The Seattle Seahawks, battling injuries left and right, somehow pulled off a gritty 17-3 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, extending their dominance over the bird rivals to an incredible 11 straight wins. It wasn’t pretty, not by a long shot, but when you’re 5-4 and stacking W’s against a division foe, you absolutely take it. This was a low-scoring grinder where two A.J. Barner touchdowns were the difference, including his first receiving score all season!
Ugly Win, Unsung Heroes, and Lock’s Grit
Look, the offense wasn’t exactly lighting up Lumen Field, but a win is a win, especially when you consider Drew Lock was playing through an elbow injury and then battled a hip issue later in the game. Our QB didn’t turn the ball over and made some timely throws, going 19/28 for 175 yards and that lone passing TD to Barner. Jaxon Smith-Njigba snagged all seven of his targets, but it was a season-low 51 yards in the first half for JSN. We saw Zach Charbonnet lead the backfield with 77 yards on 16 carries, plus a nine-yard catch, with Jadarian Price also getting some touches. Barner was the real offensive hero, punching in a rushing TD to kick off the second quarter and then hauling in his first receiving touchdown of the season to close out that same quarter. We put up two red zone touchdowns, which felt huge given how tight this game was.
The Defense Was Locked In, But Those Penalties… Man
Our defense, despite being banged up, totally held the line after the Cardinals’ opening drive. Officially, we didn’t get a takeaway, but let’s be real, it *felt* like they deserved one. Mike Macdonald’s crew sacked Gardner Minshew three times, stuffed Tyler Allgeier to just 46 yards on 17 carries, and when Arizona did get into the red zone twice, our D limited them to just one field goal. That’s championship-level bending, but not breaking!
But we gotta talk about the elephant in the stadium: the penalties. EIGHTEEN accepted flags for a whopping 180 penalty yards! That’s just wild. It felt like a brutal mix of our own bad discipline and Clete Blakeman’s crew being absolutely flag-happy. Remember that Minshew deep ball to Reggie Virgil early on, where Macdonald challenged what looked like an incomplete catch, only for Blakeman’s crew to uphold it? You saw the tweet, right? “This is a complete catch to clete blakeman” , yeah, we all felt that. Ernest Jones even got dinged for a helmet shot, giving the Cards an easy red zone trip. Luckily, Nick Emmanwori stonewalled Trey McBride, holding them to a Chad Ryland field goal for the game’s first points at 3-0. And let’s not forget JSN catching a pass beyond the sticks, then running backwards to lose yardage right before a punt. We need to clean that up, like, yesterday.
This was a scrappy win, pure Emerald City grit. We know we’ve got to tighten up, especially with those brutal penalties. But an 11th straight win over the Cardinals? You love to see it. Keep that streak alive, and let’s keep building on that defensive shutdown.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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