Seattle Seahawks ~ Cardinals had more punts (9) than points (6). Seahawks had more total yards than ever (596). Player of the Game: The Seahawks #SEAvsAZ Game at a glance: Seahawks 35, Cardinals 6 seahawks The Seahawks rolled up a franchise-record 596 offensive yards and held the Cardinals to 216 in a dominating performance on Sunday night that put them in control of the NFC West. PLAYERS OF THE GAME: THE SEAHAWKS All of them, because how do you single out one individual from what was a total team effort in such dominating fashion in a game that meant so much? You don’t, and even the Cardinals agreed. “Theyre playing awesome football,” Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “You cant take anything away from that ball club. They have a championship pedigree, what it takes to win on the road, what it takes to win the division. Obviously, its not over yet, but theyre one step closer.” And it was the biggest step, because a victory by the Cardinals would have given them everything that is now within the Seahawks’ reach – the NFC West title, a first-round bye in the playoffs and possibly home-field throughout the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the conference. If, that is, the Seahawks take care of one final piece of regular-season business in next Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams at CenturyLink Field. Even coach Pete Carroll admitted, “I don’t even know where to begin with praising guys.” There was the defense. Again. Still. During the Seahawks’ five-game winning streak that has lifted them to 11-4, the defense has allowed 33 points and an average of 193.6 yards. There was Russell Wilson. Again. Still. The third-year quarterback passed for a career-high 339 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 88 yards including a career-high 55 yard scramble and another TD. There was Marshawn Lynch. Again. Still. The Beast Mode back had 113 rushing yards and two TDs – including a career-long 79-yarder for a score that has to be seen several times to truly appreciate. There was Luke Willson. The second-year tight end caught only three passes, but one went for 80 yards and a TD and another for 20 yards and a TD as he had a career high 139 receiving yards. There was Doug Baldwin. The team’s leading receiver caught seven passes for 113 yards - his second 100 effort of the season. There was the offensive line, which paved the way for the league’s No. 1-ranked rushing attack to gain 267 yards and allowed Wilson to be sacked only once – after the Cardinals had sacked him seven times during their Week 12 game in Seattle. And they did it without their two most experienced blockers, as Alvin Bailey stepped in at left tackle for an injured Russell Okung and Patrick Lewis started at center for an injured Max Unger; and with guards J.R. Sweezy and James Carpenter playing with injuries. UNSUNG HERO: PATRICK LEWIS No one saw Lewis starting for Unger, unless they watched practice during the week. Lemuel Jeanpierre had started the previous three games. Lewis, however, worked at center on Wednesday and Thursday, because Jeanpierre was at right guard for Sweezy. But even when Sweezy returned on Friday, Lewis remained at center with the No. 1 line. “Looking at the film from the last time we played them, he did a really nice job,” Carroll explained after the game when asked about Lewis, who started the Week 12 game the Cardinals in Seattle. “We thought the matchup looked good, so Tom (Cable, the offensive line coach) thought he’d give him a shot at it and it obviously worked out pretty well.” PLAYS OF THE GAME: Offense: With apologies to Willson and his 80-yard TD reception, where he used the video screen at the end of the stadium to see who might be gaining on him, Lynch’s 79-yarder in the fourth quarter was off the charts. He somehow bullied his way between Peterson and Rashad Johnson along the sideline – without stepping out of bounds – and then did his trademark backward flop into the end zone. “I’ve never seen a better run,” Carroll said. “It was so much fun to watch that.” And Carroll had a ringside seat for the longest run of Lynch’s career, as the Beast Mode back went right past him along the Seahawks’ sideline. Defense: Picking one play would not be fair in a game where the league’s No. 1-ranked unit made so many plays, not to mention play after play. But the fact that the Cardinals had more punts (nine) than points (six) was a pretty good indicator of just how thorough the Seahawks’ domination was. “That means a lot of guys played their tails off again,” Carroll said. Special teams: On a night when Steven Hauschka missed as many field goal attempts in one game (three) as he had in the first 14 games this season, punter Jon Ryan was on it. He dropped two of his four punts inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line and the best was downed at the 7-yard line. INJURY REPORT: JERMAINE KEARSE GOES OUT WITH TIGHT HAMSTRING The team’s second-leading receiver among the wide-outs left the game with a tight hamstring and did not return. “It didn’t pop on him. But he felt it tighten up, so he shut it down right then,” Carroll said. “That’s all I know. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Tight end Cooper Helfet injured his ribs, but returned to finish the game. Cornerback Tharold Simon injured a shoulder late in the game. Lynch did not start or play in the first quarter because he was sick to his stomach. WORTH NOTING With his two rushing touchdowns, Lynch has 12 this season to tie his career-high from 2011 and 2013. He has 16 TDs overall, which is a career best. He also has 100-yard rushing performances in four of the past seven games. In addition to Wilson’s 339 passing yards being a career high, the 80-yard pass to Willson tied for the longest of his career. With his 88 rushing yards, Wilson now has 842 for the season which is 5th all-time among quarterbacks in a single season. The Seahawks got 263 of their franchise-record 596 yards on four plays – the Wilson-to-Willson 80-yard TD pass; Lynch’s 79-yard TD run; Wilson’s career-long 55-yard run; and Wilson’s 49-yard pass to Baldwin. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner had a game-high nine tackles and now has 94 – leaving him six shy of his third consecutive 100-tackle season. Linebacker K.J. Wright had four tackles, giving him 100. The Seahawks had four sacks – one each by Michael Bennett, Jordan Hill, O’Brien Schofield and David King. That gives them 21 in their past five games, after they collected 13 in the first 10 games. The Seahawks are now 13-1 in night games under Carroll. The Seahawks finished 5-3 on the road, which ties for the second-best mark in franchise history with the 1984 and 2005 teams. Last season’s team was 6-2 on the road. The Cardinals are 15-3 at home in Bruce Arians two seasons as coach, and two of the losses have been to Seahawks. They had been unbeaten at home this season (7-0).
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:03:49 +0000
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