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Game Recap
Seven Starters Out, Three Points Allowed
Seattle beat Arizona 17-3 on Sunday at Lumen Field without Sam Darnold and six other starters, and the defense let the Cardinals score exactly once, on the opening drive. The Seahawks are 5-4, and Arizona has now lost 11 straight to Seattle.
Mike Macdonald called it “a 70-man roster week” on Friday, which is coach for “look who isn’t here.” Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Brandon Pili, Quenton Nelson, Charles Cross and Rashid Shaheed all sat. Michael Dickson’s 57-yard punt pinned Arizona at its own 1 on its first possession, Gardner Minshew marched 89 yards anyway, and Chad Ryland kicked a 28-yarder. Arizona marched 89 yards on its first drive and spent the rest of the afternoon wishing it had stayed home. The Cardinals finished with 198 total yards.
198
Total yards Arizona gained Sunday. Its only points came on the opening drive.
The fill-ins ate. Derick Hall, whose back kept him out of Thursday’s practice, had three tackles for loss. Byron Murphy II had a sack and two tackles for loss of his own. Dante Fowler Jr. finally got his first sack as a Seahawk, stripping Minshew to end the half (Arizona fell on it, rudely). Mike Morris and Rylie Mills, names you usually need a roster sheet for, chipped in two tackles apiece.
Then the part I’ll be rewatching all week. With about four and a half minutes left, a debatable pass interference call kept Arizona’s drive alive near the goal line. On fourth-and-goal, Nick Emmanwori knocked the ball away from a diving Trey McBride. It was the third time Sunday that Emmanwori ended a Cardinals drive on McBride. On Friday his hip earned him a questionable tag. On Sunday it spent three hours attached to Arizona’s best receiver.
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Arizona marched 89 yards on its first drive and spent the rest of the afternoon wishing it had stayed home.
The offense did just enough: AJ Barner scored both touchdowns and Zach Charbonnet ran for 77 yards. It wasn’t pretty. I don’t care. This defense lost in Denver after allowing 168 yards, so give it 17 points and it will happily take the win.
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Injury
Two Hurt Quarterbacks and a Trip to Las Vegas
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Lock grabbed at his right hip area, ducked into the blue medical tent, and came back to finish 19 of 28 for 175 yards and a touchdown. He said it “was not too bad.” Macdonald was less breezy: “We’re looking at him for an oblique, so we’ll assess it and go from there.” That’s on top of the elbow tendinitis Lock has been nursing for weeks. The man is held together by tape and optimism.
If neither can go, it’s Jalen Milroe in Las Vegas against a Raiders team coached by Klint Kubiak, Seattle’s offensive coordinator last season. The books noticed. Seattle is only a three-point favorite at bet365 over a team the 49ers just beat 38-17.
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The man is held together by tape and optimism.
My vote: Darnold sits until after the bye, which comes right after Las Vegas. Two weeks of rest for a cracked rib beats one more week of him getting hit. Lock’s oblique is the coin flip, and Milroe should be taking real reps this week just in case.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Jaxon Smith-Njigba hit 1,000 receiving yards for the season on an 8-yard catch in the first quarter, making him the third Seahawk with three straight 1,000-yard seasons, after Steve Largent and Tyler Lockett. He finished with seven catches for 51 yards. That’s a slow day for him and a career day for half the league’s WR3s. Seahawks.com
Less than ten months after tearing his ACL in a playoff win over the 49ers, Zach Charbonnet ran 16 times for 77 yards and led the backfield in carries in just his second game back. Jadarian Price added four catches for 54 yards. The running back room went from a hospital ward to a timeshare in about two weeks. Yahoo Sports
“Last week, Sam (Darnold) got hit too much,” Grey Zabel said, explaining why the line made a clean pocket for Lock the week’s point of emphasis. Revolutionary concept. Somebody should have pitched it before the Bears game. Seahawks.com
Officially, Seattle’s defense forced zero turnovers. Josh Jobe did pick off Minshew after blanketing Trey McBride in the second half, but a flag wiped it out. The box score says no takeaways. My eyes say otherwise, and my eyes have watched more of this team than the box score has. Yahoo Sports
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Puka Nacua caught the winning touchdown in a 20-13 win at Washington, then hurt his knee on the Rams’ final possession and is headed for an MRI. That matters because Matthew Stafford threw his way all day and no other Rams pass catcher topped 20 receiving yards. Their entire passing game is one guy, and this week that guy is lying very still inside a tube. Take all the time you need, Puka.
NINERS
San Francisco forced five turnovers in a 38-17 win over the Raiders, including Upton Stout punching the ball loose at the goal line. Seattle’s next game is in Las Vegas, possibly with its third-string quarterback. So Kyle Shanahan’s team spent its Sunday making our scouting tape for free. Very generous. Still not sending a thank-you card.
CARDINALS
Gardner Minshew’s review of his first loss as Arizona’s starter: “Frustrating, obviously. Word to describe the whole day.” That’s two words, Gardner. He went 21 of 30 for 166 yards and no touchdowns, and the Cardinals have now lost 11 straight to Seattle. A week ago he was the comeback hero in Dallas. Lumen Field has a way of handling heroes.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
In October 2004, Seattle sent a conditional seventh-round pick to Oakland for this 42-year-old receiver, who then called Steve Largent to ask permission to wear No. 80. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Jerry Rice. He became the first Seahawk to wear No. 80 since Largent retired in 1989, and Largent’s answer was a blessing, not a no.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2017
November 9, 2017
A Thursday Night Win in Arizona
Seattle won 22-16 in Arizona on a Thursday night. Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham, the first a 6-yarder in the opening quarter, and Kam Chancellor tackled Adrian Peterson in the end zone for a safety. Nine years later, beating Arizona in November is still a Seahawks tradition.
THE GOLDEN EGG
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AJ Barner touched the ball five times for 10 yards and scored on two of them. He lined up under center in the formation Seattle calls the “Barnyard” and dove in from a yard out for his third career rushing touchdown, then caught a 7-yarder before halftime that survived a review. “They called it a catch on the field. They reviewed them. They called it a catch. So it’ll live on as a catch forever,” Barner said. Correct.
That was the second multi-touchdown game of his career, and Macdonald said you could feel Barner’s frustration with himself. Then, with the two-minute warning coming, he picked up the final first down on another 1-yard run so Seattle could kneel it out. Ten yards, two touchdowns, one Golden Egg. Find me a tight end who did more with less on Sunday.
2
Touchdowns
10
Total Yards
5
Touches
Got a Take on the Quarterback Mess?
Darnold, Lock, Milroe, or a fourth option you’ve been workshopping in the shower. Send it in and The Rooster might answer it in the Mailbag.
Rest up, quarterbacks. All of you. — The Rooster