3 bold predictions for Seattle Seahawks must-win Week 18 game versus Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals might be one of the scarier teams in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks to face in Week 18. While that does sound somewhat ridiculous, there are reasons I write that. The main reason, however, is that Seattle is awful against the run and the Cardinals run the ball really well, just like the Pittsburgh Steelers did against Seattle in Week 17.

Week 18 is also a great example of why being a fan can be so difficult emotionally sometimes. One should never want their favorite team to lose. Where is the joy in that? But should Seattle lose their draft status improves and could improve enough to get Seattle close to a top-ten pick.

But getting a pick near the top-ten also does not mean the Seahawks will be any better in 2024 so win or lose there is no guarantee the team's fortunes improve. That is unless Seattle can draft about three young Cortez Kennedys with one first-round choice in the 2024 NFL Draft. If that were a possibility, Seattle might as well lose. But here are three things I am guessing will happen in Week 18.

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III will run for over 200 yards

Seattle has a recent tradition of not being able to run consistently well throughout the year and then having a running back explode in the final game of the regular season. In 2021, Seattle played Arizona and Rashaad Penny ran for 190 yards on 23 carries. Last year, Kenneth Walker ran for 114 yards on 29 carries against the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle ran for 197 yards total against the Rams. And the key with Walker wasn't the number of yards, but how many times he got the ball.

While the Seahawks stink at trying to stop the run, so do the Cardinals. The Seahawks have the worst defense in the NFL over the last 11 games both in terms of yards allowed per rush plus rushing yards allowed per game. But for the entire season, Arizona is 28th in allowing 4.6 yards a carry and last in rushing yards allowed per game (143.5). The Cardinals allowed just 91 in Week 17 but in the 11 previous games allowed at least 117 yards rushing and more than 200 in two of their last five games.

Walker currently has 827 rushing yards on the season and has 1,083 total yards. He simply hasn't gotten the ball enough. Plus, one way of keeping the Seahawks tired and terrible defense off the field is for the offense to run the ball well. Walker will get his second 100-yard-plus rushing game of the season, eclipse 1,000 yards for the year, and score 3 touchdowns versus Arizona.