Seahawks week 4 breakdown against the Cardinals
By Geoff Shull
Countering the Cardinals defense with Seahawks offense
The Cardinals run defense has allowed an average of 4.9 yards per carry to opposing running backs. That is good for 30th in the league. If the Seahawks running backs are to get going this season, this is a perfect platform to get the ball rolling. I expect Chris Carson to be called upon often and early in this game to try and establish some momentum and confidence.
In passing defense, the Cardinals secondary is allowing 7.4 net yards per pass attempt, this is good for 23rd best in the league. They have been particularly porous in the short to mid-range passes allowing 80% completion percentage in those areas on 56 attempts. Look for Lockett and Carson to get going early in the passing game on short slant routes. By using the short passing game, the Cardinals will be forced to withhold blitzing which should generate holes for the running game to move through, it’s a catch 22.
The Cardinals are middle of the pack in quarterback pressure. They have 7 sacks, and 15 quarterback hits. Wilson is going to need to get the ball out of his hands fast again this week to avoid taking unnecessary shots. This will be somewhat interesting with the surprise cut of Cassius Marsh playing against us. I expect him to be aggressive to try and make a statement. We can use this in our favor with some directional/ counter runs and RPOs (run pass options).
The Cardinals rank 24th in the league in 3rd down effectiveness allowing 40.5% of the attempts to be completed for a first down. In 4th down territory the Cardinals have held strong allowing 0 of the 2 attempts to be converted. Pete Carroll was admittedly regretful for going for the 4th and 1 last week. I do not expect any bold moves like that to occur this week with a team that hasn’t allowed a conversation to date.