Coby Bryant returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown, and Leonard Williams had 2 1/2 sacks as the Seahawks dominated Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Seattle won 16-6 on Sunday, moving into a tie for first place in the NFC West.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught six passes for 77 yards and scored the first offensive touchdown against the Cardinals (6-5) in three weeks. However, it was the defense that made the difference for the Seahawks (6-5) against their division rivals, who had their four-game winning streak ended.
“I thought he was dominant,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said about Williams. “I knew he played great and then I looked at the stat line and I realized he played out of his mind.”
Williams finished the game with six tackles and four quarterback hurries for Seattle, which has now beaten Arizona six times in a row. The teams will play again in two weeks.
The Cardinals had been averaging over 29 points per game in their last three games, but the Seahawks held them to 298 total yards and just 49 yards rushing, while also sacking Murray five times.
Williams said the team has been coming together since a leadership meeting following their bye week two weeks ago. He mentioned that the Seahawks decided the rest of the season would be a playoff push, and he woke up Sunday feeling positive about the team.
“I think that made it just crunch time for us,” Williams said. “We just understood the urgency of getting the job done.”
Geno Smith threw for 254 yards, with one touchdown pass and one interception for Seattle. Murray threw for 285 yards, and tight end Trey McBride had 12 catches for 133 yards.
Seattle led 7-3 midway through the third quarter when Arizona went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Seahawks’ 40-yard line. Murray was forced to scramble right, and then threw the ball over defender Devon Witherspoon and his own receiver into the hands of Bryant, who ran it in for a touchdown, putting Seattle up 13-3.
“I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast,” Bryant said after scoring, adding, “I know I’m going to get fined, so hopefully Marshawn saw it,” referring to his celebration, which resembled Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Mode” dive into the end zone.
Murray managed to drive the Cardinals to the Seattle 4-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Chad Ryland. Arizona had scored touchdowns on 16 straight goal-to-go situations before this game. Ryland missed a field goal with about 40 seconds left that would have set up an onside kick attempt.
“Obviously, it’s a hostile environment,” Murray said. “We just didn’t execute, did not execute at a high enough level to win that game.”
Smith-Njigba set up his touchdown by catching a pass on a shallow cross and sprinting 46 yards to the Arizona 4-yard line. Two plays later, he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Smith, giving Seattle a 7-3 lead at halftime. It was the first touchdown allowed by the Cardinals’ defense since the fourth quarter against Miami three weeks ago.
Arizona’s James Conner, who came into the game with 697 rushing yards, was held to just 8 yards on seven carries. It was Seattle’s best defensive performance of the season under first-year coach Macdonald, who had previously lost his last four home games.
“Coach was in his bag this week,” Witherspoon said.
