Here are three impressions from the Seahawks 19-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Defensive improvements
The Seahawks defense looked much better than in weeks past, as Seattle sacked Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray six times for 51 yards, and kept the Cardinals from scoring an offensive touchdown. The Seahawks had eight sacks coming into Sunday’s game.
Ryan Neal, Uchenna Nwosu, Darrell Taylor, Quinton Jefferson, Poona Ford and Shelby Harris had one sack apiece, with Neal and Coby Bryant each forcing a fumble.
Seattle had seven quarterback hits in the game, and 10 tackles for loss.
Seattle came into the game giving up an NFL-worst 430 yards per game, but allowed 315 total yards to Arizona, 144 on the ground, and 171 through the air.
Rookie Tariq Woolen came down with an interception for the fourth straight game, grabbing a Murray pass intended for Marquise Brown at the Seahawks 25 yard line. That ties him with Richard Sherman and John Harris for the second most interceptions by a rookie in team history, and ties him with six other Seahawks players for most consecutive games with an interception.
Outside of Murray’s 100 yards on 10 carries, the Seahawks plugged up the Cardinals rushing game well, allowing just 44 yards on 18 carries to Eno Benjamin and Keaontay Ingram.
Murray finished the game with 222 passing yards on 23 completions.
Jason Myers back in business
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers was perfect on Sunday after missing kicks in each of the past two weeks. Myers missed a 39-yarder on Oct. 2 against Detroit, and then missed an extra point in last week’s loss to New Orleans.
But Myers looked like his 2020 self against Arizona, with four field goals that accounted for 12 of the Seahawks’ 19 points. Myers made field goals of 39, 27, 34, and 32 yards, while also converting a PAT attempt on Seattle’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter, which gave Seattle a 19-9 lead.
Kenneth Walker III time
Rookie running back Kenneth Walker III had the best game of his young career on Sunday, with 21 carries for 97 yards. Fifty-one of those yards came on Seattle’s first drive, as Walker took a direct snap 17 yards for a first down, and then ran the ball 34 yards on the next play to the 19-yard line.
Walker had an 11-yard touchdown run with 13:31 to go in the game, which put Seattle up by 10 points.
Walker was making his first career start after Seahawks starter Rashaad Penny was lost for the season last week with a broken fibula. Walker missed the first game of the year back on Sept. 12 after undergoing hernia surgery and put up 146 total rushing yards over the past four weeks.
Walker’s previous career high came last week against the Saints, when he rushed for 88 yards on eight carries with one touchdown.