4 winners and losers from Seattle Seahawks victory over Cardinals in Week 7

The Seattle Seahawks are now 4-2 but with a bunch of tough games soon to come. Six of the next eight games are against teams with 2 losses or fewer. One of the games that isn't against a team with a winning record is Week 11 against the Los Angeles Rams and the Rams have already beaten Seattle once this year.

But let's focus on the positives. Seattle did what they needed to do and defeated a team they clearly have more talent than. The Arizona Cardinals play hard, but they lack talent. To lose to the Cardinals might have got most 12s thinking about what the 2024 NFL draft might bring.

While the score was 20-10, it never really felt close. It was more frustrating that the Seahawks didn't win by more. But a win is a win and in the NFL you don't make the playoffs by getting a bunch of style points.

Seattle Seahawks winner No. 1 - Receiver Jake Bobo

The Seahawks did not have DK Metcalf available on Sunday as he was dealing with pain from his hip and ribs. Maybe Seattle simply thought Metcalf needed some rest. (Or maybe - conspiracy theory! - Seattle wanted to sit Metcalf for a game because of all the bad 15-yard penalties he has picked up since 2020 and just got one in Week 6, too.) No matter, Metcalf was out and Seattle needed at least one receiver to step up.

Jake Bobo turned out to be one of those guys. We already know Bobo is a fantastic blocker (he has the third-highest run-block grade this year, according to Pro Football Focus, to which they require you to subscribe) and we know he has really good body control as he made a toe-taping touchdown reception in Week 3. But we weren't completely sure if Bobo could come through when Seattle absolutely needed him to.

Well, we know that Jake Bobo can be a good NFL receiver when needed as well. Not only did he have career-highs in receptions (4 on 5 targets) and yards (61), but averaged 15.3 yards a catch and made a ridiculously good, and one-handed, touchdown catch. On that play, Bobo seemed to know he scored immediately but the referees weren't so sure. Thankfully, a smart Pete Carroll challenge proved Bobo was correct.

(By the way, not listed here as a winner but he was during the game was Pete Carroll. He made several smart coaching moves, including a couple of positive challenges.)

Loser No. 1 - Cornerback Devon Witherspoon

OK, don't stop reading...yet. I might not be the smartest guy in the room, but I am not a total idiot. I have Devon Witherspoon on here as a loser for Week 7 for a good reason, and the reason has nothing to do with him playing poorly. In fact, Witherspoon was once again excellent and yet again proved that Seattle taking him fifth overall in the 2023 NFL draft was the work of people who know a lot more about football than most of the rest of us do.

Through the five games he has played (he missed Week 1 with a hamstring injury, of course), he has allowed a passer-rating of 74.7. Not the best in the league, but certainly really good for rookie corner and a number that will probably only get better. Witherspoon also has allowed only 20 of the 37 passes thrown his way to be completed. Again, realy solid stuff.

Witherspoon also has 2 sacks and an interception that he turned into a pick-six. He has 3 quarterback pressures and tackles like a guy who weighs 50 more pounds than he does. But Witherspoon's number should be better and this is why he was a loser in Week 7.

Not only did Witherspoon have an interception taken away - he picked off a pass in the second half in the end zone but a penalty negated the pick - but he had a sack taken away by a penalty as well. Witherspoon appears to be far too optimistic to go over to his teammates and say, "I'd have another pick and a sack except for your mistakes," but he would be factually correct if he did. Witherspoon is a special player and the Seahawks are lucky to have him.

Winner No. 2 - Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Like Bobo, Jaxon Smith-Njigba also had the best game of his very early NFL career. Maybe because of DK Metcalf, Smith-Njigba hasn't had the best routes to run yet. He was used more, it seemed, as a check-down receiver and he caught several short passes on third-and-longs that had little chance of picking up a first down. So while some point out that Smith-Njigba simply hasn't gotten many targets - he was third on the team in targets before Week 7, this is untrue. It's how he has been used instead of the amount of times he has gotten the ball.

In fact, it's a bit odd when looking at Smith-Njigba's week-by-week numbers. He has three games with 4 or more receptions - the same number as DK Metcalf - and five games with 5 or more targets. But when a receiver is just catching the ball in the flat all the time, he's unlikely to gain many yards. But with no Metcalf, Smith-Njigba was used more downfield.

This was especially true on Smith-Njigba's 28-yard touchdown catch in Week 7. Hopefully, Smith-Njigba will have a ton of touchdown receptions in his career with Seattle, but his one against the Cardinals was the first of his career. He also managed to get himself wide open on the play, something we saw quite a bit of in the preseason before he was injured.

Smith-Njigba had a season-high 63 yards receiving (which led the team) and a season-high 15.8 yards a catch. He was also targeted 7 times, another season-high. Of course, once Metcalf returns, hopefully Seattle will keep using Smith-Njigba is the same kind of routes he ran in Week 7. Otherwise, he will simply revert back to the same kind of underwhelming production he had prior to Sunday's game.

Winner No. 3 - Edge rusher Boye Mafe

12s were hoping Boye Mafe might have a breakout season in Year 2 and he seems to be doing so. Mafe isn't yet a consistent edge rusher throughout the entire game, but he might get there. With his size and speed, he has the ability to be a Micah Parsons-light player. And he was already very good against the run.

So far through five games - he missed Week 2 with an injury - he is tied for the team-lead with 4 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. He is third on the team in QB hits with 5. According to Pro Football Focus, Mafe was the 22nd-highest-graded edge rusher in the league prior to Week 7. The only reason he wasn't even higher was because of his coverage grade, and Mafe hadn't even been targeted in coverage so I am unsure why his grade would be poor.

In Week 7, Mafe had another sack (his fourth straight game with a sack), another tackle for loss, and he had a QB hit. The promise that he showed in the preseason when he was very often the best player on the field, seems to be coming to fruition in the regular season. Plus, he should only get better for Seattle over time so he could be the Seahawks' lead pass-rusher for years to come.

Mafe might not develop into the kind of player that opposing blocking schemes focus on, but he will be one of the better players on a top-end pass rush rotation. Or, heck. Maybe Mafe ends up having 10-plus sacks in each of the next 10 years.

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