Observations from Seahawks’ big NFC West win over Cardinals

Nov 24, 2024, 4:33 PM | Updated: 8:23 pm

Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks scores a touchdown during a 2024 game. (Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

(Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

Despite the ups and downs of the first half of the season, the Seattle Seahawks are walking away from Week 12 with a share of first place in the NFC West.

Seahawks beat Cards | Instant Reaction | Stacy’s column | Stats

The Seahawks put together a domineering effort on defense and bested division-leading Arizona Cardinals 16-6 on Sunday at Lumen Field. As a result, Seattle moved to 6-5 and tied Arizona for first place in the NFC West.

Here’s five things that stood out from the Seahawks’ win.

Big Cat plays best game as a Seahawk: Arizona had absolutely no answers for defensive lineman Leonard Williams. The 10th-year pro was in the backfield often, making plays when rushing the passer and in the run game while dominating former Seattle teammate Evan Brown, who is now the starting center in Arizona. Williams nearly caused a pair of turnovers in the first half, hitting Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s arm to force an incompletion that was originally ruled a Seahawks touchdown, and plowing through the line to pressure Murray into a throw that Julian Love nearly picked off on a third down. Williams also had a first-down sack late in the first half that helped Seattle get another possession before break, although it didn’t result in any points. Then in the second half, he burst into the backfield to stop James Conner for a 4-yard loss on a first down and sacked Murray again two plays later to force a punt. Williams finished the day with six tackles, four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one pass defended.

LEO IS ON ONE. pic.twitter.com/jHVcbDVrlz

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 24, 2024

Leonard Williams dominates | Coby Bryant’s Beast Mode ode

Seahawks pass rush wreaks havoc: Williams wasn’t the only one disrupting Arizona’s offense. A number of Seahawks were able to get pressure on Murray throughout afternoon and force the dual-threat quarterback into one of his least effective games during of what has been a very strong season. Williams led the way with his 2.5 sacks, Tyrice Knight and Boye Mafe each had one, and Jarran Reed was credited for one-half of a sack to bring the total up to five on the day. It resulted in Murray not looking comfortable for much of the game, passing 24 of 37 for 285 yards, no touchdowns and zero interceptions, with a good chunk of his yardage coming while trying catch up in the fourth quarter. Additionally, Seattle was able to create pressure without losing containment on the edges, which was critical against a quarterback who’s as dangerous of a runner as Murray is. He had only nine yards on two carries.

First career sack for @Tyricek_. 💥 pic.twitter.com/yeU74y1EVx

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 24, 2024

Ryan Grubb may have found a bread-and-butter play: The Seahawks have been criticized at times over the years for a lack of screen plays called on offense, and also the lack of ability to execute those plays when they do get called. But under first-year head coach Ryan Grubb, a particular type of screen pass is starting to become one of the team’s better plays. Seattle has hit on big passes with the middle screen in each of its past two games, with a 17-yarder to Jaxon-Smith Njigba last week and a 46-yarder to the second-year receiver against Arizona that set up Seattle’s first touchdown. The Seahawks ran the play a couple other times on Sunday as well. With the run game unable to get traction and teams likely salivating the opportunity to dial up pressure against the Seahawks’ struggling offensive line, this should continue to be a go-to play for the offense.

JSN breaks through for 46 yards! pic.twitter.com/3MAsXnXcp5

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 24, 2024

Run game stuck in neutral: This felt like a good chance for the Seahawks to find some sort of rhythm in their running game. The Cardinals are a below-average team against the run and were one of the league’s worst last season. There was a little more continuity for the offensive line with Abraham Lucas and center Olu Oluwatimi making their second starts, and there was A constant drizzle throughout the afternoon to make things a little more difficult in the passing game. But Seattle still couldn’t manage to get anything of note established in the run game, finishing with just 65 yards on a paltry 2.6 yards per carry. It may not be much of a surprise at this point. After 11 games, this run game probably is what it is, but it should certainly be able to do more with an electric running back like Kenneth Walker III.

Run defense rises to the challenge: A matchup with the Cardinals was a big test for the Seattle’s run defense after it looked much improved over the past couple of games. If Sunday’s game was any indication, the Seahawks really seem to be heading in the right direction on this front. Arizona came into the game fifth in the NFL in rushing at 149.4 yards per game and second in yards per attempts at 5.2, but Seattle bottled the Cards’ rushing attack up for just 49 yards on 3.5 yards per touch. The Cardinals present real threats with Conner running between the tackles and Murray’s ability to make plays with his feet on the outside, so this is probably the most impressive showing against the run by the Seahawks this season. Improved health, personnel changes at linebacker and more time in head coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme are paying dividends for this group.