3 quick takeaways from Seahawks victory over Cardinals in Week 9

The Seahawks moved to 6-3 with a 31-21 victory over the Cardinals in Week 9. Except for two drives, the Seattle defense dominated the Cardinals. And just when Geno Smith needed to be great, he was.

How refreshing is it to see the Seahawks consistently dominate teams in the fourth quarter? Seattle has a much better grasp of how to lead time of possession than it has in the last few years with Russell Wilson at quarterback. Maybe Wilson is better overall than Geno Smith but maybe Smith operates Shane Waldron’s offense the way it should be run.

Can you imagine a play like the pass to Noah Fant on Seattle’s game-securing drive from Russell Wilson in past years? The play was perfectly designed and perfect for an offense with Geno Smith as the quarterback. That play, more than any other, cemented the game for Seattle.

3 quick takeaways from the Seahawks 31-21 victory over the Cardinals

Geno Smith is the perfect quarterback for this team

Geno Smith made a couple of bad plays in Week 9. That’s notable because he has mostly been mistake-free this year. While the Cardinals scored 21 points, 7 of them came on a pick-six on a bad pass by Smith. But what did Geno do? The same thing he has done all year.

That is, he came back and immediately forgot his mistake and led the Seahawks on two straight 13-play scoring drives. This is all the more shocking because Seattle seemed incapable of doing this kind of thing the last two years. But Geno remains calm and somehow even more motivated. Almost like Geno is afraid he will go back to being a backup. At this point, Geno might be the starter for several years to come for Seattle.

The defensive turnaround is real

The Cardinals had two truly productive drives. The first came on their first drive of the game, just like in Week 6. But as in Week 6, the Seahawks adjusted and stopped Arizona consistently for most of the rest of the game.

Arizona finished with just 267 total yards and Seattle sacked Kyler Murray 5 times. Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught just 4 passes on 5 targets for 36 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on the Cardinals first drive of the game. But only allowing 36 yards to Hopkins is a massive win for the Seahawks. Arizona averaged just 4.3 yards per play overall.

But let’s be factual. In the last four games, this Seattle has been very good. And there is no flukiness to it. It’s really good.

The entire team is real

OK, but what about everything? Seattle is now 6-3. They are in first place in the NFC West. This has to be because they are playing bad teams, right? Not really. The offense is operating at a high level because Geno Smith is poised and accurate. But also because the team has great receivers and Ken Walker is just a beast.

But for the first time in a very long time, all phases of the team are playing well at the same time. This appears to be something that will continue as the success isn’t gimmicky. The team is loaded with young talent but the chemistry is working really well with the veterans and the young guys. Maybe the rest of the season goes south, but at this point, Seattle might just make the playoffs.  Oh, also, Ken Walker is a complete beast and finished with 109 yards rushing.