Seattle Seahawks Week 7: The good news and bad news from the win over the Cardinals

The Seattle Seahawks continued their transition to a defense-first team with a tough win versus the always pesky Arizona Cardinals. Until they eliminate big mistakes, they'll come dangerously close to a defense-only team. They simply have to get more consistent play from the offense

The Seahawks came out of Week 7 with another critical win, but it was far from an easy victory. For the third straight game, the defense played tremendous ball while the offense struggled to put points on the board. That is not the best recipe to make the postseason, let alone do anything when you get there. The offense has to improve in critical situations, and committing three turnovers isn't the change we needed to see.

Okay, we'll get back to the gloomy stuff soon enough. I really don't want to take away from all the great things we saw in this game. And there were many, many big improvements we saw in Week 7, despite the low output on offense. Rookies came through on both sides of the ball, but especially on offense. A previously underwhelming defensive player was overwhelming - at least to the Cards - so overall, there was a lot more to like about this game than not. Still - nope, sorry, I'll get to that later.

The Seattle Seahawks defense was nasty, especially in the second half

I think we're beginning to see a pattern in Clint Hurtt's defense, 12s. It doesn't exactly take a gridiron genius to see that, either. The Hawks defense gives up yardage and points in the first half. then plays absolute shutdown D in the second. Over the past three games, the Seahawks have allowed zero, three, and zero points in the second stanza. As you no doubt remember, those three points came after a Seattle turnover on a Cincinnati drive that netted zero yards. In those three halves, the Giants managed 97, the Bengals 62, and the Cardinals 84 yards. Those drives ended with eight punts, three interceptions, three turnovers on downs, a missed field goal, and that lone score after no gain. That's pretty good defense.

The Seahawks win over the Cardinals certainly continued that trend. If there's anything worrisome at all about the defense over the past few games, it's that opposing quarterbacks are picking up too much yardage on the ground. Yes, I'd much rather they fight for every yard with their legs, but that's been the only weakness in Seattle's run defense. Joshua Dobbs gained 43 yards on seven carries for the Cards and scored their only touchdown. While he's an exceptionally bright player - I mean, he is a legitimate rocket scientist - he's not exactly Lamar Jackson. The Giants Daniel Jones picked up 66 yards and accounted for nearly two-thirds of their ground game. Considering how much this defense has improved since the slugfest with the Lions, I have no doubt they'll fix even this minor issue.