Cardinals Exposed by Seahawks Defense, Finally Show Signs of Weakness

Defensively the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals are the same football team. Menacing pass rushes on either side are balanced by dueling shutdown cornerbacks and the ability to almost completely erase the run.

Offensively the Seahawks and Cardinals are entirely different football teams. Mostly because one team has Russell Wilson as its quarterback, and the other does not. One team is trying to string together wins with a backup under center, and the other is not. And one barely has something that resembles a running game, while the other has a multipronged attack.

In a 19-3 Seattle win the difference wasn’t stifling defense. No, how that defense was navigated left the Cardinals on a lower rung. Now their exposed offensive flaw could become fatal in the playoffs.

The Cardinals’ inability to produce offensively while fighting through swarming bodies and relentless pocket pressure was evident immediately in the first half when they lost the field-position battle decisively.

The Cardinals found themselves on a slanted field. Of the Seahawks’ five drives in that first half, three of them started in opposing territory.

That’s usually not a winning recipe. But on this day it could have been if the Cardinals had a quarterback who could persevere, much like Wilson did.

The game was won in the third quarter with Wilson’s stretch of perfection. He completed all seven of his attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown, which included his usual whirling Houdini act to somehow squirt free from pressure and find running back Marshawn Lynch for a 23-yard catch-and-run. He ran for 15 of his 73 total rushing yards on the same drive (Wilson has run for 251 yards over his last three games), and it concluded with a 20-yard pass to tight end Cooper Helfet.

That was the game’s only touchdown amid five field goals, and the Seahawks' resulting point total wasn’t remotely attainable for the Cardinals. Their offense didn’t need to be great or even good in a game when the opposing quarterback was sacked seven times, and the Seahawks scored only that single touchdown even while taking 17 snaps inside Arizona’s 25-yard line.

Offensively Arizona just needed to be passable or sufficient. Even that was a mighty struggle, with the Cardinals producing their lowest offensive output during the Bruce Arians era.

Game(s)	Total Yards	Yards per play
Week 12	204	4.2
Per-game averages throughout rest of season	333	5.3

That Cardinals per-game offensive yardage prior to Week 12 is right about where you would expect it to be with backup quarterback Drew Stanton starting four of their first 10 games.

He has a deep arm but often lacks accuracy and sprays throws. He’s therefore the ideal backup defined: His hand doesn’t need to be held with the playbook scuttled, and most of the time he can keep the offense afloat.

But Sunday the Cardinals offense was wearing cement shoes, sinking quickly to a watery grave.

While Wilson was eventually able to wiggle, spin and sprint enough to support his defense, the Cardinals did little through the air and even less on the ground. It was an expected outcome on the road in Seattle, a place where most offenses go to wither and die. But the Cardinals’ sputtering was still odd after what we saw in Week 11.

A week ago Stanton was still a backup quarterback, and he was still doing his throwing against one of the league’s best defenses. But when faced with the then-first-ranked Detroit Lions defense (now second), Stanton averaged 9.6 yards per pass attempt.

That per-attempt rate fell to 5.7 against the Seahawks largely because Stanton was whacked repeatedly. He was sacked three times and hurried into poor throws on many other dropbacks.

But pressure wasn’t there when he made an awful read that ended in his second-quarter interception. At the time and still now, his decision-making left much to be desired.

Of course, an MCL sprain that kept wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on the Cardinals’ sideline didn’t help matters. With his physicality and spider hands, Fitzgerald has become a cozy, warm safety blanket for Stanton.

That grappling presence up the middle would have been ideal against the Seahawks’ pressure which left Stanton with little time. Fitzgerald has 291 receiving yards on receptions in the 11- to 20-yard range downfield, according to ESPN Stats & Information (h/t ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss). That’s the highest total on the team by 91 yards.

But running back Andre Ellington was healthy and only physically present. Though we all understand the Seahawks are difficult to run against, Cardinals running backs averaging 2.6 yards per carry took that reality a little too far and their rushing ineffectiveness to an all-new low (Arizona ranks 31st in rushing).

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Over his last 3 games, Andre Ellington has 47 rushes for 89 yards.

— kenneth arthur (@KennethArthuRS) November 23, 2014"

Defensively, the two teams that played in Seattle Sunday may be similar. But offensively the Seahawks are who the Cardinals need to be.

They can’t drop a ball in the end zone as wide receiver Jaron Brown did and still expect to defeat a top-tier defense. And they certainly can’t have a mental gaffe with only 10 men on the field, leading to a blocked punt in the third quarter and more points.

This loss was a setback for the Cardinals but not at all a derailing one. With a 9-2 record they’re still two games ahead of both the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West, and they remain atop the NFC.

Instead it was an alarming setback. The Cardinals could do little against their defensive equal, and another game against these same Seahawks is still remaining on their schedule. It comes in Week 16, after dates with the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams, and before a season finale against the 49ers.

That stretch will determine if the Cardinals hold on to home-field advantage and if a team ripped apart by injuries really can still compete in January.