Seahawks vs. Cardinals: Score and Twitter Reaction from 'Sunday Night Football'

With first place in the NFC West on the line between a pair of double-digit win teams, Week 16's Sunday Night Football clash between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals wasn't as evenly matched as it sounded.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson torched the blitz-heavy schemes of Cardinals defensive coordinator and hot head-coaching candidate Todd Bowles, dismantling Arizona in Glendale by a score of 35-6. SNF's official Twitter account summed up the night in one word: "Dangeruss."

Rob Rang of CBSSports.com highlighted what makes Wilson so special—and left the Cardinals scrambling on defense:

With apologies to Jacksonville Jaguars fans, this 2012 draft recap, per NFL on ESPN, might as well make the cut too since Wilson went 20-of-31 passing for 339 yards and two touchdowns, along with 88 yards on six rushes and another score:

Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy had praise for what Wilson did to his division rival:

When Wilson wasn't a pure and effective ball-carrier, he used his legs to extend plays, including a game-changing, 80-yard touchdown heave to Luke Willson.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller praised Wilson's arm on that occasion above all else:

That gave all the momentum back to Seattle after Arizona had taken a 3-0 lead halfway through the second quarter. ESPN Stats and Info added an interesting anecdote:

One bizarre subplot also transpired when Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch was out for the first quarter, per the team's official Twitter account:

But Beast Mode was fit enough to plow for a six-yard TD in the second quarter to make the score 14-3. He went on to blow the game open in the fourth with a 79-yard run for the ages that's worth seeing again.

This colloquial tweet from Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman is nice:

LeBron James took time out to acknowledge Lynch's epic carry, which marked his 16th total TD of 2014:

Before that breathtaking, powerful jaunt by Lynch, non-brothers Wilson and Willson combined again for two critical connections on the game-changing drive. A 2nd-and-20 touch pass killed the Cardinals again, as Willson beat Larry Foote in coverage for 39 yards.

ESPN's Skip Bayless gave some credit to the man on the other end of Wilson's outstanding, most clutch passes:

When a similar play design came up later in the drive, the similar-sounding surname sensations spurred Seattle to paydirt once more.

Bleacher Report's Matt Bowen broke it down:

Sticking with the Twitter reaction theme herein, "hashtag mismatch" would be an adequate summation to describe what happened when Cardinals QB Ryan Lindley matched up with the Seahawks' Legion of Boom secondary.

One could have predicted that before this game began, really.

That Lindley completed just 18 of his 44 passing attempts for 216 yards and an interception is not surprising. Other than a brief cameo to throw an incomplete pass of his own, rookie fourth-round pick Logan Thomas didn't get a shot to lead Arizona's offense.

Matt Barrie of ESPN begged Bruce Arians to consider the cannon-armed, dual-threat signal-caller:

The blind squirrel found the nut when Lindley hit Michael Floyd for a 32-yard gain on Richard Sherman, setting up a field goal to make it a one-possession affair at 14-6.

Seattle devastated the Lindley-led Cardinals, though, per ESPN Stats and Info:

Three missed field goals from usually-pinpoint Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka were all that kept the Cardinals in the game. Sunday's prime-time showdown was otherwise quite one-sided in the visitors' favor. SportsCenter noted Hauschka's stats:

A Seattle victory gave the reigning Super Bowl champions an even more realistic shot of pulling off a Lombardi Trophy repeat. Cris Collinsworth said "they are the team to beat" (via SNF's Twitter account):

In an NFL era wrought with parity, when back-to-back titles are a rarity, coach Pete Carroll's Seahawks seem unfazed by such speech.

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim described his team in a way that, funny enough, parallels the chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that's driven the Seahawks in recent years, per the Los Angeles Times' Sam Farmer:

Innate, undeniable confidence, swagger and physicality are part of the reason. Oh, and that X-factor field general who wears No. 3, was drafted in the third round and is chasing his second Super Bowl ring in his third season. Wilson is the rock that gives the Seahawks the right to dream about another trip to the NFL's summit.

As great of a job as Arians has done coaching Arizona, this Cardinals team is a one-and-done playoff commodity in all likelihood.

The untimely injury to starting QB Carson Palmer is to blame. Unless Lindley shows drastic improvement, or Drew Stanton returns to the lineup and plays better than he has in his career, there isn't much short-term optimism to be had in the desert.