By: Peter Vandeventer | @PeteVandeventer
The Seahawks traveled down to play divisional foe, Arizona this past weekend in what many expected to be an easy victory for the Seahawks.
During the 1st half, the Seahawks didn't disappoint as they went on to score 20 points compared to Arizona’s one made field goal out of three attempts. The Seahawks went on autopilot for the remainder of the game and ended with a score of 27-10.
What Looked Good
Big Plays
Brian Schottenheimer finally did what every Seahawk fan has been begging him for-opening up the playbook. The Seahawks had 2 plays over 25 yards and a total of 6 plays that netted over 15 yards a piece. Now though this is the Cardinals, and those numbers don't look all that impressive as of now, Schotty let Wilson control the game and by doing so the Seahawks were only limited to 1 three-and-out. This offense needs to continue to utilize the deep and intermediate passing concepts in order to open up holes in the defense for Chris Carson to run through.
Chris Carson’s Hatred for Defenders
Talking of Chris Carson, he had an amazing day on the ground as he averaged 4.7 YPC and totaled 145 all-purpose yards. And surprise surprise, no fumbles as well. Carson was also able to force 21 missed tackles. Although this might just be what to expect from the Cardinals defense, I do expect this to continue for the near future as his track record shows just that. This should go without saying, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a Chris Carson truck.
Defending Kyler Murray
Kyler Murray is as slippery as Russell Wilson is (that's a debate for some other time), but the Seahawks were able to limit Kyler’s legs and keep contain almost the entire game. The Seahawks got after the QB but were able to keep containment and make Kyler as uncomfortable as possible.
What Looked Bad
Offensive consistency
The Seahawks didn’t do much offensively in the 2nd half, some say it might be letting off the gas but it also could have been 2nd half adjustments by the Cardinals. This is some cause for concern as the Seahawks have yet to score more than 30 points in a game so far this season, blame it on the perennial defenses of *checks notes* the Bengals, Steelers, and Cardinals.
Aggressiveness
The Seahawks defense gave up just shy of 100 receiving yards to David Johnson which speaks to the level of aggressiveness the Seahawks played, screen plays have long been the kryptonite of the Seahawks and that continued on Sunday (outside of the Clowney pick-6).
Key Players
Chris Carson
Chris Carson was the offensive MVP on Sunday and it wasn’t that close. Carson overaged nearly 5 YPC and came as close to a human bowling ball as you can get. Chris Carson made Marshawn happy with those runs on Sunday.
Will Dissly
Will Dissly continues to be an extremely productive TE, as he is on pace for 16 TDs for one of the league's greatest red zone offenses. And to think that Dissly was playing defensive line 4 years ago for the Washington Huskies. Dissly is going to be a Pro Bowler by the end of the year, and you can quote me on that.
Mychal Kendricks
Kendricks had two sacks Sunday and could've had another one if Murray was almost any other QB in the league. When he wasn't rushing the passer, he did have a few missed tackles but still performed well in coverage which allowed the Seahawks to stay in their base coverage for so long.
Jadeveon Clowney
Although Jadeveon wasn't a force all game long, his pick-6 crushed the spirit of the Arizona offense quickly and became a present even without showing too much on the stat sheet.
Jason Myers
Not that Myers was extremely impressive but watching the kicking woes of the Cardinals makes you appreciate how fortunate the Seahawks are this year. Hope that he continues his accuracies, nothing like a kicker who can help a struggling offense
Key Takeaways
The Seahawks came out of the desert without any noticeable/significant injury issues as they've had over the past few years such as Will Dissly, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor. This is very important as the Seahawks have to play against a Rams team that has had some offensive issues as of late.
The pass rush has been really unpredictable so far this year as Rasheem Green, Quinton Jefferson, and Mychal Kendricks are leading the defense in sacks while Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney both have 1 sack. This defensive front is underperforming so far this year in production but all signs point to it growing as Ansah is working back to 100% and Jarran Reed returns in a few weeks.
Seahawks opponents that they’ve beat so far are 1-10-1, and the only win was because the Steelers and Bengals faced off on Monday night. This team gets another shot to show their strength when the 2019 NFC champs travel to town as the Seahawks take on the Rams this Thursday.
The Seahawks did what many expected them to do, and beat the Cardinals to improve to 2nd in the NFC West, with a record of 3-1. They still have their share of holes but anytime the Seahawks end September with a winning record, the rest of the NFL has to be put on defense because they will only continue to get better.
“Go Hawks!!” - Russell Wilson