Seahawks Halftime Observations: Rookie Receivers Shine as Seattle Builds 14-10 Lead
With rookie receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo leading the way, the Seattle Seahawks overcame sloppy play on special teams to take a 14-10 halftime lead over the Arizona Cardinals.
Completing 80 percent of his passes before the break, Geno Smith threw for 149 yards, throwing for over 100 yards to Bobo and Smith-Njigba. Ken Walker III paced the running game with 61 yards on 10 carries, while Tyler Lockett made three first down converting receptions in the half.
Here are three quick takeaways from the first two quarters at Lumen Field:
1. DK Who? Rookie receivers step up to the plate with big first half in No. 14's absence.
90 minutes before kickoff, the Seahawks announced DK Metcalf would miss the first game of his career due to a hip injury, leaving the team without their star wideout. But with him sidelined, Smith-Njigba and Bobo were more than ready to help pick up the slack, setting new career-highs in the first two quarters alone. Out of the gate, Smith hit Bobo down the left sideline for a 31-yard gain on the team's opening drive. Then on the next possession, Smith-Njigba came wide open down the seam without any defenders in the same zip code, snagging the first touchdown of his career from 28 yards out.
Building off a solid outing in Cincinnati, Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a new career-high in receiving yards before halftime against Arizona.
© Steven Bisig, USA TODAY
Not to be outdone by his rookie counterpart, Bobo made a far more impressive touchdown of his own late in the second quarter. With the Seahawks entering the red zone with first down at the 18-yard line, Smith threw up a jump ball to his 6-4 receiver and somehow, the undrafted signee from UCLA plucked the ball out of the air and managed to get both of his feet down inbounds with remarkable acrobatics along the sideline. Officials initially ruled the pass incomplete, but Pete Carroll successfully challenged the ruling to give Seattle a 14-10 lead inside five minutes to play.
2. After a dominant start, the Seahawks started to show some cracks allowing chunk plays in the run game.
Building off an excellent performance in Cincinnati a week ago, Seattle came out rolling on defense, forcing three punts on consecutive possessions to open the game. Allowing just a single first down on those drives, Arizona was limited to 16 net yards with the run game unable to get untracked and Joshua Dobbs uncorking several ugly ducks from the pocket. After a fumble by DeeJay Dallas on a punt return gifted the Cardinals with great field position, the defense held firm again, not giving up a first down and forcing the opposition to settle for a field goal by Matt Prater.
Unfortunately, Arizona started to find success in the second quarter, faking Seattle's defense out of position on several misdirection runs. Emari Demercado escaped contain on an off tackle run for an 18-yard run and only two plays later, receiver Rondale Moore took a pitch reverse for 15 yards. After Devon Witherspoon's interception was negated by a roughing the passer call on Boye Mafe, Dobbs capitalized by taking advantage of poor tackling by the Seahawks on the ensuing play, slipping through multiple arm tackles on a read option keeper for a 25-yard touchdown and finishing with a finger roll in the end zone. For the half, they surrendered 103 yards and 6.1 yards per carry.
3. Disastrous special teams play sullied an otherwise strong half of football.
Over the past two seasons, the Seahawks have had one of the best special teams units in the NFL. But on Sunday, coordinator Larry Izzo had to be pulling his hair out with the numerous mistakes made in the third phase of the game. The poor performance started on the opening kickoff with Jason Myers slicing the kick out of bounds, leading to a penalty and gifting the Cardinals excellent starting field position at the 40-yard line. After the defense forced a punt, edge rusher Derick Hall was nabbed for holding on the return team, pushing Smith and company back inside the 10-yard line to start their first possession of the day.
While those two penalties had to leave Izzo scratching his head, Arizona didn't score any points as a result of the mishaps. But the same can't be said for Dallas' fumble late in the first quarter, which was forced out of his hands by former teammate Joey Blount and recovered by the visitors at the Seattle 32-yard line. Though the defense held firm and didn't give up a touchdown, the turnover led to three quick points from Prater's trusty leg, helping keep the underdogs within striking distance early. Coming out of halftime, special teams will have to turn things around to help Carroll's squad pick up a fourth win.
