4 winners and no losers after Seahawks Week 14 victory over Cardinals

The Seattle Seahawks left the desert with a key 30-18 win over the Arizona Cardinals to maintain their position atop the NFC West. They needed the win as the Los Angeles Rams pulled off a major upset of the Buffalo Bills. The San Francisco 49ers kept themselves in the hunt, two games back, with a win over the Chicago Bears. This win doesn't happen without winning players, of course.

This game played out very differently than the past few games we've seen from the Hawks. For one thing, they had an actual offense. This was the first time in the past six games Seattle's offense put more than 20 points on the scoreboard. While the 18 points the defense surrendered was the most they've allowed in a month, they came through with multiple big plays to secure the win.

The Seahawks had to start the game counterpunching after the Cardinals took an early 7-0 lead on their first drive. But in the span of 47 seconds, the Hawks had thrown a pair of haymakers to jump back ahead and stay there to secure sole possession of first place in the division. Seattle had no shortage of winners in this game, but I'll go with these four players.

The Seattle Seahawks played a complete game, powered by these winning players

Winner: Zach Charbonnet

No need to be coy here. With Kenneth Walker ruled out for the game, no one expected the Hawks running game to suddenly spring to life. After what we'd seen from Charbonnet so far this season, no one could have expected the Spanish Inquisition. Sorry, I've got a Python stuck in my head lately. What I meant to say was that no one could have expected the Hawks' number two running back to go off for his career-best game.

I don't know, 12s, is 22 carries for 134 yards and two scores any good? Oh, and he chipped in with seven catches for another 59 yards. I've been guilty of loudly proclaiming that the Hawks had no business handing him the ball. And in my defense, he hasn't shown much other than the Dolphins game. But let's be clear: Charbonnet didn't do this alone. We'll get to that later.

Winner: Geno Smith

The first reason Mr. Smith gets the winner's nod is zero turnovers. I know that's a pretty low bar, but as there are still so many Geno haters out there, I thought I'd point that out at the start. By the way, all of you who were begging for Drew Lock to depose Smith last year, how's he doing? In his two starts he's 42-81, a 52 percent completion rate. He's thrown for 405 yards and two interceptions. I know the Giants are terrible - and yes, the Hawks managed to lose to them - but Lock isn't exactly setting the league on fire.

As for Geno, he looked completely in command against the Cards. We didn't see any of those weird 'who was he throwing to' interceptions, as we seemed to be getting every other game for a while. Even the one "mistake" he made, a penalty for intentional grounding, was highly questionable. Smith finished 24-30 for 233 yards and a touchdown pass to - who else - Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks topped 400 yards of offense in regulation for only the second time all year. For me, that puts the guy at the controls in the winner's circle.

Winner: Tyrice Knight

Come on now, did you really think I wasn't going to name a Hawks defender? I could have gone with Ernest Jones IV, who snagged the first interception of the game. Coby Bryant would be a fine selection as well since he followed up Jones with his own pick less than a minute later. And Devon Witherspoon was everywhere, as he has been for the past several weeks.

But I have to give it to the player who stepped in as the midseason replacement for the linebacker experiment that went wrong. Rookie Tyrice Knight was a tackling machine in the preseason and again proved that was no fluke. He had 12 combined tackles, swarming to the ball at every opportunity. He also broke up two passes and was credited with three stops by Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Of course, Knight didn't miss a tackle. That, 12s, is a winner.

Winner: the offensive line

Finally, I get to write something good about the Seahawks' offensive line. I have been dying to say this unit turned in a good performance, and they did. Make that a great performance. I've disagreed with Bob Condotta's grades on the O-line over the past couple of weeks. Mr. Condotta knows more about football than I know about my own kids. But I just couldn't see how a line that allowed double-digit pressures week after week and couldn't open decent running lanes deserved anything but mediocre grades at best.

Ah, but this week - this week is different. Condotta gave the Hawks' offensive line an A and probably would have given them a triple A, if such a thing existed. And they would have deserved it. Zach Charbonnet doesn't pick up all that yardage without huge holes opened by the line. Seattle averaged 5.7 yards per carry, easily a season best. Geno Smith wasn't sacked and was only hit twice. And that, dear 12s, is how the offensive line earns itself an A from Mr. Condotta. Winners all, as far as I can see.

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