Seattle Seahawks: 6 Observations from Win over Cardinals

After two weeks of underwhelming football on the road, the Seahawks played tough for 60 minutes to earn a 13-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals and improve to 1-2. The victory wasn't pretty, but for this team the goal is progress not perfection. 

Seattle was able to get "right" at home. Steady offense combined with tenacious defense was enough to keep the crowd in the game; the defense pitched a second-half shutout. 

However, expectations must remain tempered after this win. As an inexperienced team, Seattle needed to get the monkey off their back; one close home win—an environment they expect to win in—won't erase the doubts many outsiders have.

Nonetheless, it's a step in the right direction. 

The Offense Finally Found a Semblance of Balance and Moved the Ball

Although the Seahawks lost the time of possession battle to the Cardinals 31:49 to 28:11—both teams in the bottom five coming into the game—Seattle was able to strike better balance and move the ball on offense. 

Seattle had 78 yards rushing compared to 50 passing at halftime; they accomplished getting the ground game going early. However, they had to settle for six points after a stagnant red-zone possession early and a stalled two minute drill.

In general, the Seahawks were able to move the ball on first down and put drives together, at least better than in the first two weeks; they had four drives of seven plays or more in the first half and the touchdown drive was 14 plays in six minutes—going no huddle for a portion of it. 

Even though Seattle still lacked complete balance, there was improvement. Seattle had 26 planned rush attempts compared to 39 dropbacks—Jackson had four runs on scrambles and took four sacks. 

Marshawn Lynch had 19 carries (with an average of 3.8 yards per) compared to seven carries for four other players combined. Leon Washington had three against Arizona, but still needs more touches period. Justin Forsett should be involved in a more creative role than just as a third down or change of pace receiver. 

Seattle still needs to get all of their weapons involved. The tight ends had two catches in this game, Zach Miller with both of them, for a total of nine yards.

To end on a positive note, Seattle came into the game with one offensive play over 20 yards, but created five against Arizona. 

Chris Clemons, Kam Chancellor and Leroy Hill Came Alive at Home

Without this trio, I believe Seattle does not win the game. The stat sheet for these three combined: 22 tackles, four tackles for loss, three passes defended, two sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception. 

Even though Earl Thomas had his interception return called back, Kam Chancellor's block on Todd Heap set the tone for his day. For the first time this season, Chancellor flashed in pass defense; he broke up a play on third down and picked off a pass in the final two minutes. 

Leroy Hill looked like a player of old in his first regular season, home start since 2009. Hill had a complete game—a factor rushing the passer, solid in coverage (blanketing Larry Fitzgerald on one third down incompletion) and a tone setter throughout. The much-maligned veteran provided stability for the defense. 

Chris Clemons had one of his best games as a Seahawk. Generally known as a pass rusher, he showed in this game why he fits in well as Seattle's Leo end. Clemons was a force against the run with three tackles for loss, but also showed his signature get-off when at home. 

While much of the attention has been placed on the massive trio upfront—Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane and Alan Branch—the budding Earl Thomas and the struggles of Aaron Curry, it's important to note that Seattle’s defense has a variety of players who can step up in crucial situations.

Hill and Clemons are true veterans and Chancellor is commonly praised by Carroll as a leader beyond his years. While not nationally known as leaders on the defense, it's impossible to miss the effect they had on the game. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come to the defense and particularly for this trio. 

Tarvaris Jackson Needs Sidney Rice...and That's Not a Good Thing

From the first play of the game it was painfully obvious that Jackson was locked on to Sidney Rice. 

Rice had a big game in his debut with eight catches for 109 yards, a welcome sight to many Seahawks fans—myself included—that were concerned with the severity of Rice's injury. 

It's clear that Jackson knows Rice's body language and trusts the receiver. Jackson was willing to make throws in Rice's direction that he won't make to his other receivers.

Rice accounted for 109 of Seattle's 171 yards receiving; Jackson threw his way 10 times, but only 20 to the rest of the team.

Pete Carroll admitted after the game they didn't spread it around as much they hoped. It appeared opportunities were there but on par with the season thus far, Jackson was unwilling to take chances.

