How the Seattle Seahawks stifled the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12

The Seattle Seahawks, thanks to some Philadelphia brotherly love, regained control of the NFC West following a dominant defensive performance against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Arizona hardly had a run game and the Seattle pass rush came alive en route to a 16-6 win. Seattle's defense has finally consistently looked the part following three straight stifling performances against three divisional opponents.

Seattle seems to have shored up the run defense, an issue that has been this team's kryptonite over the past two seasons. Feature back James Conner and speedster quarterback Kyler Murray only combined for 17 rush yards on the entire day. To complement the stiff run defense, the pass rush got home early and often as Seattle tallied five sacks and many more pressures against a mobile Kyler Murray.

How does this sudden flip happen? How does a lowly Seahawks defense that couldn't force an incompletion for several weeks at a time, and allowed anyone and everyone to gash them on the ground make this turnaround? The tape tells the story.

What did the Seattle Seahawks do to dominate the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12?

The Seahawks' defensive line feasted

The first thing that pops on tape is big number 99, Leonard Williams. From the jump, Williams was consistently beating former Seattle center Evan Brown and right guard Trystan Colon. Big Cat solely used brute strength to outmuscle past the offensive line and disrupt most rushing attempts. Speaking of brute strength, rookie Byron Murphy II also stood out. Whether it was eating up two, and sometimes three, offensive linemen at a time, and still getting in the backfield consistently, Murphy was an animal.

It's abundantly clear on film that Arizona's offensive line was no match for the muscle on Seattle's defensive line. When the interior defensive line is getting so much attention from the offensive line, it opens up things for the edge rushers and the linebackers, including Boye Mafe and Tyrice Knight, who each notched sacks as free rushers on Sunday.

For the third consecutive game, the Seahawks have held their opponent to under 100 rushing yards. Sunday, Arizona only tallied 49 rushing yards, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry. Again, Leonard Williams was a huge part of this. All day, he was barreling past the line and either meeting the back for a stop or redirecting him towards his teammates. Byron Murphy, possibly the most unsung hero on Sunday, was instrumental in eating up blocks to allow his teammates to fill their gaps and stop the run.

The new linebacker duo continues to absolutely shine

I cannot overstate how impactful linebacker Ernest Jones IV has been for this Seattle defense. What immediately comes to mind is when Mike Macdonald was in Baltimore and acquired Roquan Smith midseason, completely transforming his defense. Jones may not be the "one-of-one" player Smith is, but his immediate impact is nearly identical.

What stands out on film to me is Jones' intelligence at the middle linebacker position. He understands where to attack and, most importantly, when to attack. Conversely, former Seahawks Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker knew where to attack, but never seemed to get the timing right. With Jones, he gets to a spot where he can watch the runner make a decision, and almost simultaneously, Jones will mimic the decision and meet the runner in a gap.

Rookie Tyrice Knight is no slouch either. Where Jones uses intelligence and savvy to make plays for Seattle, it seems on tape that Knight just has a fantastic instinct to lead his nose to the ball. While sometimes that instinct could lead to over-pursuing a ball carrier, as we saw with Dodson and Baker over and over again, Knight seems to operate with a cautious, yet explosive abandon. Perhaps even more impressive is that Knight has shown in his few games as a starter that he can hang in pass coverage with his athleticism and, again, his growing instinct.

The two backers complement each other beautifully - one is savvy to the game and knows exactly where and when to attack while the other just has a knack for getting to the ball that you can't teach. It's been night and day when you compare this duo to Dodson and Baker earlier in the season. The defense is firing on all cylinders right now and it is in large part to the spark this new duo has provided.

Devon Witherspoon is a maniac

One simply cannot watch the tape from Sunday and not be overwhelmingly impressed with #21 on Seattle's defense. Witherspoon just flies around and can teleport to any area of the field and make his presence felt in a huge way. He may not stuff the stat sheet, but when you go back and re-watch Sunday's game, you will notice Devon Witherspoon.

It feels like Spoon plays every position on the field. And as a nickel corner, he essentially does. Against the run, he only has a short distance to cover to make a play on a ball carrier, which he did multiple times on Sunday. In the air, he's essentially in the middle of the field, so he can help with breaking on in-routes as well as jumping out-breaking routes. And when he's asked to, Spoon can make his money getting after the quarterback.

The most eye-popping play from Devon Witherspoon came in the third quarter as Arizona lined up to go for it on 4th-and-2. Murray snapped the ball and faked a duo run to Conner. Initially, Witherspoon falls for the fake and crashes inside. But we know Witherspoon is a complete maniac, so upon realizing Murray pulled the ball and is now rolling outside, Spoon hits a spin move and is suddenly in pursuit of Murray, who is a freak speedster himself.

Spoon closes in on Murray and forces an errant pass that is intercepted by Coby Bryant, who is off to the races. Nobody would be mad at Spoon for just watching Bryant take off with the football at this point, but that's not who Devon Witherspoon is. Remember, he is a maniac.

Spoon quickly shifts into top gear and lands a huge block on running back James Conner, who is in hot pursuit of Bryant. Not only does Spoon take out Conner, but the collision helps take out a second Arizona Cardinal who's also closing in on Coby. Bryant has green grass in front of him and easily scores his first career pick-six. As we've established, Spoon is a maniac, and as Bryant is crossing the goal line and hitting the Marshawn Lynch homage, Spoon is spotted on tape giving what appears to be the tiny shadow of Kyler Murray the "too small" taunt.

Head coach Mike Macdonald had nothing but fantastic things to say about Spoon following the game. He praised his "infectious energy" and considered him a "force multiplier." Witherspoon is someone who will go 110 percent every single play and make all ten teammates around him better. The fifth overall pick from just last season is validating his high draft selection more and more each and every week.

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