Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from loss versus Cardinals

Seahawks had too many crucial penalties that came back to haunt them

In Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, the Seattle Seahawks had 0 penalties. It was quite impressive as the Seahawks have had their struggles with the offensive line getting called for false starts and holding penalties. Last night, the problem appeared to be on the defensive side of the ball when it came to penalties.

For those who watched the entirety of this football game — even Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth admitted — it felt that the Seahawks were in control of this from start to finish. At times, it felt like the Seahawks were blowing them out, but yet, it was only a 10 point game. Last night the Seattle Seahawks controlled the time of possession, having the ball for nearly 9 minutes longer than the Cardinals.

Late in the game, after Wilson hit Lockett on the 4th down touchdown to go up, 34-24, Seahawks fans took a sigh of relief. But, of course, in Seahawks fashion, fans then felt the heart attack coming. In the 2nd half, the Seahawks had two crucial penalties called against them that one can argue changed the landscape of this game.

The first came against Bobby Wagner. In the 3rd quarter, with 7:44 on the clock, the Cardinals were facing a 3rd and 5. Kyler Murray threw a pass over the middle to TE Dan Arnold, which was incomplete. The ball was thrown behind, but from the perspective of Bobby Wagner, it appeared as if Arnold had at least touched the pass. As a result, Wagner hit him and was flagged for unnecessary roughness. In my opinion, it was a terrible call. It was a bang-bang play and Wagner should not have been flagged for attempting a tackle on a receiver who he had thought made the catch. The Cardinals ended up taking advantage of that and scoring to cut the lead to, 27-24.

The second came against Benson Mayowa. With just a couple of minutes remaining in regulation, the Cardinals were down 10 trying to cut into the lead. The Seahawks defense held firm, holding them to 3, or, at least they thought they did. On a 4th and 12, the Cardinals kicked the field goal and it was good. But, there was a flag on Mayowa for leverage, which is a 15-yard penalty, resulting in a 1st down. Once again, the Cardinals took advantage and scored a touchdown to cut into the lead, 34-31. I personally felt that if the Seahawks held them to 3, this game never goes to overtime as the Cardinals wouldn’t have had enough time to score a touchdown and tie it.

Lastly, keep in mind that David Moore was penalized in overtime on what should have been the game-winning touchdown to DK Metcalf. The Seahawks just beat themselves last night. I know they played poorly and Wilson threw 3 interceptions, but if they just cleaned up the little things, they probably would have won by a large margin.