SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks have been struggling every week in the past, coming off their bye having misplaced 5 of their final six video games.
That included a gut-punch additional time defeat at residence towards the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 3. The outlook for the last-place Seahawks (5-5) was starting to look grim.
They instantly have renewed optimism this week after an uplifting victory over the San Francisco 49ers that snapped a six-game dropping streak towards their arch-rival that dated to 2021. Seattle will play the first-place Arizona Cardinals (6-4) on Sunday for a share of the NFC West lead.
How rapidly issues change within the NFL.
“We’ve earned the opportunity to be fighting for the lead in the division going into the home stretch,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald stated. “So that’s the way we’re treating it. It’s very much like a playoff mindset for us at this point.”
The win over the 49ers, which was capped by a 13-yard landing run by quarterback Geno Smith with 18 seconds left, put the Seahawks in a significantly better place mentally than they’d been in over the earlier six weeks. They’re hoping it’s simply the beginning of one thing even larger.
“It can just spark something that you’ve been looking for this whole year,” extensive receiver DK Metcalf stated. “I know we started off very hot with the first three games, but, you know, when adversity hit, it’s all about how you respond. I think we responded the right way, and it’s going to carry us throughout the rest of the season.”
Whereas the Seahawks are feeling higher this week, the Cardinals have loads of cause to really feel optimistic, too. After beginning the season 2-4, Arizona has gained 4 straight to place itself in first place within the NFC West.
The Cardinals have a protection that’s making massive strides underneath the management of veteran security Budda Baker and a top-five operating recreation behind the twin risk of operating again James Conner, who has 697 yards speeding, and quarterback Kyler Murray, who appears to be hitting his stride in his sixth NFL season.
Murray has 2,058 yards passing with 12 touchdowns, and has rushed for 371 yards and 4 scores. Second-year head coach Jonathan Gannon has been impressed with Murray’s improved decision-making as Murray has thrown simply three interceptions by 10 video games.
“There’s times that he probably wants to try to thread it a little bit, but understands when to pick and choose his spots,” Gannon stated. “I think he’s done a phenomenal job with that and there are a lot of times throughout the game where you could say we like to put it in the quarterback’s hands, and you trust him to make the right decision for that point in the game.”
Reunited
Seahawks extensive receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will see a well-recognized face on the opposite sideline Sunday in rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., who was Smith-Njigba’s school teammate at Ohio State in 2021 and 2022.
The pair every caught three touchdowns within the Buckeyes’ wild win over Utah within the 2022 Rose Bowl, with Smith-Njigba having 347 yards receiving on what was a 573-passing yard day for C.J. Stroud, now the quarterback of the Houston Texans.
“Late his freshman year, he really just stood out,” Smith-Njigba stated of Harrison. “You could just see the growth and kind of who he is becoming. … He’s passed a lot of people’s expectations, of course, but I knew he was going to be elite later on freshman year.”
MVP-level Murray
Murray is coming off the most effective video games of his profession after finishing 22 of 24 passes for 266 yards and a landing towards the Jets two weeks in the past. He additionally ran for 21 yards and two TDs.
Murray at the moment ranks No. 3 within the NFL in quarterback ranking behind Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. That has put him within the MVP dialog, significantly since Arizona has gained 4 straight video games.
“I don’t play the game for the validation of others,” Murray stated. “But as a player, of course, sometimes the recognition and the words being said feel good. But it doesn’t satisfy me.”
Defensive enchancment
Essentially the most shocking a part of Arizona’s four-game successful streak is the speedy enchancment of the protection, which has allowed simply 9 and 6 factors, respectively, over the previous two video games. No touchdowns have been allowed – simply 5 subject objectives.
It’s simply the second time over the previous 30 years that the franchise has allowed 10 factors or much less over back-to-back video games.
Baker, a Bellevue native and former College of Washington soccer star, is the unquestioned chief of the bunch — he already has 100 tackles over 10 video games — however the crew additionally has a powerful core of linebackers in Kyzir White, Mack Wilson and Zaven Collins.
Metcalf and Baker have gone up towards one another many instances earlier than, most famously when Metcalf ran Baker down on an interception return in 2020.
“You really can’t prepare for a guy like that because his engine never stops,” Metcalf stated. “He’s always going to be around the ball. He’s always going to affect the game with just his play effort and play style. … Just got to try to minimize his playmaking ability as much as we can on offense.”