Seahawks vs. Cardinals game thread

Seahawks roll to a 58-0 victory

Well that was one thorough beating. Behind eight turnovers and 284 rushing yards, the Seahawks had their highest point total in franchise history. Off to the locker room now, but more from this game later in the evening.

Seahawks lead 38-0 at halftime

Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few minutes, we’ve been too busy laughing up here in the press box.

So let’s see, where did we leave off? Oh yes, so not long after the Seahawks scored a defensive touchdown with Richard Sherman returning a touchdown for six points, Seattle followed that up with a touchdown on special teams. Cardinals punt returner Patrick Peterson muffed a punt, and after it bounced around off of several Seahawks, Malcolm Smith caught it on his way into the end zone for a touchdown.

Russell Wilson did throw his first interception at home this season, but that was quickly followed by another Sherman interception. The Seahawks couldn’t do much with that possession, but wouldn’t you know it, Peterson fumbled the punt return, Byron Maxwell recovered, and that set up a Wilson touchdown pass to Zach Miller just before the start of the half.

So if you’re keeping track at home, that’s six Cardinals interceptions in the first half.

Sherman pick-six makes it 24-0 Seahawks

So disregard what I said earlier, it’s not too soon to talk about this one being a blowout/wonder if Matt Flynn is going to get mop-up duty.

This game is getting out of hand quickly for the Cardinals, who turned the ball over for the second time in less than two quarters. John Skelton under-threw a pass intended for Larry Fitzgerald, and Richard Sherman jumped in front of the pass and returned it 19 yards for a score.

Lynch scores again, Seahawks lead 17-0

Who knew? Tight end Anthony McCoy is apparently a home-run threat. After gaining 21 yards on his first catch of the game, helping Seattle’s first touchdown along, then he set up Seattle’s second touchdown with a 67-yard catch and run.

Marshawn Lynch followed that play with a 4-yard touchdown run, and given the Cardinals’ offensive struggles this season, it’s really hard to see how they get back in this game.

Maybe Matt Flynn makes his debut in mop-up duty tonight? OK, it’s probably too soon to be thinking about that, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see.

Lynch TD run makes it 10-0 Seahawks

Impressive drive there by the Seahawks, who started at their own 15, but actually had to go 92 yards thanks to a offensive pass interference penalty on the first play of the drive.

Russell Wilson kept the drive going early with a 17-yard completion to Sidney Rice to convert on 3rd and 11. Marshawn Lynch later had a 15-yard run to the Cardinals 5-yard line, but Seattle went back 15 yards after the run because of a personal foul on Breno Giacomini. Lynch made that penalty meaningless on the next play, scoring on a 20-yard run. Sidney Rice did some nice down-field blocking on the run, as did Wilson of all people.

Also, after using the zone-read option with a lot of success last week, the Seahawks are back at it today, finding lots of running room, including on Lynch’s TD run.

Turnover gives Seahawks early 3-0 lead

The Cardinals were able to move the ball on the Seahawks during the first possession of the game, but their drive came to an abrupt halt when three Seahawks combined for an impressive interception. On a third-down pass to Larry Fitzgerald, KJ Wright stripped the ball, and just before it hit the ground, a diving Walter Thurmond tipped the ball up and Bobby Wagner was able to scoop it up and return the ball 45 yards.

The offense couldn’t do much after that, but Steven Hauschka made a 31-yard field goal to put the Seahawks up 3-0.

A couple of notes early on, as expected, the Seahawks switched Paul McQuistan from right guard to left guard, and moved John Moffitt to the right side. That’s where both played last season, and with James Carpenter, Seattle’s top left guard, out for the season, it makes sense to get McQuistan and Moffitt back to their natural positions.

Also, there had been some speculation as to whether the Seahawks would change things up with Brandon Browner out, and have Richard Sherman follow Larry Fitzgerald wherever he lined up, but so far that hasn’t happened. The Cardinals have tested Walter Thurmond once deep, but he had nice coverage on Fitzgerald down the sideline.

Pregame

It’s Dec. 9, and the Seahawks are about to kick off their first divisional home game of the season. Weird, right? And with that scheduling quirk, which has the Seahawks hosting all three NFC West opponents in a four-game span, the Seahawks have a chance for a very strong finish to the season, but that has to start with a win over the struggling Cardinals this afternoon.

We’re still an hour away from kickoff, but in the meantime, here are today’s inactives, which most notably for Seattle, do not include LB Leroy Hill, who was questionable with an ankle injury. No big surprises for either team on the inactive lists.

Seahawks

WR Charly Martin

CB Marcus Trufant

CB DeShawn Shead

CB Ron Parker

G Rishawn Johnson

T Mike Person

DT Jay Howard

Cardinals

QB Kevin Kolb

WR LaRon Byrd

CB Jamell Fleming