Cardinals vs. Seahawks: Postgame Grades and Notes for Arizona

At times it seemed to be more of an emotional roller coaster than a football game, but the Arizona Cardinals came away with a 39-32 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.

The game wasn't pretty, but it won't make the win any less sweet.

Sparked by the impressive play of Michael Floyd, the Cardinals scored the game's first 19 points and took a 22-7 lead into halftime. That's when things got bumpy.

Seattle found its footing in the second half, swinging momentum in the third quarter before breaking down the door in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks defense forced Carson Palmer into strip-sacks on successive drives, resulting in touchdowns for both sides of the ball and giving Seattle a 29-25 lead.

The Cardinals refused to wilt, and Palmer engineered a pair of impressive touchdown drives to seal the game. Arizona improved their record to 7-2 with the win. They now hold a three-game lead over all three NFC West rivals.

Click ahead for the full game recap. 

Position Grades for Arizona

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

QB	B
RB	C-
WR	A
TE	B
OL	F
DL	B
LB	C-
DB	A-
Special Teams	B+
Coaching	B

Not unlike the game itself, huge variance dominates the position grades. We'll start at the top.

This wasn't the "Legion of Boom," but Arizona's wide receivers still had their way with Seattle's secondary. Larry Fitzgerald had 130 yards on 10 receptions, Michael Floyd had touchdowns of 27 and 35 yards and Jaron Brown came up large in the fourth quarter. And they did all that with John Brown limited with a nagging hamstring injury.

Despite the three turnovers, Carson Palmer was more good than bad on the night. The red-zone interception was brutal, but his offensive line shoulders much of the responsibility for the two fumbles. Yes, Palmer needs to find a way to hang onto the ball, but his passing success outweighs those two mistakes.

Speaking of the offensive line, they turned in their worst performance of the season. We'll have a bit more on them later in the slideshow.

On defense, Arizona's secondary led the way in forcing Russell Wilson to misfire on 18 of his 32 passing attempts. It blanketed Seattle's receivers on nearly every down, and Tyrann Mathieu had himself a tidy interception.

The defensive line turned in an honest effort, even if they didn't dominate. Arizona's linebackers, however, took this one on the chin. Seattle ran with little concern at Kevin Minter and Deone Bucannon, and Arizona's outside rushers had little impact on the game.

Arguments could be made that Bruce Arians and his staff deserve higher than a "B." Not only did it lead the team into Seattle and come away with a win, it got their players back on track after their lead evaporated in the second half. Still, can Arians at least pretend to care about protecting Palmer?

Mike Iupati and Cory Redding Injured

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The game turned scary in the second quarter when guard Mike Iupati went helmet-to-helmet with safety Kam Chancellor. Both training staffs immediately rushed to Iupati's aid, while players from both sides took a knee. He would leave the field in an ambulance.

We did receive good news, however. Not only did Iupati avoid serious injury, he was released from the hospital before the game was over, according to Mark Dalton, the Cardinals VP of Media Relations. 

It's way too soon to speculate how long Iupati will be out. For now, just breathe a sigh of relief that the sixth-year veteran appears to have escaped a more serious fate.

On the other side of the ball, defensive lineman Cory Redding left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. There is no word on the severity of the injury. 

Unexpected Contributions Propel Cardinals to Victory

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It wasn't just that the game was slipping from the team's grasp in the second half. The Cardinals were crumbling in dramatic fashion.

In its time of need, it wasn't Larry Fitzgerald or Chris Johnson who pulled Arizona to safety. Instead, it was Jaron Brown, Jermaine Gresham and Andre Ellington who stepped up in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by four in the fourth, Brown pushed the Cardinals past midfield by snatching a tipped pass away from Richard Sherman, who surely had an interception in his grasp. A few plays later, Brown hauled in a 20-yard completion to get Arizona into the red zone, setting up Gresham's go-ahead touchdown.

Ellington would seal the game on the next Arizona possession. Something of a forgotten man since returning from injury, Ellington broke free for a 48-yard touchdown run to put the Cardinals up by 10. That was Arizona's first, and only, run of more than eight yards on the night.

Championship teams receive contributions from every player on their roster. Arizona is proving that the players it counts on for depth are willing to step up when called upon.

An Important Win, but Questions Linger

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It is, as the sage among us will say, always important to remember where you've come from, and where you're going.

There is no value in understating what Arizona accomplished Sunday night. They went on the road and defeated a Seattle team that has ruled the NFC West.

At 7-2, Arizona now holds a three-game lead over the rest of the division, and it remains tied with Minnesota for the second seed in the NFC. Barring a major collapse, the Cardinals should have at least one home playoff game this year.

Can they achieve more than that?

The ghost of recent Cardinals teams lingered over the second half of Sunday night's game. Arizona's offensive line not only struggled to block; sometimes it couldn't even figure out who to block. 

Seattle's defense totaled three sacks, two forced fumbles, one touchdown and 13 QB hits on the night. Most of the damage occurred in the second half.

Every unit will have a bad game or two over the course of a season. But this particular group struggling in this particular way will always leave Arizona skittish given its recent struggles. Is it a one time deal, or have old habits—and failures—come back to haunt the second half of the Cardinals' season?

Arizona accomplished their primary goal for Week 10: They emerged victorious. But there's plenty of work yet to be done, starting next Sunday night against Cincinnati.