Seahawks at Midseason: Details on standouts, latest win, NFC West lead
Nov 6, 2022, 4:50 PM | Updated: 5:16 pm
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll reacts after a touchdown against the Cardinals on Nov. 6, 2022. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
(Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
The Seahawks just keep flying high, as they took down the Arizona Cardinals for the second time in four weeks, this time a 31-21 win on the road, to push their winning streak to four.
Seahawks beat Cardinals 31-21 | Instant Reaction
It continues a fabulous run for a team that was seen as rebuilding or even a tank candidate ahead of the season.
Instead, coach Pete Carroll and surprise star quarterback Geno Smith have the Seahawks sitting real pretty after Week 9 as they’re 6-3 and in first place in the NFC West. They lead by two games over the 4-4 San Francisco 49ers and 2.5 over the 3-5 Los Angeles Rams, the latter of which won the Super Bowl last season.
Not only is Seattle three games over .500, but the Hawks are in good position as they’re officially more than halfway through the 2022 season.
One more time for the people in the back: The Seahawks are 6-3 and hold a two-game lead in the NFC West more than halfway through the 2022 regular season.
How about that?
Here are some other things to know about the Seahawks’ win over the Cardinals and the season as a whole.
Other Seahawks odds and ends
• Ryan Neal’s forced fumble of Kyler Murray in the second quarter was the 16th fumble the Seahawks have forced this year.
Never give up on the play. pic.twitter.com/Gr1rOGEtkD
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 6, 2022
Why is that so notable? Well, there are two reasons.
First, the Seahawks lead the NFL in that forced fumbles this year. Secondly, Seattle is on track to have its most forced fumbles under Carroll in a single season since he took over back in 2010.
The most forced fumbles the Hawks have had under Carroll was 19 in 2019. They’re at 16 through just nine games, and four are courtesy of rookie Coby Bryant, which leads the NFL. Bryant almost had his fifth of the year against the Cards on Sunday, but it was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass instead.
• Third down told a big story for the Seahawks on offense Sunday.
Seattle started the day converting just 3 of 8 third-down attempts. The Seahawks converted their final seven, which resulted in two touchdown drives to seal the road win over their division rival.
• The Cardinals did make things interesting in the second half twice of this game, but the Seahawks pulled the rug out from under their opponent both times.
In the third quarter, Smith threw a pick-6 that gave Arizona the lead. But Smith and the Hawks answered with not one but two straight touchdown drives.
And when the Cardinals drove down for a fourth quarter score to make it a 3-point game, Smith found Noah Fant for 51-yard catch and run, and rookie back Kenneth Walker III scored just a few plays later to again give Seattle a two-score lead.
What a day for @nrfant! 👏 pic.twitter.com/b3qby9g56W
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 6, 2022
• Speaking of Walker, the rookie running back had two touchdowns on Sunday, giving him seven over his last five games. He was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October.
Closing it out with @Kenneth_Walker9. pic.twitter.com/YaP6yTosY3
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 7, 2022
• The Seahawks again played well defensively, and that was also the case for outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, who picked up two sacks of Murray. With those two sacks, Nwosu has seven this season, a new career high. His previous career high was five, which came last season.
• Next up for the Seahawks is a very unique challenge as they fly to Germany to take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 2020 Super Bowl champions have struggled this year as they’re 4-5 as Brady’s offense has really struggled to click this season, but is coming off a late win over the Rams in Week 9.
The Week 10 matchup is also the Seahawks’ last game before their bye.
Coverage of Hawks-Bucs will be carried on Seattle Sports 710 AM, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and the rest of the Seahawks Radio Network, with the pregame show set for 3:30 a.m. (that’s right) and kickoff scheduled for 6:30 a.m.
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