Undermanned Seahawks take huge hits in Cardinals loss

The Seahawks didn’t need to win this game to make the playoffs. It doesn’t matter; the loss to the Cardinals feels like it ended the season for Seattle.

A loss is never a good thing. A loss to a division rival at home? That’s really bad. A loss that ‘s your second in three games, that’s even worse. And when that loss sets up the Seahawks for a possible fall all the way to the sixth seed in the playoffs, well – I’m not allowed to write how that feels, but I’m pretty sure you already know. The loss in the standings was nothing compared to the losses on their roster, though.

We knew going into the game that Seattle was going to miss a lot of their top players. We knew that the Cardinals have a long history of playing the Seahawks tougher than you’d expect. Despite all this, I expected Russell Wilson to have an excellent game. I expected the Hawks to handle the Cards, despite the worrisome signs. Unfortunately, I was as wrong as I could be.

Virtually everything that could go wrong for the Seahawks went wrong. Chandler Jones did indeed live in Seattle’s backfield. He sacked Wilson three times in the first half, ending with four in all. Our old buddy Cassius Marsh got in on the fun, too, as Wilson was sacked five times in the game.

Wilson played one of his worst games of the season. That’s a huge concern, considering that Arizona came into today’s game with the NFL’s worst pass defense. The Cards had given up an average of 290 yards and 2.4 touchdowns per game before today. They held Wilson to 169 yards and just one score. Tyler Lockett was targeted eight times and came away with just one catch.

If the offense had been on track, the defensive problems wouldn’t have been so critical. But Seattle’s defense looked absolutely terrible. I know, I know; they were missing Jadeveon Clowney, Shaquill Griffin, and Quandre Diggs. That doesn’t explain how the remaining players suddenly forgot to play their assignments and forgot how to tackle when they did manage to be in position.

That may be harsh, but Kenyan Drake went off for 166 yards and two scores. Yeah, he’s explosive, and just lit up the Browns for four touchdowns last week. But Seattle made him look like Gayle Sayers. Even worse, Cards quarterback Kyler Murray left the game early in the third quarter. The guy who led Arizona to the clinching touchdown with four minutes to go? Brett Hundley, the Seahawks backup quarterback last year. When a career backup beats you, things aren’t going well.

As has happened so often at crucial moments, the Hawks couldn’t hold onto the ball. David Moore fumbled after a big gain that would have put Seattle in good position for a score. Wilson fumbled on one of Jones’ sacks, but at least Travis Homer was able to recover the ball. To continue the great news, Homer was in the game because Chris Carson left with a hip injury.

Far worse than the loss of the game was the losses to the roster. Carson is likely out for the season, and will definitely miss the 49ers game. His backup C. J. Prosise is also out for the season, in his case with a broken arm. Left tackle Duane Brown needs knee surgery as well. All that makes the loss today seem very insignificant indeed. It was a tough loss, but heading into a chance at a division title, the Seahawks are in the worst position of the season. For so many reasons, this was the worst day of the 2019 season.