So much for that being a trap game. After I spent the whole week telling anyone that would listen how nervous I was about playing a feisty team with a backup quarterback at home (PTSD, anyone?), the Seattle Seahawks brought down the hammer, again.
With eight and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Seattle was up 35-0, and was once again doing what no fan thought was realistic this season. Sure, making the playoffs, maybe a division title, felt like it was on the table. This version of the Seahawks,
this is something beyond most fans’ realistic expectations.
In a 44-22 win, Seattle once again looked like the best team in the NFL, as they continue to physically overwhelm teams with their defense, while their offense continues to roll. If not for the rash of inexplicable turnovers, this game may have been 60-10.
As Seattle moves on, and prepares for the ultimate test, we break down the win and what is to come.
First Down: The defense continues to surge, gets rewarded
Despite the Cardinals getting to 22 points, you can make a case that this was one of the better defensive performances of the season.
The Cardinals had come into Seattle after a big road win on Monday Night Football in Dallas, having found success with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. After 16 minutes, the Seahawks had jumped out to a 28-0 lead that included two sack fumbles for touchdowns (Tyrice Knight and Tank Lawrence déjà vu).
As a whole, the Seahawks had the two massive turnovers, but also sacked Brissett five times, forced the Cardinals to go just 6/16 on third down, and turned Arizona away three separate times in the red zone on fourth down. If not for the silly Seahawks turnovers, the Cardinals would’ve truly struggled to get more than a single score in this game, but the defense held up multiple times when they shouldn’t have had to.
The pass rush was as consistent as ever, with Boye Mafe (should’ve been Derick Hall, as well) getting his first sack of the year. Drake Thomas called out without Ernest Jones, Ty Okada continues to perform at a plus starter level.
Speaking of the secondary, Riq Woolen had one of the best games of his career on Sunday, showing the elite athleticism that will make him a very rich man in March. Despite all the great plays and wow moments like from Knight and Lawrence, the biggest star for me was rookie Nick Emmanwori.
Emmanwori on the day had nine total tackles, half a sack, and four passes defended. He’s a complete physical matchup problem for the opposing offenses. He was fantastic again in run defense, was absolutely elite in pass coverage minus the one play where he slipped against McBride. It feels like Mike Macdonald has his queen of the chess board, and as each week goes, he’ll continue to use him in ways that are just going to really mess up opposing offenses.
Second Down: Running game taking shape
They are never gonna be the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles or Ravens, but the rushing game continues to slowly build itself up.
If not for some kneel downs, the Seahawks would have rushed for over 200 yards against Calais Campbell and the Cardinals rush defense. Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker each ran the rock 14 times, with Charbs getting 83 yards and a score, with K9 running for 67 yards.
Both ran their style and it continues to feel very much like a 50/50 split, which will be interesting to watch in the second half of the season. As long as it doesn’t lead to issues behind closed doors, that could be massive in keeping both backs fresh come January.
Shout-out to George as well for getting a rushing touchdown. I love seeing special teams stars getting rewarded. Also, how about Rasheed Shaheed getting some action at the running back position. It brought something different to the backfield, and was very successful. I’m hopeful we will continue to see that going forward.
Third Down: The 2012 vibes are taking shape
There has been some discussion the past two weeks about which previous Seahawks team in franchise history does the 2025 team resemble the most. While I think you can make a case that this team is unique from any of the previous 49 squads, it is hard not to find a comparison in the past couple weeks to what the 2012 Seahawks did.
Let’s go down memory lane. The year is 2012, the Seattle Seahawks have never won a Super Bowl, Pete Carroll is in his third year with a young, but strong defense and a young offense that was middling under rookie Russell Wilson, averaging 18.5 ppg through a 6-5 start. Then, it a wild comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in overtime, something clicked. Defensively, the LOB era was born when they beat (and talked that shit) to Tom Brady in a Week 6 victory, but this is when the defense made their leap and began their #1 level defense for the next half decade. Offensively, the thunder and lightning running style of Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson hit its apex, as the Seahawks committed to the read option system, paired with an explosive passing offense to youngsters Golden Tate, Jermaine Kearse, and Doug Baldwin.
Over the final five games, Seattle outscored their opponents 193-60. If they had caught eventual NFC champion San Francisco (who they crushed 42-13 during their winning streak) for the division, they very likely would have been in three straight Super Bowls.
During the apex of their domination and arrival onto the main stage of NFL contenders, the Seahawks batter the 49ers, but also Arizona 58-0, and the Buffalo Bills 50-17. They were an absolute juggernaut, and it feels like we’re seeing a similar situation building here right now. The 2012 Seahawks crushed some inferior opponents before getting their shot. A similar storyline is building for Sunday.
Fourth Down: Will the 2013 vibes take shape?
The story of the 2012 Seahawks was about a championship team finding themselves, facing the typical playoff heartbreak that typically sets the stage for the following season to finish the job. In pretty much every aspect of this team, they feel like they are a year ahead of schedule, so could this actually become a “super” season like in 2013?
The Seahawks are playing some of it, not the best football in the league right now, but there is the question about the quality of their victories. That discussion will come to a head on Sunday when Seattle travels to Los Angeles for a massive battle. Both teams are 7-2, each have MVP candidates, coaches that are at the top of their profession in the sides of the ball they coach, and may just be the two best teams in all of football.
I don’t know about you, but this sounds a lot like the Jim Harbaugh vs Pete Carroll era, when they each had one of the best teams in footbal for four seasons straight.
The Seahawks should take the same trajectory that most teams take. They lose in LA, likely just lose the division, and become that dangerous 5th seed that usually wins a game or two in the playoffs before bowing out, and becoming the true Super Bowl contender in 2026. This team has not followed what most teams should or typically do accomplish, considering the newness of the roster and staff. They can permanently change the narrative and expectations for this season against the Rams on Sunday.
For LA, this feels like it is it. They have championship DNA, and an older (albeit elite) offense that feels like it is making one last run at a championship. With this game being at home, it feels like more of a must win for the Rams than the Seahawks. Seattle could lose this game, and still take care of business at the end of the year and win the West. They win and send a message on Sunday, they will have the NFL world believing in them. It would send not just a message that Seattle is in the driver’s seat for the NFC West, but for the entire NFL.
We’ll see if they can take advantage of this opportunity, but either way, it will be great to get some clarity and how good this team really is.
