Game Thread: Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals

[MrS]

The defense/ST had one of the all time great games i think. The blocked kicks and kick coverage were pretty incredible. Only lowlight was the kicking failures.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

Ok, I know everyone is in love with the defense right now, but aren't we giving a little too much praise to a unit that gave up 440 yards of offense? I mean, I know the offense was a steaming pile for much of the game, but the defense didn't do themselves any favors all night long. Whether it be not getting off the field on 3rd down (10-21) or stupid penalties that gave the Cards chunks of yards (and first downs), our defense constantly gave Arizona boosts. The only credit the defense deserves right now is that they kept the Cards out of the end zone, which they did.

Arizona was the reason Arizona lost. If Arians doesn't get cute with the 4th down in the red zone, and just kicks the field goal - chances are the worst they are looking at right now is a 6-3 win in regulation.

Great offenses will get their yards and David Johnson who is probably the best back in the league will get his yards. What the defense did last night was tremendous by not letting Johnson rip off large chunks of gains, hold him to under 3.5 ypc and kept him out of the end zone. Average to good D's probably would have lost this game but elite D's like ours is the reason the Hawks were able to stay toe to toe with the Cards and have a chance for the W.

 

[blstoker]

Easy

Look at the WHOLE PICTURE. AZ had the ball for 46+ minutes, 14 minutes less than a FULL GAME for Both teams and we are only talking ONE TEAM. They also had 90 plays. AZ was 0-2 in the redzone. ( so was Seattle ). The ONLY reason they had so many yards is because of the time they had the ball. They would do little to nothing with it when they had it but just a tiny bit more than Seattle did when they had it on O. 4.9 yards per play to 4.5 yards per play.

Johnson had 113 yards on 33 carried but hold on 33 carries? Well if a team has one RB with 33 carries and the whole team had 37 carries then they must have thrown the ball only 20 times right? try 49 times.

The defense was on the field for damn near 2 games worth of time ( average against Seattle is 27min) When the Cards had 32 minutes of ToP they only had 260 total yards.

Yes the Defense played lights out for as much as the offense put them on the field.

Everyone wants to look at TOP as a vacuum, that since the offense didn't put up 30 minute TOP, then the defense had to deal with the offense not doing it's job. Where that is true to an extent, but the defense has it's own side of TOP that they must embrace. Namely, not getting off the field. Yes, the offensive woes last night contributed to the TOP issues and gassing the D, but the defense had issues getting off the field long before TOP could have possibly been an issue for them.

Arizona was content on getting 3 and 4 yard gains and converting on 3rd and short for much of the game while milking the clock as much as possible. The Cardinals were content to just take what Seattle gave them and march down the field. It was mind boggling to think that it appeared that Arizona was trying to run out the clock at the start of the 3rd quarter, even passing up scoring opportunities to take more time off the clock.

All I am saying is that the defense was good, not great, and they contributed to their own woes. Their ability to recover from allowing Arizona long drives was amazing and the fact that ARI only scored 6 points total is nearly unbelievable. If Arizona had played to win the game before OT, I think they would have won it.

The D has given up 300+ passers in the last 2 games (first time since weeks 2 & 3 of 2010) and with Drew Brees coming up next, that could become 3 (which would be the longest streak in team history).

 

[kcden]

Just read that article on ESPN of Arians bitching about the FG blocks; maybe it works for the Cardinals, but I can't stand that leadership style. If you're going to trash your employee, you do it directly with him, in private. Dodge the question, give a canned answer, or whatever, but you gain nothing by telling the world your kicker sucks. I think he knows he should have made the kick...

 

[dude82]

Last night's game was one of the weirdest games I've ever seen. Both teams kept shooting themselves in the foot, either through penalties or coaching decisions and the weirdness was capped off by both kickers missing field goals in overtime that they had no business missing. Strange game.

The problem now is that the Seahawks have to figure out what to do with their offensive line, and it doesn't sound like a trade or a Joe Thomas-type free agent signing is in the works. I know they don't like doing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see more multiple tight end/max protection formations put in starting next week. Nobody is going to confuse the Saints defense with the Cardinals defense, so I don't expect an afternoon on offense as frustrating as last night was, but they've gotta do something for when they have to play against those better defenses. Frankly, it's a miracle that Wilson only got sacked once last night.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Last night's game was one of the weirdest games I've ever seen. Both teams kept shooting themselves in the foot, either through penalties or coaching decisions and the weirdness was capped off by both kickers missing field goals in overtime that they had no business missing. Strange game.

The problem now is that the Seahawks have to figure out what to do with their offensive line, and it doesn't sound like a trade or a Joe Thomas-type free agent signing is in the works. I know they don't like doing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see more multiple tight end/max protection formations put in starting next week. Nobody is going to confuse the Saints defense with the Cardinals defense, so I don't expect an afternoon on offense as frustrating as last night was, but they've gotta do something for when they have to play against those better defenses. Frankly, it's a miracle that Wilson only got sacked once last night.

