The Seattle Seahawks routed the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 31-7 on Sunday, marking their 10th consecutive win over their NFC West foes. We’ve seen our fair share of Seahawks blowout wins over Arizona, most famously the 58-0 annihilation back in 2012, but the defensive performance by Seattle is worthy of a special mention.
Outside of one garbage time run by Bam Knight, the Cardinals did not have a single offensive play gain more than nine yards. Jacoby Brissett completed 17 passes for a grand
total of 95 yards, while Trey McBride’s eight catches (and touchdown) traveled a combined 41 yards.
This incredible stat by Cardinals beat writer Theo Mackie shows that Mike Macdonald’s defense did something to the Cardinals not seen since they were still in St. Louis… and using replacement players during the NFL strike.
The box score for the New Orleans Saints and Cardinals is absolutely hilarious when you consider the Saints would finish the season 12-3. Replacement quarterbacks Shawn Halloran and Sammy Garza combined for 3/10 for 11 yards, but the Cardinals won 24-19 thanks to a pair of fumble return touchdowns and a 26-yard touchdown drive in which nearly every play was a rush attempt.
The Cardinals as a franchise have been extremely inept, so the fact that the Seahawks managed to create a level of ineptitude not seen for decades is remarkable. Explosive plays? Arizona didn’t even come close to a semi-explosive pass. Mike Macdonald has the reigning champions off to a hot defensive start, which is terrifying for the rest of the league considering Nick Emmanwori is slowly making his way back from injury and Ty Okada has been out with a hamstring pull.
