Seahawks Play With Fire, Summon Cardinals' Dark Magic
The saying goes "if you play with fire, you're going to get burned." The Seahawks have a flair for the dramatic. In every game this year aside from the victory against the Falcons, the fate of the Seahawks went down to the last possession.
Eventually, the law of averages will catch up to you if you keep living on the edge, and it did for Seattle on Sunday night. In the week before Halloween, the result of playing with fire was awfully spooky for the boys in wolf gray.
It was akin to a certain cocky teenager, who didn't believe in magic or witches, tempting fate by lighting a candle that would supposedly bring back evil witches from beyond the grave. The Seahawks seemed to believe they were invincible when playing close, heart-stopping games and didn't see the danger, and the dark magic lurking, as they had won five straight games decided by eight points or less before Sunday night.
In the cult-classic Halloween movie Hocus Pocus, Max, the aforementioned cocky teenager, lights the Black Flame Candle, not believing the legends that it would bring back witches from the grave to wreak terror on their town of Salem. He should've known not to play with fire and with things that he doesn't understand and he quickly learned that he made a serious mistake.
The Sanderson Sisters, three evil witches from centuries ago, came back to life thanks to Max's mistake. They had been put to death and hadn't bothered anybody in 300 years, but now they were set loose once again. They unleashed fear and chaos all throughout town and nearly took the lives of every citizen, had it not been for the heroic acts of brave kids.
The Cardinals have not been a problem in the NFL for years, as they had not made the playoffs since 2015, the last time they won the NFC West division as well. For four seasons, they floundered in mediocrity or worse, going 8-23-1 in the last two seasons. Now, in year two of the marriage between head coach Kliff Kingsbury and top pick-quarterback Kyler Murray, the Cardinals look back from the dead. They completed the trio, matching the Sanderson Sisters for power and danger, by acquiring the best receiver in football in DeAndre Hopkins.
Murray and Hopkins continued their seemingly unbreakable bond with 10 connections for 103 yards and one touchdown. While Wilson continued to cook and stir the pot, Murray was stirring a cauldron. He accumulated over 400 yards of offense and four touchdowns.
The Seahawks certainly helped along their resurrection. First, they squandered a golden scoring opportunity when Russell Wilson threw a ill-advised pass that was intercepted at the two-yard line by Budda Baker in the second quarter. Then they allowed the Cardinals to score 10 points before the half. They eventually cut Seattle's lead to 27-24 late in the third quarter.
The candle was lit. The dark magic began to set in. Wilson, seeming like he was possessed or cursed, inexplicably threw another interception towards the end zone, ending yet another potential scoring drive.
Seattle's offense had several opportunities to take control of the game. They were up by 10 with less than three minutes left in the game and another score likely would have put the game away. However, the Cardinals went on a 10-0 run to end regulation and forced overtime.
Again, the Seahawks played with fire and allowed the Cardinals to conjure up spells (blitzes) to stop Russell Wilson and the offense in overtime, giving the Cardinals another chance to win. With shades of the 2016 matchup that ended in a 6-6 tie, Arizona kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a game-winning field goal, giving Seattle yet another chance to wiggle off the hook.
Not sure if any chanting was heard or if any cauldrons were bubbling on the Arizona sidelines, but in any case, Wilson, who had played all year like the MVP front-runner, once again threw an inexcusable pass for his third interception of the game, the first time he threw three picks in a game since December of 2017 against the Jaguars. This time, Seattle's fate was sealed and the curse was realized as Gonzalez connected for a game-winning field goal for Arizona, giving Seattle its first loss of the season.
Wilson had such a bizarre game that I wonder if Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was dancing, wiggling his fingers and singing "I put a spell on you."