On Jackson's touchdown run, both Rice and Williams ran double moves; Jackson chose Rice's side, the receiver not open, while Williams was open on the left side. Jackson was too late coming across in his progressions and decided not to make the throw as he was too late.

The point here is not to ridicule Jackson, but rather to show that Rice's presence may exacerbate an already existing problem.

Earlier in the preseason I was concerned that Jackson's rapport with Rice could potentially stunt the continuity of the entire receiving corps. The fact that Mike Williams had one target in this game, a pass thrown high on the second offensive play, is concerning for the state of the offense.

The worst-case scenario for the offense’s growth is that Jackson continues to heavily favor Rice, which is a tendency defenses will key on very quickly. While Rice is a major factor in the offense, he can’t be the only factor. If Jackson is to remain starter he must facilitate balance instead of using Rice as a crutch. 

Penalties Are Still a Problem

The Seahawks are fifth-worst in the NFL with 25 penalties through three games; eight of them came against Arizona. This trend wouldn’t be as alarming if not for the fact that Seattle was third in the league penalties committed this preseason.

More importantly, these penalties are coming at crucial times. Brandon Browner was called for an illegal contact penalty, negating the Earl Thomas interception—his third penalty in a crucial situation in as many weeks.

For the second week in a row, Russell Okung had a false start inside two minutes in the second quarter, stunting a two minute drill.

Given the short offseason and youth of this team, penalties aren't unexpected. However, Seattle must buck this trend or face continued missed opportunities.

Seattle Found the Football in Crucial Situations

After forcing only one fumble and zero turnovers in the first two games, the Seahawks finally looked like a Pete Carroll team that emphasized finding the football. As this was the major emphasis heading into this weekend, consider this a positive from this game.

They had three interceptions—one called back—and were credited with three forced fumbles. Furthermore, Seattle defenders were more active and disruptive than they've been all season.  

The offense was sound with the football as well. Similar to Week 1, Jackson's interception was the result of an end of first half Hail Mary.

Jackson also got lucky, however; for the third week in a row Jackson mishandled a snap and this time almost cost the team the lead—it took Seattle nearly 9 quarters to gain their first lead of the season, a striking statistic.

Early in the fourth quarter the Seahawks had 3rd-and-5 near midfield; Max Unger snapped high and though Jackson got both hands on it, he failed to secure the football. The ball bounced 15 yards towards the Seahawks end zone and Anthony McCoy, who was targeted zero times in this game, was able to control the football. 

Instead of the Cardinals getting 1st-and-10 near the Seahawks’ red zone—or even worse, a fumble return for touchdown—Arizona got the ball at their own 20 after a booming John Ryan punt. Sans his 9-yard shank in the fourth quarter, Ryan had his second excellent game in a row.

Credit the coaching staff for the emphasis on the ball, though anything different would've been poor coaching. Their work was a major difference in the game. 

The Defense Can Finish and They Need to Build on This Performance

Seattle had a special teams meltdown in Week 1 and quickly proved that finishing could be an issue for this team; given that Arizona struggled at the end of their first two games, winning the battle in the final minutes was a main objective for the Seahawks this weekend.

Based on the fact that Seattle was at home for the first time with the crowd on their side, failing to finish a close ballgame would have been a telling sign that this team would not be competitive in 2011.

As noted in the introduction, finishing this game does not signify they will be competitive; what we did see was that the defense is the backbone of this team.

Seattle adjusted to hold Larry Fitzgerald catchless in the second half and held Arizona to only two first downs in the third quarter.

The Cardinals ran 26 plays in the fourth quarter compared to the Seahawks' 14; after Kam Chancellor intercepted what could have been the game ending interception, the Seahawks went 3-and-out and gave the Cardinals the ball back one more time. 

Seattle's front four grew stronger as the fourth quarter wore on and took finishing with authority to heart; first year Seahawk Anthony Hargrove let out a ferocious celebration at midfield as the clock struck zero. 

The Seahawks have a long way to go after this win; simply getting to .500 is the next step and beating Atlanta in Week 4 will be a tough task. However, Seattle found the formula for winning at home and it only took one attempt. This defense needs to prove Sunday wasn’t a one hit wonder, but rather a sign of things to come.