Another week, another blowout win for the certifiably scary Seattle Seahawks (7-2).
It was a wire-to-wire beatdown of the Arizona Cardinals (3-6), who fell behind 35-0 out of the gate and looked like they
were about to get that 58-0 treatment like they did in 2012. Alas, the Seahawks didn’t get the shutout and had to settle for a mere 44-22 win. Seattle stays on top in the NFC West via head-to-head tiebreaker over the Los Angeles Rams, who are also 7-2 after beating the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba once again got in the end zone but finished just shy of 100 yards, DeMarcus Lawrence scored two touchdowns off of Tyrice Knight strip-sacks, and Zach Charbonnet and George Holani both had first half rushing scores. Seattle didn’t get any touchdowns in the second half but there was no need.
Sam Darnold was 10/12 for 178 yards and a touchdown, although he did have two lost fumbles and an interception for a three-turnover day. Seattle rushed for a season-high 198 yards, with Charbonnet getting 83 and Kenneth Walker III recording 67. Newest Seahawk Rashid Shaheed even chipped in 20 yards on the ground and George Holani had 31 yards in extended playing time.
Defensively, despite being significantly undermanned, they sacked Jacoby Brissett five times and held him under 50 percent completion rate. Outside of one garbage time carry for 54 yards by Emari Demercado, the running game was held in check. When you consider 15 of 22 points were off of turnovers, the defense was unlucky to give up 22 on the afternoon.
This team is a contender, folks. Even with the turnover problems.
For the second week in a row, the Seahawks scored an opening drive touchdown. Last week, it was Tory Horton who opened the scoring for Seattle, but since he didn’t play, the Seahawks turned to 2025’s best quarterback-wide receiver combo. Sam Darnold rolled out on play-action and hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba deep for a 43-yard score. Garret Williams fell and Jalen Thompson was late, leaving JSN with the task of just catching the pass and putting six on the board.
It got even better just a few plays later, courtesy of Seattle’s defense. Tyrice Knight, who lost his starting job to Drake Thomas at weakside linebacker, returned to his old starting role while Thomas was shifted to Ernest Jones’ spot. His first major contribution was to strip-sack Jacoby Brissett, and DeMarcus Lawrence scooped and scored to double the lead to 14-0! What a start!
Drake Thomas blew up a 3rd and 1 run play to force another Cardinals punt, continuing Seattle’s theme of outstanding run game.
The Seahawks marched down the field again, albeit with Jaxon Smith-Njigba taking a flagged helmet shot that warranted a trip to concussion protocol in the medical tent. A nice run by Kenneth Walker set up goal-to-go. Two plays later, Seattle got a 9-yard touchdown run by… not Walker, not Charbonnet, but George Holani! His first NFL rushing touchdown. A 21-0 beating in the first quarter!
Remember when Tyrice Knight strip-sacked Jacoby Brissett and DeMarcus Lawrence recovered the ball for a touchdown? Want to see it happen again, but slightly differently?
Incredible! And this happened one play after Nick Emmanwori’s first career sack.
After another punt by Arizona, the Seahawks faced a 3rd and fairly short with Darnold in an empty backfield. No one was open initially, then Darnold scrambled to find Cooper Kupp along the sideline. And he kept running, and running, and running, and running, but he’s not fast enough to get a touchdown. It’s still a 67-yard play that set up goal-to-go!
Zach Charbonnet, the touchdown vulture in the red zone, ran it in from six yards out to make it a 35-0 can of whoopass.
The Cardinals finally got a good drive going all the way to the 1-yard line, where Brandon Pili and Ty Okada were able to stuff Zonovan Knight in the backfield!
Annoyingly, the Seahawks fumbled the exchange between Sam Darnold and Olu Oluwatimi, which led to an Arizona recovery. Greg Dortch put the Cards on the board to make it 35-7 via rushing touchdown.
Seattle added points before the break with a 49-yard Jason Myers field goal to make it 38-7.
In the 2nd half, things got a little tighter while still never being that close. The Cardinals marched down the field and again got to the goal line, only to be stopped on 4th down through a broken up pass in the end zone by Tyrice Knight.
Just like the last goal line stand, however, the Seahawks gave the ball right back. Sam Darnold threw the ball off the helmet of his own lineman and it popped into the air for Denzel Burke to pick it off. Seattle’s second turnover of the afternoon. Jacoby Brissett capitalized with a 4th down touchdown to tight end Trey McBride, who can suddenly score with a different QB. The two-point conversion to Marvin Harrison Jr made it 38-15 in the third quarter.
Some Seahawks fans may have felt uncomfortable after Darnold was strip-sacked by Josh Sweat, marking the third turnover by the Seahawks and all in their own territory. Thankfully, Nehemiah Pritchett made this amazing end zone play on 4th down to deny Harrison Jr a touchdown.
The Seahawks embarked on a 13-play, 79-yard drive that was literally nothing but run plays. Not even a designed pass. Zach Charbonnet had a 39-yard carry, Kenneth Walker III had an explosive run, A.J. Barner converted on a sneak, it was just pure bully ball to drain seven minutes off the clock and kick a field goal to make it 41-15 in the final quarter.
Arizona did respond with a touchdown by Marvin Harrison Jr for its final points of the day. Jason Myers tacked on a field goal wrap up the scoring. Bryce Cabeldue got some snaps at center while Drew Lock had handoff duties for the remainder of the evening.
Seahawks injury report
Center Jalen Sundell was ruled out with a knee injury in the second quarter and replaced by Olu Oluwatimi.
Safety Nick Emmanwori injured his hand in the fourth quarter but returned to the game.
Next week’s opponent
The Seahawks have the biggie in Inglewood on Sunday, Nov. 16. A road game against the Los Angeles Rams (7-2) at 1:05 pm PT on FOX.
