Following the Arizona Cardinals' victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, head coach Mike LaFleur said he cautioned the team that one thing is always true in the NFL: “Humility is a day away.”
Then, after Sunday’s 31-7 beatdown by the Seattle Seahawks, LaFleur noted, “When you play really good teams, you don't have to do the extraordinary, but you have to do the ordinary extra and we certainly didn't do that “particularly on offense.”
There’s no doubt the absolute absence of any offense in the second half (12 plays for 20 yards before the final two plays and 6:54 time of possession) directly affected the defense, allowing 24 points in the final two quarters.
Let’s take a look at how the defense was worn down.
‘A weird one’
Those were LaFleur’s first words
after the game. The weirdest was the first play of the second half with the score tied 7-7.
Cardinals tight end Elijah Higgins forced a fumble on the kickoff at the 28-yard line, which could have been a huge play. It was, but for the Seahawks.
The ball popped into the air, bounced and linebacker Chazz Surratt scooped it up and ran 37 yards to the Cardinals' 37-yard line. Four plays and 2:33 later, backup quarterback Drew Lock connected with wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a seven-yard touchdown pass (his second of the game) and the Seahawks led 14-7.
Excellent field position occurred again when quarterback Jacoby Brissett overthrew wide receiver Michael Wilson, who appeared to slow down, leading to a Julian Love interception at the Cardinals 44-yard line.
That led to a field goal and a 17-7 lead with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Can you spell gassed?
That’s how the defense looked in the fourth quarter, thanks to being on the field for so long (23:06). The final two touchdowns were on possessions that lasted 15:47 with 130 yards accumulated on 26 plays and 11 first downs. That was nearly half of the 23 Seattle had in the game.
The final possession ate up 10:14, using 16 plays, and despite the Cardinals keeping the Seahawks out of the end zone on two snaps from the one-yard line, tight end A.J. Barner went under center for the final score.
LaFleur said, “I'm not going to question them battling. They did battle on that last drive for it to get down to fourth and inches. I told them I do appreciate that. They didn't back down; took everything Seattle had right there. I've been on the other side of that too, where you want to stomp one in right there on offense and our guys made it hard.”
Running back Emanuel Wilson carried defenders several times for extra yards and rushed for 48 yards on nine carries in that drive, at one point running the ball on seven consecutive plays. Running back George Holani also gained 11 yards on two attempts. Wilson ran six times for 21 yards in the first half and 15 for 71 yards in the final two quarters.
No stopping JSN
Smith-Njigba had nine receptions for 155 yards and three touchdowns, including an 82-yard score on Seattle’s second play of the game when he ran by cornerback Will Johnson and safety Budda Baker couldn’t catch up to him. Remarkably, the 155 yards were more than the 151 the Cardinals gained as a team.
LaFleur wouldn’t cast blame afterward, saying only, “That's one obviously you want back because it doesn't really matter who that is; we can be better in that, just from an execution standpoint.”
The other seven Seahawks who caught passes totaled only 80 yards on 10 receptions. But JSN made Lock look like an All-Pro, completing 19 of 26 for 235 yards and a passer rating of 139.1.
The bright spots
Baker led the team with 11 tackles (seven solo/one for loss) and a 16-yard sack on the final play of the first half. Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. returned to the game after injuring his thumb and had nine tackles (four solo). Defensive lineman Darius Robinson probably had his best game as a Cardinal, with six tackles (three solo/one for loss).
Linebacker Zaven Collins had a nice strip of running back Jadarian Price that he recovered at the Cardinals' 47-yard line in the second quarter. However, the Cardinals failed to capitalize and followed that with a three-and-out.
Nothing special
Special teams didn’t play much of a factor save for the Surratt run on a fumbled kickoff return, but that was just a bad break.
Kicker Chad Ryland had no field-goal attempts, while punter Blake Gillikin’s numbers looked bad (41.3 average/37.1 net), but much of that was because of short fields, kick from the Cardinals' 43-yard line, and the Seahawks 47 and 49 on three of his seven punts.
Safety Wydett Williams Jr. was flagged for an illegal block on a Seattle punt, linebacker Karson Sharar was penalized for a late hit on a Cardinals punt and wide receiver Jalen Brooks was guilty of fair-catch interference.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Seahawks 31, Cardinals 7: Observations on defense, special teams
