Barner scored on a one-yard touchdown run after taking a direct snap from behind center. The score and Myers extra point ballooned the Seahawks lead to 31-7.

BIG TAKEAWAY

The Seahawks defense overwhelmed the Cardinals after giving up the one touchdown in the first half.  The front seven of Byron Murphy, Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Uchenna Nwosu totaled seven quarterback hits. Reed and Williams recorded. With the front seven playing their signature rush and coverage , Brissett was hunted and hounded all day. Smith-Njigba showed he is the best receiver in the game while running back Emmanuel Wilson showed he can carry the load if need be

INJURY REPORT

Macdonald gave an injury report on rookie running back Jadaria Price, who exited the fourth quarter with a chest injury, and Sam  Darnold. Regarding  Price, Macdonald said there was some good news. “X-ray came back negative, so we’ll take it from there,” Macdonald said. The news was even better for quarterback Sam Darnold, who missed the game due to a glute muscle injury.

“We’re optimistic; we’ll see. I think there’s a chance he comes back and practices at some point (this week). The timetable has shifted quite drastically, frankly, in what is it, 10 days or whatever. So we’ve got three more days, 30 percent of that time, to see where it’s going between now and Wednesday.”

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