Seahawks finally receive due praise after crushing Cardinals

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Mike Macdonald’s team continues to roll, and is now headed for a first-place showdown on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. For the second straight week, the Seattle Seahawks owned a 24-plus point lead at intermission, and rolled to a convincing victory. The team made it seven wins in nine outings this season with an impressive 44-22 rout of the visiting Arizona Cardinals. This week, it’s a battle of 7-2 teams as the Seahawks clash with the Los Angeles Rams.
Prior to last Sunday’s blowout win over the Cards, the NFL staff at Bleacher Report had Macdonald’s club ranked at the sixth spot. The 44-22 triumph over their NFC West rivals puts the ‘Hawks at No. 4.
“Seattle is more than The Sam Darnold Show,” explained Brent Sobleski. “Its strong ground game and opportunistic defense make this a complete squad. Darnold wasn't asked to do much Sunday. At the same time, he needs to take better care of the ball even in a blowout victory.”

Excellent point. The Seahawks’ starting signal-called served up a total of three turnovers last Sunday, two of them deep in Seattle territory which eventually led to Arizona touchdowns. Passing wise, Darnold finished the afternoon 10-of-12 for 178 yards, 43 of that coming on a first-quarter touchdown strike to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“Fortunately, the quarterback could turn and hand the ball to Seattle's three-headed running back rotation.” Added Zobleski. “Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker III and George Holani combined for 35 carries, 150 yards and two scores.” All told, Seattle finished with team highs in running plays (46) and rushing yards (198) in the 22-point win.
Speaking of NFL Power Rankings, Sean McVay’s Rams, also winners of four straight games, remain at the top of Bleacher Report’s list.
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Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.