First Half Observations: Seahawks 16, Cardinals 7

Converting six out of nine third down opportunities, the Seahawks put together a pair of lengthy touchdown drives to build a 16-7 lead over the Cardinals at halftime on Thursday Night Football.

Bouncing back nicely from a rough outing in Los Angeles, Russell Wilson completed 14 out of 17 passes for 125 yards and threw touchdown passes to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Seattle's defense held Arizona to 107 total yards in the first two quarters and Kyler Murray had just 89 passing yards on nine completions.

Three quick takeaways from the first half at Lumen Field:

1. Thanks to the return of Carlos Hyde, the Seahawks run game adds some much-needed juice and physicality to supplement Wilson and the rest of the offense.

For the past couple of weeks, Wilson has been under siege with teams bringing the blitz at a high frequency and showing no regard for Seattle's ground game. But with Hyde back in the lineup, the Seahawks found a groove running the ball in the first half, as the veteran rushed eight times for 38 yards, including a 17-yard scamper on a third down to set up Wilson's second touchdown pass of the game to Tyler Lockett. The team also has received positive contributions from Bo Scarbrough, who was called up from the practice squad before the game and rushed three times for 18 yards. Providing the balance coach Pete Carroll preached for the past few days, Wilson had more time to operate in the pocket and played his best half of football in three weeks as a result. Continuing to emphasize running the ball after halftime should be on the menu to ensure he can keep cooking to the best of his ability.

2. Showing shades of pre-2018 defense out of nowhere, Seattle held down Arizona's explosive attack in large part due to strong play up front.

Starting from the opening drive when defensive tackle Poona Ford got into the backfield and forced an incompletion from Kyler Murray, the Seahawks have gotten consistent pressure on the young signal caller throughout the first two quarters. Though they only have four quarterback hits total, Murray hasn't been able to escape the pocket with three rushes for seven yards and has been sacked twice. Carlos Dunlap has led the charge, registering a sack and two quarterback hits while also sniffing out a screen to force a punt. L.J Collier also got into the act devouring Murray before he could climb the pocket for his second sack of the season. They'll need to prove they can do it for four full quarters, but it was an impressive effort in the trenches that helped a secondary missing two starting cornerbacks.

3. A three-play sequence with befuddling calls (and no calls) looms large entering the final two quarters.

A defensive pass interference penalty in the closing minute gifted the Seahawks three late points on a field goal by Jason Myers, somewhat nullifying a maddening sequence of calls late in the first quarter. Facing a 3rd and 4 situation from their own 28-yard line, Wilson dropped back to pass and fired a bomb down the right sideline to Metcalf, who had beaten Patrick Peterson with an impressive jab-step release off the snap and burned him vertically. The connection would have gone for 41 yards, but officials called center Damien Lewis for a highly questionable holding penalty. On the very next play, Hyde looked to be interfered with trying to come back to make a play on the football on another deep ball and the officials didn't throw a flag. Ultimately, both of those misses may have cost Seattle a chance to score at least three points and Arizona came right back with a touchdown drive capped off by a touchdown run by Kenyan Drake. If this game goes down to the wire, these two plays will be significant.

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