As we approached this NFC West battle in Desert on Thursday Night Football, I had a sinking feeling that we would be in for a fiercely fought defensive battle between two divisional rivals with strong defenses in desperate need of getting a win to keep up within a very tough division. The Arizona Cardinals lost a tough fought game against the 49ers, and I felt they’d be very determined to defend their home turf against a Seahawks team coming off of a huge blowout win against the Saints. Additionally. from their perspective, I felt it was likely that they would carry extra motivation in getting the monkey off their back with all the games in a row they’ve lost to Seattle in recent years. When a divisional rival has your number, you mark that home game against them on your calendar with the intention of taking it to them with extra pepper in your hot sauce.

So, I really didn’t feel that, in anyway, this game on TNF would be a gimme for Seattle even though they seem to have the Cardinals number. In fact, heading into the match, I felt that if Seattle was going to pull off their third win in a row, it would probably come with perhaps a 17-13 type of result.

Thursday Night games are typically very weird. Often times, they are very sloppy with slop coming from both teams. If the game is fairly evenly matched, the team that usually win these short week games is the one who commits the lesser about of mistakes, and gets the better play out of their quarterback.

We can lament the INT return fumble that Coby Bryant coughed up and gave the ball back to Kyler Murray and the Cardinals in good field position. We can also pull our hair out of the illegal blocking penalty called on Jaxon Smith Ngijba that took away a late TD from Zach Charbonnet that would have collectively put the game out of reach for the Cardinals, and forced us to settle for a field goal. I think both of these mishaps kept this game more within reach than I would have liked to have seen on the road against a decent Arizona club.

It also chopped my hide quite a bit seeing Ken Walker get drawn into a stupid taunting penalty by a defender that cost us points. It was also infuriating, as the game progressed, seeing him run backwards circles behind the line of scrimmage into tackle for losses. Just bang the bloody thing up towards the line of scrimmage as best as you can, for goodness sake. Not every run will be a success, just don’t turn the flipping thing into a worse play by trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

And perhaps even more infuriating than K9’s needless collection of pirouettes into lost yardage was seeing Riq Woolen continue to draw penalties in coverage and give up explosive passes. After watching Seattle’s defense pretty much handle Murray for three quarters, seeing the plunky little passer purposefully target Woolen when the Cardinal offense went into desperation mode in the fourth and finding plenty of success gave me a full dosage of PTSD from opening weekend.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a piece pondering whether the Seattle Seahawks had a K9 and Riq Woolen problem, and a lot of my concerns went away after a quality win on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers when K9, in particular, had a great game. After watching this game against the Cardinals, however, my concerns about both players have returned. I think K9 is one of the most schizophrenic runners I have ever watched, fully capable of exciting runs that get you pumped up, and then within the same game, he’ll do things that make you want to see him pulled. With Woolen, I just find his lack of consistency too souring for my taste, especially when Seattle appears to have strong depth behind him.

Okay, these are all the negatives in this game that I have gotten off my chest. I could include a couple offensive play calls from Klint Kubiak that I didn’t love, and a missed field goal from the otherwise sensational night of Jason Meyers, but that really would be nitpicking.

The Seattle Seahawks won this game because they made less mistakes than the Arizona Cardinals did, and they won this game because Sam Darnold was a better QB than Kyler Murray was on Thursday Night. It is that simple.

I thought both teams fought very hard on defense, and both offenses showed out in their moments, but Seattle did what they needed to do better than what Arizona needed to get done. While the game should have been won more handsomely by Seattle in many respects, they did just enough, and they fucked up less. I will take it.

Winning in the NFL is always a good thing, and losing always sucks. Now we get a breather of ten days before Seattle faces yet another tough opponent at home against Tampa Bay.

Here’s some of my more positive takeaways for Seattle heading out of this desert battle. As much as it sucked watching their quality lead evaporate late in the game, there are also some quality silver linings coming out of this one.

Sam Darnold Continues To Shine

I really dig how Darnold has played these first four games of the year for Seattle’s offense. I think he’s shown a lot of command and poise, and I love his timely playmaking abilities when he extends out of the pocket making throws downfield, and out of pressure, at critical junctures. This is how you want to see your QB1 play.

He was also the best player on offense on Thursday night, between both clubs, and I don’t think it was close between him and Murray in terms of QB play. Darnold showed better accuracy, poise under pressure, and he put up better production on significantly less passing attempts than Murray did, and it did this against an equally tough defense.

Make no mistake, Arizona has a very good defense with a much improved defensive line, and their linebackers and safeties are all very good football players. Generally, I thought Darnold boxed very smart against a defensive scheme that can be tricky to pass on. He largely took whatever was there, but he was also savvy enough to recognize when there were opportunities further downfield. His pass to JSN down the sideline with less than thirty seconds to go for a chance to kick a game winner was a big time money throw from any NFL quarterback, and he delivered it on the dot.

The more I watch Sam Darnold play in this offense, the more I feel like he’s a quarterback that Seattle will want to hang onto for the longer haul, and build around. He’s only 28, and there is a reason why he was taken third overall in the NFL draft in 2018. He just feels like an NFL prototypical franchise quarterback, and I genuinely look forward to watching him play.

