Cardinals Completely Unravel as Defense Breaks Down in Huge Loss to Seahawks

Failure felt inevitable for the Arizona Cardinals Sunday night. It lingered long before kickoff—and long before the first chuckle about Kurt Warner needing to come out of retirement, saving the offense from the unqualified arm of third-string backup quarterback Ryan Lindley.

It felt certain, and only because of Lindley. The Seattle Seahawks had allowed 6.75 points per game over the previous four weeks leading up to this clash of NFC West titans, a game that would give the winner control over the division. Those games were against far more established quarterbacks who had actually thrown a touchdown pass.

A third-string quarterback would just look at the Seahawks defense and melt, right? That's pretty much what happened. With the exception of a few throws, Lindley took an already low bar and buried it about six feet under.

But the backup to the backup being overwhelmed wasn't even a little bit surprising, and it didn’t ignite the Cardinals’ flaming failure during a 35-6 pummeling.

No, the real failure came from a strength, one that quickly became a weakness.

The Cardinals only had a chance in this game if their defense could match Seattle’s expected shutdown of Lindley. In truth, no defense can match the Seahawks, but it seemed like Arizona’s could come at least close enough.

Much like Seattle, the Cardinals had been giving opposing runners a regular view of the sky and/or turf below. They entered Week 16 with a per-game average of 90.4 rushing yards allowed, while the Seahawks defense was only a tick or two ahead at 88.1.

The Seahawks have the league's best rushing offense, and the Cardinals could stop the run. It was strength against strength, so at worst the damage from Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson should have been kept to a somewhat manageable level.

Yes, in theory that would have been nice. But in practice the Cardinals' rushing wall crumbled at even the slightest touch.

Game(s)	Rushing yards allowed	Total yards allowed	Yards allowed per play
Against Seahawks	267	596	8.9
Rest of season (averages)	90.4	350.0	5.5

The final offensive yardage scoreboard comes with a parental advisory. The Cardinals were outgained 596-216, with that total being a franchise record for a Seattle offense that did whatever it pleased. The Cardinals’ default position was sprawled.

They were overmatched, which is so uncharacteristic of this defense it felt wrong to even type it. The previous average rushing yards allowed by the Cardinals defense was exceeded after a single quarter. Seattle rushed for 103 yards in the opening quarter alone, and much of that came on Wilson’s 55-yard run.

Over 14 games while defending 330 run attempts the Cardinals had allowed only three 40-plus yard gains on the ground. Sunday alone they were overpowered for two between Wilson’s long run and Lynch’s 79-yarder in the fourth quarter.

That’s when Lynch gave Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson the human toss treatment, throwing him aside while leaving both bodies and embarrassment in his wake. He did the same earlier while outmuscling defensive tackle Tommy Kelly on his six-yard touchdown run.

"That's the best run I've ever seen" said Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett when asked about Lynch's latest beast mode power run, via ESPN.com's Terry Blount. "It looked like he was running for his freedom."

Between Wilson and Lynch, the Seahawks finished with two 80-plus yard rushers, and two players who averaged over 11 yards per carry. They reduced Arizona’s defense to an entirely unfamiliar state. As a unit it was feeble while allowing buckets of touchdowns.

Five of them, to be exact. Anything more than two made you wonder where exactly the Cardinals defense had gone, and who were those impostors on the field.

The gush of rushing yards is alarming enough against a playoff-bound opponent. But the Cardinals’ crumbling went to a new level of awful when Seahawks tight end Luke Willson caught 80- and 20-yard touchdown passes.

That’s the same Luke Willson who entered Week 16 with only 191 receiving yards on the season. So of course he posted 139 yards on the Cardinals and their defense that continues to be torched by tight ends. They’re allowing the third-most yards per game to the position, according to Football Outsiders (65.5 yards per game before Week 16).

This game was about defense for Arizona. It was about a playoff team that had won seven straight games at University of Phoenix Stadium taking another critical step toward securing home-field advantage. And it was about that same team moving toward a first-round bye to give Drew Stanton—the backup to the starter, and not the backup to the backup—more precious time to heal.

But without defense the Cardinals’ firm grasp on their fate in January has slipped away. And with that wall weakened, a team that had previously bent without breaking now feels vulnerable as a higher stage awaits.

We may eventually look back on Sunday as more than a night when the Cardinals lost a game, the division and home-field advantage. It could also be when an unraveling began.