Observations from Seahawks’ last-second win over Cardinals
Sep 25, 2025, 9:04 PM | Updated: 11:14 pm
It got dicey at the end, but the Seattle Seahawks still managed to pull out yet another victory in the desert.
After the Seahawks blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, Jason Myers made up for an earlier missed field goal by hitting a game-winning 52-yarder as time expired to give Seattle a 23-20 road win over the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night.
Seattle Seahawks win: Recap | Box score
It was the Seahawks’ eighth consecutive win over Arizona. It also improved them to 11-1-1 against the Cardinals in State Farm Stadium since 2013.
More importantly, Seattle moved to 3-1 on the season with its third straight victory.
Here are a few observations from the Seahawks’ last-second triumph.
Darnold, JSN come through in the clutch
Jaxon Smith-Njigba entered the night as the NFL’s second-leading receiver. But for most of the game, it was a quiet evening for the Seahawks wideout, who didn’t get his first catch until the final minute of the third quarter.
But when Seattle needed a big play late, Sam Darnold and Smith-Njigba delivered.
After the Cardinals rallied to tie the game at 20-20 with 28 seconds to go, the Seahawks got a break when Arizona’s ensuing kickoff fell just short of the landing zone, resulting in a penalty that set up Seattle on its own 40-yard line.
Two plays later, Darnold lofted a back-shoulder pass to Smith-Njigba, who hauled it in for a 22-yard reception that set up Myers’ game-winner.
Darnold 🎯 JSN
The @seahawks looking to win it.
SEAvsAZ on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/mCvcq1TCRc— NFL (@NFL) September 26, 2025
Darnold and Smith-Njigba also had another big connection just a few minutes earlier. Facing a third-and-6 with their team clinging to a seven-point lead, Darnold hit Smith-Njigba on a well-executed stutter-and-go route for a 36-yard completion to the Arizona 38. That could have helped seal the victory for Seattle, but Myers proceeded to miss a 53-yard field goal, which kept the door ajar for the Cardinals.
It was another sharp and decisive performance by Darnold, who finished 18-of-26 passing for 242 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. In addition to his late heroics, he also had an impressive two-play sequence in the first half. Backed up on his own 10-yard line, Darnold escaped the pocket and lofted a 32-yard completion to rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo, and then scrambled for a 24-yard gain on the next play to help spark a 90-yard TD drive.
Smith-Njigba, meanwhile, finished four catches for 79 yards. That bumped his season total to 402 receiving yards, which are the third-most in franchise history through the first four games of a season.
Defense dominates for 3 quarters, then slips
For the first three quarters, Mike Macdonald’s defense had once again completely bottled up Kyler Murray & Co. The Seahawks held Arizona to just six points and 138 total yards through the first 45 minutes on Thursday night, which comes after they limited the Cardinals to just 24 points combined in their two matchups last season.
But in the fourth quarter, Murray and the Cardinals caught fire with a pair of touchdown drives that tied the game. Murray led Arizona on an eight-play, 73-yard TD drive that made it a seven-point game with 5:50 to play and then a 12-play, 57-yard TD drive that evened the score in the final minute.
Seattle’s defense still did a lot of good things overall, holding the Cardinals to just 253 total yards and 4.0 yards per play, while coming up with two takeaways and six sacks. But the Seahawks’ defense no doubt will be frustrated with its inability to put the game away in the fourth.
Emari Demercado! The @AZCardinals have tied this game 💪
SEAvsAZ on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Lgt5gQAywX— NFL (@NFL) September 26, 2025
Tight ends have big night
With Smith-Njigba quiet for much of the night, Seattle’s tight ends helped fill the void in the passing game.
AJ Barner had three catches for 32 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. It was Barner’s second TD of the season and his fifth TD in the past 10 games dating back to last year.
Arroyo, meanwhile, had two catches for 44 yards. The rookie second-round draft pick began the Seahawks’ first TD drive with a 12-yard reception and kickstarted their second TD drive with the aforementioned 32-yard leaping catch over edge rusher Josh Sweat. Later in that second TD drive, Arroyo also drew a 16-yard pass interference penalty in the end zone on seven-time Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker, which set up Charbonnet’s scoring run.
Blocking tight end Eric Saubert also made a pivotal play on the opening snap of the second half, when he fell on a strip-sack fumble to prevent a turnover that would have gifted the Cardinals a prime scoring opportunity.
Sam Darnold goes to AJ Barner for the @Seahawks TD!
SEAvsAZ on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Psn4OinNbG— NFL (@NFL) September 26, 2025
Run game bounces back
Seattle’s rushing attack sputtered for much of the first three weeks, ranking just 21st in the league with 96.0 yards per game and 28th with 3.3 yards per carry. But on Thursday night, the Seahawks’ ground game took a step forward with 155 rushing yards and 4.4 yards per carry.
Kenneth Walker III ran for 81 yards on 19 carries, including three straight carries for 38 yards on Seattle’s first touchdown drive. Zach Charbonnet added 39 yards on 12 carries, including a key 15-yard run on a drive that he later capped by bulldozing into the end zone for a 1-yard TD on third-and-goal.
There were a handful of runs that went for no gain or negative yardage, so it was still a bit of a hot-and-cold night for the ground game. But overall, it was a nice step forward.
Charbonnet powers his way into the endzone to extend @Seahawks lead 💪
SEAvsAZ on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/8kMeEQnUi7— NFL (@NFL) September 26, 2025
Self-inflicted mistakes nearly prove costly
For Seattle, this game probably never should have come down to the wire. The Seahawks were in firm control for most of the night and had several prime opportunities to widen their lead. But thanks to some self-inflicted mistakes, they allowed Arizona to hang around and make a late rally.
In the first quarter, safety Coby Bryant came up with an interception, but fumbled the ball right back to Arizona after getting hit by teammate Tyrice Knight. The Cardinals capitalized on the extra opportunity by driving for a field goal, which remained their only points until late in the third quarter.
Later in the first half, Walker was flagged for a back-breaking 15-yard taunting penalty that backed the Seahawks into a third-and-18 and ultimately pushed them out of field-goal range.
Early in the fourth quarter, Smith-Njigba was called for a holding penalty that wiped away a Charbonnet TD run and forced Seattle to settle for a field goal. And later in the fourth, Myers’ missed field goal kept the door open for the Cardinals.
Fortunately for the Seahawks, the miscues didn’t end up costing them in the win column.
Recap: Seattle Seahawks beat Cardinals 23-20 on last-second FG