Elijah Arroyo And AJ Barner Flashed Big Play Potential

On the night, I thought both of Seattle’s tight ends played really good games. AJ Barner had three nice grabs and a beautiful touchdown, and rookie Elijah Arroyo had two impressive grabs for 44 yards.

I know that Barner is a pretty good tight end, but Arroyo is a big target at TE with insanely gifted abilities to get downfield on vertical throws, and explosive catch and run opportunities. When Seattle drafted Arroyo, I got excited because I knew these sort of downfield plays would be coming from him, eventually.

Last night, against a tough Cardinal defense with great safeties, he really flashed, and this was, in my opinion, one of the hidden little gems of the game. As we get further into games this year, I think we are bound to see more high level playmaking from this youngster, and get ready for that fun to take place.

Let us remember that he is still a rookie, and tight end is a position in this a scheme that has a lot on its plate. Once the lights come on for this guy, and he has the pass and run plays in his bones, he has the physical talent to be a superstar tight end in this league right up there with the guy who plays in Arizona and the fella who plays in the Bay Area.

I look forward to seeing Arroyo and Barner continue factoring in as pass catchers in this offense. This was a good sign.

The Seahawks Sacked The Shit Out Of Kyler Murray And Intercepted Him Twice

First off, Chenna Nwosu posted a terrific game against the Cardinals both in terms of a pass rusher and run stopper. That was very timely, too, as Seattle lost their regular base defense speed rusher DeMarcus Lawrence early in the match with a hamstring injury. Chenna’s play spoke a lot for him, but also for the quality depth, in general, that Seattle currently has on their defensive line.

Seattle’s defense dropped Kyler Murray six times in this match, and they picked him off twice. Despite giving up 20 points in the end, I think these stats alone proved how really dominant Seattle’s defense largely was for the night.

If it weren’t for some offensive mishaps late in the fourth quarter that took points off the board and gave Arizona new life, and Murray a chance to make plays with his legs and arm, I think Seattle’s defensive effort would have felt greater. In the end, they did enough against a dangerous quarterback.

I say this also acknowledging that I personally don’t have that much belief in Murray as a quarterback, and have been out on him for a few years now. The main reason why is because, while I see him as a rare bonafide playmaker, I think his tendencies are to play big games early in the season, and then go cold later on after wear and tear takes hold. He’s like a little Bruce Lee video game character through the first eight games of the year, but by midseason, after being hit numerous times by defensive tackles and edge rushers who run like BMWs, he becomes a different player.

But early in the year, Kyler Murray can be a scary ass little fucker to play against, and he is still one of the very best athletes in the league who can threaten to take over games if you allow him to do so. In this game, Seattle did a lot to harass him and keep him largely ineffective until the fourth quarter. This should be celebrated despite the late game collapse in coverage by Woolen and company.

The next time these two teams face each other will be mid November, when Kyler starts to typically turn into his annual second half of the season pumpkin. Really glad that we have Sam Darnold, though.

For the night, Murray had to pass 41 times to collect 200 yards through the air with 2 late scoring TDS and 2 INTs. You tell me if that was a great night for him early in the season when he is known to play his better ball.

By Winning, Seattle Is Awarded A Valuable Mini Bye Week

After dropping a disappointing home opener against the hated San Francisco 49ers, Seattle’s schedule was to play three games in eleven days with two of those games in the road against quality opponents. The Seahawks have now won all three of those games. This is quite a contrast to last year when Seattle dropped three games in a row in the span of ten games.

Scheduling matters in the NFL. It matters especially to the human bodies that play this violent sport. Seattle has sustained itself very well in this stretch, and will have ten days to properly prepare to host a tough Tampa Bay team.

This is going to benefit Seattle. It is going to allow coaches to self scout the team more and make corrections. It will allow these players a chance to rest and heal. It will allow the players and coaches to study the Buccaneers a bit deeper.

This mini bye could allow the John Schneider and the front office an opportunity to bring in other players from outside via trades, or free agency. It feels to me that the New Orleans Saints could be on the verge of selling if they lose in Buffalo this Sunday, and we are probably all expecting that they will. It is worth keeping in mind that Klint Kubiak was their OC last year, and knows their offensive players very well.

Could the long time Seahawk terrorizer Alvin Kamara be had for a mid round pick? Could Chris Olave also be made available?

As I continue to find myself flummoxed about K9’s play, part of me wonders if an older back quality like Kamara would help settle him down. As for Olave, I know that his concussions concern, but the thought of what Sam Darnold could do in a passing attack with JSN, Cooper Kupp, Tory Horton, and Olave entered into the mix entices quite a bit. Could both players be had?

It’s an interesting thought as we approach a point in the season were really bad clubs start eying their rebuilds. For now, however, I suggest that you enjoy this win against the Cardinals, if you are a diehard Seattle Seahawk fan.

And if you are not a diehard Twelve, why on Earth are you even reading this stuff? Seriously.

Go Hawks.