Reporter Bob Condotta grades the Seahawks’ Week 6 win over the Cardinals

Two weeks after the Seahawks allowed five offensive touchdowns in less than 29 minutes to the Detroit Lions, they allowed zero in 60 minutes to the Arizona Cardinals.

And less than two weeks after scoring 48 points on the Detroit Lions, they scored 19 on the Arizona Cardinals.

Such are the wild swings of the Any-Given-Sunday NFL.

But peer through the haze hovering over Seattle and there the Seahawks are, tied for first in the NFC West with the Rams and 49ers at 3-3.

“It’s up for grabs,” said veteran defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson.

Indeed it is, with Seattle more than a third of the way through the season right there with the defending Super Bowl champs and the team they had to beat to get there.

Strange days indeed.

On to some grades:

Quarterback

This wasn’t Geno Smith’s best day of the season, and other than the loss to the 49ers, was statistically his worst, at least in the passing game. But on a day when the offense was struggling, Smith showed some headiness in using his legs to rush for 48 yards on six carries, and he hit the passes when he had to on the second-half TD drive when Arizona cut the lead to three. And most important, while he took a season-high five sacks, he didn’t have a turnover.

Grade: B-minus.

Running back

Rookie Kenneth Walker III got the first start of his career filling in for injured Rashaad Penny and showed why the team drafted him 41^st overall with some heady running to gain 97 yards on 21 carries, including the only offensive TD of the game on an 11-yarder in the fourth quarter. Walker now has 243 yards on 44 carries and an average of 5.5 per attempt. They’ll take that.

Grade: A.

Receiver

It was a tough day to get the ball downfield with Arizona’s rush and secondary, and both DK Metcalf (2-34) and Tyler Lockett (2-17) had season lows in receiving yards. But Metcalf might have had a TD had Smith not overshot him on a throw in the first quarter. And in his best game of the season, Dee Eskridge helped pick up the slack with 39 yards on three receptions while Marquise Goodwin had 26 on two.

Grade: B.

Tight end

Arizona came into the game allowing the most yards in the NFL to tight ends, and the Seahawks kept that trend alive as Noah Fant (6-45), Colby Parkinson (2-11) and Will Dissly (1-12) combined for nine receptions for 68 yards on 10 targets.

Grade: A.

Offensive line

It was a rougher day for the line than we’ve seen in a few weeks as Smith was sacked five times — he maybe could have gotten the ball out more quickly a couple times, but Pete Carroll is also OK with not putting it up for grabs if not necessary — while the running game also seemed dependent on Walker and Smith to create their own openings.

Grade: C.

Defensive line

There seemed reason to worry going into the game with stalwart nose tackle Al Woods sidelined with a knee injury. Not to worry as Bryan Mone had his best game of the year filling in and helping clog up Arizona’s running game. Granted, Arizona was without running backs James Conner and Darrel Williams. But the way the Seahawks had played previously against the run, it was tempting to think anyone could go for big yards against them. Instead, Arizona’s running backs had just 44 yards on 18 carries. Kyler Murray had 100 on 10, but 42 came on the first series of the game, after which the Seahawks mostly kept him from doing major damage with his legs.

And best of all, Seattle had a season-high six sacks, five from either linemen or outside linebackers, the players Seattle needs to get a consistent pass rush from and not depending on blitzing.

Most heartening might have been the play of Darrell Taylor, who’s gotten off to a rough start this season but had a sack and forced fumble as well as a tackle for a loss. Poona Ford also had his best game of the season with a sack and a pass defense as did Jefferson with a sack and five tackles.

Grade: A.

Linebacker

Give this previously beleaguered group its props, too, especially the inside duo of Jordyn Brooks (11 tackles) and Cody Barton (8). Each seemed far steadier defending the pass, as well. An example came on a key play early in the game when Brooks tackled A.J. Green for just a 2-yard gain on a pass on a third-and-6 play at the Seattle 22. The Cardinals went for it on fourth down on the next play and didn’t get it, when Murray bounced a pass to Rondale Moore. Brooks and Barton may be starting to hit their stride inside.

Grade: A-minus.

Secondary

There were a couple of missed tackles early as Arizona gained 131 yards in the first quarter. But once the Seahawks got a handle on that, the game began to turn, and the secondary as a whole also seemed to play its best overall game of the year, led by the precocious rookie duo of cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant. Woolen had his fourth interception in four games and Bryant his fourth forced fumbled of the season — with Woolen recovering one of them for his second recovery of the season. It’s hard to have expected more of that duo.

Michael Jackson again got the start at left cornerback. Sidney Jones IV rotated in for a few plays but for now that spot seems to remain Jackson’s. Ryan Neal again got the start at strong safety and while he missed an early tackle on a third-and-six that led to an Arizona first down, he played better later, including getting a sack on a blitz

Grade: A.

Special teams

Man, another week another special teams mistake, this one a blown protection that left punter Michael Dickson out to dry and eventually resulted in a fumble and Arizona’s only touchdown of the game. Seattle simply has to clean up the big faux pas in this area. It’s worth noting the punting game and overall coverage was fine otherwise. Seattle changed up its returning spots with Eskridge taking over kickoffs and DeeJay Dallas taking over most of the punts. Dallas had been handling kickoffs and Lockett punts.

Grade: C-minus.