Winning a football game on the road is never easy, but when you add an elusive rookie quarterback, a legendary wide receiver, and a brand-new head coach trying to innovate as a play-caller, it’s especially challenging. Fortunately, the Seattle Seahawks returned from the desert as victors, having delivered a complete and decisive 27-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
It was a glorious thing to witness.
Coming off their first loss of the year, the Seahawks (3-1) came into this contest looking to both redirect the season’s trajectory and stake a monster claim to the NFC West all in one game. And they succeeded in both efforts. Winning the day against the Cardinals with superior offense, defense, and special teams.
Everyone showed up and showcased their talents for football; beginning with new Seahawk, Jadeveon Clowney’s pick-6 to set the game’s tone in the first quarter to old Seahawk (welcome back!), Luke Willson’s critical 3rd down catch to extend a drive in the fourth quarter.
During the game, the FOX Broadcast displayed a statistic about Russell Wilson that truly stunned me. Of all quarterbacks in NFL history, Wilson has the very best percentage of winning a game after suffering a loss. In his eighth season of playing football professionally, he was listed at .800 percent, which is shockingly good.
And now it’s even better, as Wilson added yet another piece of evidence to the already slam-dunk case that he’s an unbelievably talented, legitimately elite, hall-of-fame-caliber quarterback.
After opening their season with a rare tie, the Cardinals (0-3-1) lost two games in a row, sending them into Sunday’s matchup desperate to get their first win. To the chagrin of Cardinals fans throughout the Southwest, it didn’t happen. Instead of defending their home field, the Cards let our Hawks stroll into town and completely dominate the game, easily cruising toward another win.
To put the outcome of the Seahawks and Cardinals game in proper context, let’s look at the other two teams in the NFC West.
The San Francisco 49ers (3-0) didn’t play this week, as they were one of two teams on BYE, but without a single loss on their ledger, the 49ers currently sit atop the division. However, their 3 wins have come off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Pittsburg Steelers, none of whom have been world-beaters just yet.
Next week on Monday Night Football, the 49ers will have to find a way to overcome the Cleveland Browns if they want to be taken seriously as a real contender.
The Los Angeles Rams suffered their first loss of the season to the previously mentioned Buccaneers, which caught most Rams fans by surprise. Because, not only have the Bucs had an up-and-down kind of season thus far, but the Rams have generally looked every bit as impressive as their pre-season expectations. Except for maybe the play of their highly priced quarterback, Jared Goff and their face-of-the-franchise running back, Todd Gurley II, who have both been good, but not great over four games.
Next week, the 49ers play the talented Browns, and the Cardinals play the beatable Bengals, which will add some much-needed clarity to determine just how good or bad these two teams actually are this year.
However, before either of those games even kickoff, the Seahawks will welcome the Rams to town for a Thursday Night Football showdown on October 3rd. Both teams will experience shortened preparation times for arguably their toughest challenge yet, with nothing less than the top NFC West seat at stake.
As the Seahawks look to carry their winning momentum forward and open week 5 in the NFC West power position, the Rams will be equally motivated to quiet the 12’s at CenturyLink by asserting their assumed dominance. It should be quite a game, with a lot on the line. Let’s hope the Seahawks can keep up the phenomenal, multi-dimensional winning that was so successful in Arizona.
Go Hawks!
