The Seattle Seahawks secured a 17-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9, offering several encouraging takeaways about the team's prowess at this point in the season while highlighting areas where it still needs to improve. Here are three things that we learned about the Seahawks from Sunday's performance.
1. Zach Charbonnet may be finding his rhythm
Zach Charbonnet is rounding back into form after missing the first seven games of the season while recovering from a torn ACL. He rushed 16 times for 77 yards in the win over the Cardinals, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and added one reception for nine yards. His performance was an encouraging step in his return and may signal that he is nearing the form that made him such an important part of Seattle's offense last season.
The Seahawks
have needed another high-end offensive weapon alongside Jaxon Smith-Njigba this season, which they have not had consistently. If Charbonnet maintains his production from Week 9 moving forward, the Seahawks may get that high-end offensive weapon that they need alongside Smith-Njigba for the rest of the year.
2. Seattle's young defensive stars are emerging
Byron Murphy II and Nick Emmanwori continued demonstrating their potential as future defensive superstars. Murphy recorded a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit, bringing him to four sacks, along with seven TFL and seven QB hits on the season, while Emmanwori finished with a pass breakup and a quarterback bit and continued to disrupt all over the field. Their continued development and recent production suggest that Seattle may have two special defensive talents on the brink of reaching All-Pro levels, if not already there.
3. The Seahawks still need a reliable WR2
Seattle remains in search of a dependable receiving threat alongside Smith-Njigba. AJ Barner scored a receiving (and rushing) touchdown in the game, but finished with seven receiving yards total. Cooper Kupp recorded 32 receiving yards while Tory Horton recorded 22 yards. Despite their contributions, none provided the consistent receiving production that Seattle needs from its second option, making it a major issue that the team needs to resolve to strengthen its chances of winning a second straight Super Bowl this season.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: 3 things we learned from Seahawks in Week 9 win over Cardinals
