GLENDALE, ARIZ. — It’s been quite a week for Seahawk coach Mike Macdonald.
First, the arrival of his son.
Then the arrival of a complete football team.
His son, Jack, took nine months. The football team took 14 weeks, but the Seahawks won their fourth straight with a 30-18 triumph over Arizona to stay in first place in the NFC West. The defense, which had been strong in wins over San Francisco, the New York Jets and during the first meeting with Arizona, was joined by Seattle’s special teams and the offense on Sunday.
“Great team win for us,” said Macdonald, whose team improved to 8-5. “The mentality that we’re in right now coming down the home stretch, December football — I thought the guys were ready to play. Trying to put it all together — all three phases — I thought we took a step today.
The feisty Cardinals defense failed to force a Seahawks turnover or sack quarterback Geno Smith.
Special teams, a disaster against the Jets a week earlier, played a solid game in all phases. New Seahawk Jaelon Darden returned a kick 27 yards and a punt for 14. Jason Myers hit all three field goals, and Michael Dickson returned from back spasms to average 53 yards on five punts. Facing a Seahawks special teams coverage unit that allowed a 99-yard kickoff return against the Jets, Arizona registered a total of 21 return yards.
“Everyone was just on point,” said Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet, whose 51-yard score — the longest rushing TD by the Seahawks this season — put the Seahawks ahead 24-10 late in the second quarter. “We really dialed into the details this week. … The next step is to continue to build upon this.”
Charbonnet, playing in place of injured starter Kenneth Walker III, finished with 22 carries for 134 and two touchdowns to go along with 59 yards on a team-high seven receptions.
Smith, who reached 12 interceptions two weeks earlier in a 16-6 win over the Cardinals, improved to 6-0 against Arizona by playing a second straight game without a turnover. Several times, the 34-year-old signal caller looked deep, saw the coverage and then settled for check-downs to Charbonnet and tight ends Noah Fant and AJ Barner to keep the chain gang moving.
Ryan Grubb, in his first year of NFL coaching after serving as the offensive coordinator for a high-powered college offense at Washington last year, was the target of some criticism after the Seahawks struggled to score touchdowns against the Jets. Despite taking the foot off the gas with a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks rushed for 176 yards in addition to Smith’s 233 through the air.
Seattle scored on four of its first five drives, including three touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught five passes for 82 yards and the Seahawks’ first TD. DK Metcalf, often facing bracket coverage on deep routes, caught four passes for 49 yards.
“I thought our line played terrific,” said Smith, who was hit only twice while completing 24 of 30 passes for 233 yards and a TD. “The pass protection was awesome. … Any time you get to sit back there as a quarterback and not get touched, it allows you to go through those reads, and your clock is a little bit slower.
“Grubb called a great game, but I thought the line powered us through this game.”
Meanwhile, Seattle’s defense resumed creating havoc after allowing Michael Wilson’s 41-yard touchdown reception on the game’s first drive. Ernest Jones IV and Coby Bryant each intercepted a Kyler Murray pass. Derick Hall appears in the box score with just one tackle and one quarterback hit, but the Seahawks outside linebacker drew three flags for Arizona holding penalties as the Cardinals offensive linemen grabbed jersey to keep Hall from sacking Murray. A dynamic runner, Murray rushed for just 16 yards as the Seahawks contained the 5-foot-10 quarterback mostly to the pocket.
“Our unit is just coming together closer as a brotherhood and as a friendship, but we’re also out there playing relentless, playing each play as its own,” said Jones, whose eight tackles were second to rookie linebacker Tyrice Knight’s 12.
The Cardinals’ last play of the game showed just how much each play mattered to Jones and his teammates. After Myers’ 35-yard field goal gave Seattle the game’s final points, Arizona’s last drive began with 1:56 to go in the game. The Cardinals drove methodically down the field against a prevent-style defense, and they reached the Seahawks 7-yard line with 12 seconds to go.
From there, Josh Jobe and Julian Love each broke up a pass in the end zone. On the final play, wanting no part of a garbage-time TD by Arizona, the Seahawks blitzed the Cardinals, and Rayshawn Jenkins, a one-time starter who lost that role to Bryant, broke through for a 16-yard sack of Murray.
“We didn’t want them to score,” Jones said. “We want to be dominant, and you can’t just be dominant at certain times. You have to be dominant throughout the game.”
The game’s box score can be accessed here.
This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
