It was an ugly afternoon on defense for the Cardinals in Seattle.
The old saying that if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all could apply to the Arizona Cardinals‘ 44-22 loss on Sunday to the Seattle Seahawks.
Of course, I’m tasked with taking a candid look at the forgettable results on defense and special teams, so I’ll avoid having the remainder of this story blank, even if it’s tempting to do that.
The defense, missing starters Mack Wilson Sr. (Mike linebacker) along with cornerbacks Will Johnson and Max Melton, had very few highlight moments, and those were mostly after the Seahawks raced to a 35-0 lead with 8:33 to play in the second quarter.
The special teams were at best mediocre while having little to do with the final result.
Having said that, the following is a look at those two units for, you know, the record.
We can’t stop you
Sandwiched before and after two Seahawks defensive touchdowns on strip-sacks, Seattle did what it wanted with three touchdowns on their first three possessions.
The Seahawks needed only seven plays and 4:05 to traverse 65 yards on the first possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead. They totaled only 22 yards on the first six plays, but converted a third-and-4 on a 6-yard pass from quarterback Sam Darnold to wide receiver Cooper Kupp and then a third-and-1 when tight end A.J. Barner accepted the center snap and gained the one yard.There were two other running plays for six total yards and an 8-yard pass to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba before Darnold calmly lifted a long pass to Smith-Njigba that he snared for the score when cornerback Garrett Williams stepped on his foot and fell.Darnold was 4-for-4 for 60 yards in the drive.Following the first strip-sack score and a Cardinals possession that gained 18 yards on five plays, ending on a run by Bam Knight for minus-2 yards on third-and-1, Seattle moved 81 yards (gaining 66) on nine plays and 4:51 to take a 21-0 lead.They never reached third down on the drive. Wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, acquired in a trade from the New Orleans Saints five days before the game, ran for 10 yards on first down and later caught a pass for three. The big plays were successive hits to Smith-Njigba for 14 and 17 yards, a Budda Baker unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting Smith-Njigba on an incomplete pass and a 9-yard touchdown run by George Holani, who avoided a potential tackle by rookie corer Denzel Burke. Seahawks right tackle Abraham Lucas got away with wrapping his left arm around linebacker Josh Sweat to keep him from getting outside to Holani.Darnold was 3-for-4 for 34 yards in that drive.Finally, with the score 28-0 and Seattle taking possession after another two-yard loss on a running play, this time to wide receiver Greg Dortch on third-and-1, the Seahawks gained 79 yards on six plays in 3:44 with the big play a 67-yard catch-and-run to Kupp on third-and-4. Even after a false start on the 1-yard line, running back Zach Charbonnet easily scored on a 6-yard run.The play to Kupp was Darnold’s only pass in that possession and in the three scoring drives, he was 8-for-9 for 161 yards. He had only three more passing attempts in the game and finished with 178 yards. The Seahawks totaled 210 yards on 22 plays in those three drives and totaled 162 for the remainder of the game.Gouged by the run
The Cardinals managed to score a second-quarter touchdown and one in the third quarter thanks to a fumbled snap by Darnold and an interception by Burke, taking over on the Seahawks’ 3- and 19-yard lines, respectively.
That cut the lead to 38-15, and another turnover followed when Sweat sacked Darnold, forcing a fumble that he recovered at the Seattle 24-yard line. They could have made it a two-score game, but on fourth-and-5 from the 8-yard line, an end-zone pass to wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was knocked out of his hands by cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter.
Might the Cardinals step up and stop the Seahawks again? Not this time. Charbonnet bolted 30 yards on first down and followed that with consecutive runs of nine, 13 and nine to the Arizona 31-yard line. Defensive lineman Calais Campbell temporarily stopped the bleeding, dropping Charbonnet for no gain on second-and-1, but it was too late. Barner then made another first down with a 2-yard run.
They did eventually keep the Seahawks out of the end zone, but a Jason Myers 32-yard field goal on a 12-play, 79-yard drive that took 7:38 off the clock made it a four-score game at 41-15. Darnold had no pass attempts in the possession as running backs Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III were 7-for-63 and 4-14, respectively.
Notably, Seattle’s three touchdown drives totaled 12:40 compared to 7:38 for that field-goal drive.
More injuries to monitor
We likely won’t have any more information until Wednesday, but leaving the game with injuries were defensive lineman Walter Nolen III (knee) and Darius Robinson (groin) along with safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (ankle).
Nolen followed his breakout debut game against Dallas Monday night with only two solo tackes and one quarterback hit.
Not so special teams
Punter Blake Gillikin is eligible to begin practicing this week after being placed on injured reserve with a back issue Oct. 11. However, there isn’t any information about whether that might happen. In his place, Pat O’Donnell has been only adequate.
In five games, Gillikin averaged 51.7 yards with a 45.4 net. O’Donnell was at 44.2 and 32.5 entering Sunday’s game in which he punted four times with an average and net of 40.8 with two inside the 20. There were fair catches on all four.
Kicker Chad Ryland had no field-goal attempts in the game.
The Seahawks did not punt, and on kickoff returns, Bam Knight averaged 19.8 yards and had returns of 16, 17 and two for 23. Dortch also had one for less than 20 (15) and his other two went for 25 and 27 for a 22.3-yard average.
The Cardinals’ kickoff coverage was fine, allowing a 22.3-yard average to Shaheed with a long of 27 on three kicks.
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