Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from win versus Cardinals
By Jake Luppino
Carlos Hyde was physical
All year long, the story has been about “Let Russ Cook”. But, remember a chef can’t prepare a five-star meal without the key ingredients. For this Seattle team, the most pivotal ingredient is the run game. Having no Carson and Hyde for the last couple of weeks, defenses were focused on taking away the deep ball. The play-action game was completely taken out of proportion and it hurt this offense significantly.
Ever since Pete Carroll took over in Seattle, he’s always loved a physical running back. Someone who is going to lower their shoulder and deliver the blow to the defender. Well, I guess that’s why Hyde was brought in. After the taunting penalty on Arizona in the third quarter, Seattle ran an inside zone for Hyde, which was finished with Hyde lowering his shoulder and bulldozing Patrick Peterson.
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This is what Seattle has been lacking for the past month. On the very next play, Carlos Hyde found himself in the end zone. Hyde finished the game rushing the ball 14 times for 79 yards and recording 1 touchdown. It is also worth noting that backup, Bo Scarbrough, also played a nice game. He is another physical runner that was able to pick up key yards for this offense.
After the game, Pete Carroll himself said that Chris Carson will be 100 percent ready to go next week against Philadelphia. The good news is, that if for some reason Carson can’t, we have a very viable backup in Carlos Hyde. Hyde was a 1,000-yard rusher last season and fits this Seattle scheme very well. The Seahawks offense was finally able to establish that balance once again, allowing Russ to play a near-perfect game.