Field Gulls
The Seattle Seahawks followed up one blowout win with another, just like the good ol’ days of the Legion of Boom era.
Throughout the season, the Arizona Cardinals had either won close or lost close. Seattle made sure that they would lose big at Lumen Field, racing out to a 35-0 lead before some sloppy turnovers and a little bit of mercy made it only a 44-22 victory. It’s the fourth sweep in a row of the Cards and the first time since 2015 that the Seahawks have won back-to-back by 20+ pts (38-7 over the Minnesota Vikings and 35-6 over the Baltimore Ravens), and they sit at 7-2 for the first time since 2019. That 2019 team was living on the edge all season, whereas this Seahawks team has been able to put Drew Lock in for mop-up duty three times already.
Let’s get to Winners and Losers!
Tyrice Knight
Considering Knight lost his starting job midseason and was struggling during his playing time, he’s my biggest winner of the day. Not just two sacks, but two sacks and two forced fumbles leading to touchdowns. Knight also had at least one run stop to my recollection, as well as a 4th down pass breakup in the end zone. That was a great showing by Knight and obviously he was ready for the call when needed. Knight later revealed post-game he’s been dealing with a (since resolved) heart issue in addition to his knee injury, so perhaps that explains a lot of what transpired to start the year.
DeMarcus Lawrence
Tank! What a signing he’s been. He was the beneficiary of those Knight forced fumbles and had the rare two-touchdown day as a defensive player. It’s even rarer for anyone who isn’t in the secondary, I imagine. Lawrence also had a half-sack split with Nick Emmanwori to all but luck up Defensive Player of the Week.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
The only reason JSN didn’t get over 100 yards and more touches was the Seahawks only passed the ball 12 times. He did his damage early by getting 4 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown in the opening quarter, then everything else after that was a formality. I doubt they’ll have such a huge lead on the Los Angeles Rams next week such that they end up not throwing it too much.
Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker III, and George Holani
Seattle’s run game got going, especially so after Olu Oluwatimi entered the contest for the injured Jalen Sundell. Take away the kneeldowns and the Seahawks rushed for over 200 yards for the first time since 2022. Charbonnet led everyone with 83 yards and a touchdown, Walker looked better than the 67 yards suggested, and we saw extended George Holani snaps to the tune of 31 yards on 7 carries and his first NFL rushing touchdown. Did the Seahawks find something with this run game when they pounded it down Arizona’s throats in the 2nd half? I hope so....
