Field Gulls
Well that was a little more adventurous than it needed to be, but it’s not like we haven’t seen this type of zaniness before with the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in years gone by.
The Seahawks seemed comfortable with leads of 14-3 and 20-6, then it all fell apart. A furious rally by the Cardinals tied things up at 20-20 with under a minute to go, but Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba connected for one more huge play to set up Jason Myers to be the walk-off hero. It was a 23-20 game that should’ve never been that close, but the Seahawks still own the Cardinals and continue to prevail in Glendale.
For at least this week, I’m back handling Winners and Losers. I deeply thank Terrance Robinson, Jer’rel Coleman, and Tyler Alsin for subbing in over the past few games.
Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
This combination could go in the Seahawks history books as something special. Imagine having zero targets in the first half and then suddenly you finish with four catches for 79 yards and the most clutch of game-deciding grabs. Darnold was 18/26 for 242 yards and a touchdown, playing a very good game yet again and notching his first two-minute drill game-dinning drive as a Seahawk. I’m highlighting Sam and JSN together because their chemistry already looks as crisp as Russell Wilson (and Geno Smith) and Tyler Lockett, or Russ and Doug Baldwin, or Matt Hasselbeck and Bobby Engram. I’d say Darnold has a lot of elements of the best version of Hasselbeck to his game, which I appreciate. He’s also continuing the deep ball success of his predecessors, albeit currently with one guy.
JSN is a bare minimum top 10 receiver in the NFL right now. The explosive downfield part of his game has arrived and the league should be on notice that it’s hard to keep this man down for long. Maybe you can call a questionable holding penalty to take away a game-clinching touchdown, but that’s it.
AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo
I’m combining these two because these are your top two tight ends. The Seahawks had a quiet night from Jaxon Smith-Njigba and relied on their big fellas to lift the passing game. Barner caught the game’s first touchdown and finished with three catches for 32 yards, while the rookie Arroyo had two grabs for 44 yards and a pass interference drawn in the end zone, otherwise he’d have likely had his first NFL touchdown.
Uchenna Nwosu
It’s been a long time coming for Chenna. After missing so much of the last two seasons due to injury, Nwosu picked up his first sack of the year early in the first quarter by blowing past Trey Benson and Isaiah Adams to bring down Kyler Murray. Go figure that he’s the first Seahawks edge to sack a quarterback. I’m very happy to see him make an impact. Nwosu also drew a hold on Paris Johnson Jr to help derail...
