No Leonard Williams, no Uchenna Nwosu? No problem. The Seattle Seahawks defense throttled the Cardinals for the second time this season. The offense didn't exactly set records, but they didn't have to, as the defense roared back to life. These four players keyed that return.
It turns out the Dark Side defense was fully capable of shutting the lights out on the Arizona offense. Held to a field goal in the first half, things got worse for the Cardinals after that. They managed just eight yards on the ground in the second half.
Even better for Seattle, they kept Arizona from scoring on the first drive of the half, even though the Cards had first and goal from the Seahawks' four-yard line.
These Seattle Seahawks players' stock is soaring after their Week 9 performances
I'm not saying these four emerged from the shadows like weird ninja turtles. By the way, they're all old enough to drive, so that avoids any copyright infringement issues. Yeah, all four of these guys were already studs. Well, three of them were. The last is the most pleasant surprise of all.
Derick Hall
It was Hall's best game so far this season. In Nwosu's absence, he truly stepped up and helped Seattle control Arizona's ground game. The Cards averaged 109 yards rushing coming into Week 9, and had just 50 on Sunday. Hall was a big part of that, with three tackles for a loss.
Byron Murphy
Yeah, I've hyped this guy already, but he just keeps getting better. With Leonard Williams out, there was some doubt regarding the play of the interior line. Murphy put that to bed with two tackles for a loss of his own, plus a sack.
DeMarcus Lawrence
We've been waiting a while for this, but like Hall, Lawrence had his best game of the season, too. He's played well this year, sure, but he finally got his first sack on Sunday. He added two tackles for a loss (what are we up to now, 50? I'm sure it felt like 50 for the Cardinals) and had a QB hit in addition to the sack. Yes, run it back next year, please.
Dante Fowler Jr.
Talk about waiting a while. I would have included him as an afterthought more often in my weekly trust index, but he simply wasn't worth mentioning. He'd been considered a potential trade piece, but what could you possibly get for him? A stale bag of Ranch Doritos? He changed that narrative on Sunday with a strip sack, and finally looked like a key rotational player for the Dark Side.
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