Against good pass rushing defenses it would make sense, could help the run game also.

 

[Banned 10x]

I was in California for the game and I just enjoyed posts 324 - 354, summed up most of my thoughts while watching

 

[JMR]

Tough one to take in with the way it ended. Good to not lose, but I felt after this one about as bad as I do after a L. Both defenses put in incredible efforts. I guess a tie sounds about fair.

This OL combined with RW's hobbled status could keep this season from being what it should be.

 

[MrS]

It feels like a loss because we missed a chip shot game winner. If the cards missed that kick id have felt like we dodged a bullet

 

[dude82]

I read earlier today that Kelcie McCray was on the field for 108 plays, including 95 on defense and 13 on special teams. Wagner and Wright were on the field for 102 plays and Thomas and Sherman were on for 99 plays each. That is a lot of snaps to take.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

I read earlier today that Kelcie McCray was on the field for 108 plays, including 95 on defense and 13 on special teams. Wagner and Wright were on the field for 102 plays and Thomas and Sherman were on for 99 plays each. That is a lot of snaps to take.

Hope they get plenty of rest, the Saints have a high powered offense.

 

[JMR]

Hope they get plenty of rest, the Saints have a high powered offense.

The only thing that keeps me from being totally convinced this D will utterly dominate NO is how that last game may have worn them out. 5 quarters of brutal defensive football, and they were out there for most of it. They could really use a breather courtesy of the O this game.

 

[dude82]

The only thing that keeps me from being totally convinced this D will utterly dominate NO is how that last game may have worn them out. 5 quarters of brutal defensive football, and they were out there for most of it. They could really use a breather courtesy of the O this game.

I think the Seahawks will look to run the ball on offense right out of the gate for several reasons. New Orleans has the 23rd ranked run defense in the league and I think the Seahawks can take advantage of that. Even if New Orleans' run defense wasn't terrible, I still think it would be a good idea to establish the running game as early as possible if for no other reason than they failed to do so last week and it had a lot to do with why the TOP was so lopsided. They didn't run the ball more than once in a single drive until there was about 3 minutes left until halftime. They got a total of 12 yards on those two runs, but then they passed the ball four straight times and ended up punting just before halftime. They ran the ball three times on their first drive of the second half and got decent yardage out of it when they did, but then they were forced to go back to the pass thanks to a bunch of penalties. I'm pretty sure they only ran three or more running plays in the same drive three times all game. That's not gonna get it done. You make it easier on the opposing defense and harder on your offensive line when they know you're not gonna run the ball.

 

[Judge Fudge]

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.sbnat...ls-illegal-bobby-wagner?client=ms-android-lge

 

[chf]

I think the Seahawks will look to run the ball on offense right out of the gate for several reasons. New Orleans has the 23rd ranked run defense in the league and I think the Seahawks can take advantage of that. Even if New Orleans' run defense wasn't terrible, I still think it would be a good idea to establish the running game as early as possible if for no other reason than they failed to do so last week and it had a lot to do with why the TOP was so lopsided. They didn't run the ball more than once in a single drive until there was about 3 minutes left until halftime. They got a total of 12 yards on those two runs, but then they passed the ball four straight times and ended up punting just before halftime. They ran the ball three times on their first drive of the second half and got decent yardage out of it when they did, but then they were forced to go back to the pass thanks to a bunch of penalties. I'm pretty sure they only ran three or more running plays in the same drive three times all game. That's not gonna get it done. You make it easier on the opposing defense and harder on your offensive line when they know you're not gonna run the ball.

I actually expect them to pass to set up the run. Russ can pick apart their lousy secondary, and then the team can run against the nickel D.

 

[Anointed One]

The only thing that keeps me from being totally convinced this D will utterly dominate NO is how that last game may have worn them out. 5 quarters of brutal defensive football, and they were out there for most of it. They could really use a breather courtesy of the O this game.

If Kam comes back, he'll at least be a fresh body...

 

[Anointed One]

I actually expect them to pass to set up the run. Russ can pick apart their lousy secondary, and then the team can run against the nickel D.

I hope we expose their horrible LB core by sending Prosise down the sidelines on a fly pattern a few times...

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

The only thing that keeps me from being totally convinced this D will utterly dominate NO is how that last game may have worn them out. 5 quarters of brutal defensive football, and they were out there for most of it. They could really use a breather courtesy of the O this game.

Early start time doesn't help either. Agreed, the o-line and running game need to step up big time.

 

[JMR]

If Kam comes back, he'll at least be a fresh body...

Yeah, I thought about that the other day too. Getting Kam back would be nice, though he hasn't practiced yet this week I think. I like McCray more and more though.

 

[blstoker]

Yeah, I thought about that the other day too. Getting Kam back would be nice, though he hasn't practiced yet this week I think. I like McCray more and more though.

McCray's a really good player, just has had the career misfortune of being behind two very good SS (Berry & Chancellor). I'm sure he starts on a lot of NFL teams.