Seahawks cough up lead but kick field goal at end to beat Cardinals
Published in Football
GLENDALE, Ariz. — For about 50 minutes Thursday night, this looked like another statement-making win for the Seattle Seahawks.
The defense was dominating, holding Arizona to just two field goals through three quarters, while the offense was making just enough plays when it mattered with Sam Darnold again playing mistake-free and accurate when it counted most.
But then a few of the Seahawks’ mistakes left the door open for Arizona to make an improbable comeback.
And come back the Cardinals did, scoring two touchdowns in the final 5:50 — the last with 28 seconds left — to tie the game.
But just when you thought this might go down as a horrible Seahawks defeat, it was the Cardinals leaving their own door ajar.
Kicker Chase Ryland’s kickoff following the touchdown that tied it landed just short of the landing zone at the 20 and gave the Seahawks the ball at their own 40 with 28 seconds left.
Then Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a fade route for 22 yards to the Arizona 38.
Then running back Zach Charbonnet run took it to the 34 with four seconds left.
And then Jason Myers — who had missed from 53 yards out with 3:16 left to keep Arizona alive — calmly hit from 52 as time ran out to give the Seahawks a 23-20 win.
And finally order seemed restored.
The Seahawks outgained Arizona 384-253 yards, and until the frantic last two drives appeared on their way to holding another opponent under 17 points.
The Seahawks will take it, improving to 3-1 on the season, extending a franchise-record road winning streak to eight games and improving to 11-1-1 in Arizona since 2013.
The Seahawks led 20-6 before Arizona scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr., which made it 20-13 with 5:55 to play.
A 36-yard pass from Darnold to Smith-Njigba on third-and-6 set up a 53-yard Myers field goal to ice it. But his kick was ride right with 3:16 left, giving Arizona one last chance to pull out a game that for most of the night had seemed to belong to the Seahawks.
A third-down pass breakup by Devon Witherspoon left Arizona facing a fourth-and-4 at its own 49 with 3:01 remaining.
Murray hit Michael Wilson for 5 yards over Josh Jobe.
A Drake Thomas sack forced a third-and-9. But an inside screen to Greg Dortch picked up the yards and moved the ball to the Seattle 30.
Two plays later came another third down — this one of 5 yards from the Seattle 25 with 1:16 left.
Arizona called time before Murray threw to Harrison for 18 on Witherspoon to the Arizona 7.
A run went for no gain, leaving just 33 seconds on the clock.
But Murray threw to Emari Demercado for a 7-yard score.
Arizona went for the PAT and the tie with 28 seconds left, the only time all night the State Farm Stadium crowd really seemed into it.
The Cardinals hadn’t moved past Seattle’s 39-yard-line on their first two possessions of the second half.
But after a Myers 31-yard field goal put the Seahawks up 20-6 with 9:33 to play, the Arizona offense finally showed some signs of life with a Murray run for 29 yards and the third penalty of the night on Riq Woolen leading to a touchdown that got Arizona within 20-13 with 5:50 left.
The Seahawks led 14-3 at the end of the first half, a score that accurately depicted the way they dominated the action.
The Seahawks outgained Arizona 212-107 in the first half, averaging 7.1 yards per play to the Cardinals’ 3.1.
Darnold had another almost flawless first half, completing 8 of 11 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.
Still, a few Seahawks mistakes kept the score close until the end of the half — notably, Coby Bryant fumbling after a 15-yard return of a Murray pass in the first quarter and Kenneth Walker III called for a taunting penalty for tossing the ball at an Arizona player after a 3-yard gain that killed a possible scoring drive in the second.
A quick 90-yard, seven-play drive resulted in a 1-yard run by Charbonnet to put Seattle up 14-3 with 1:01 left.
The Seahawks scored in the first quarter on a 16-yard pass from Darnold to tight end AJ Barner that capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive.
That followed Arizona’s only score of the first half, a 33-yard field goal by Ryland. Arizona got within range of a field goal after recovering a fumble when Seahawks safety Coby Bryant had picked off a Murray pass and cornerback Woolen was called for a face mask penalty a few plays later.
The Seahawks caught a break midway through the second quarter when Murray fired to Harrison over the middle on a third-and-11 play from the Seattle 33. Harrison appeared as if he’d have the yardage for a first down as the ball came his way.
But Harrison, the fourth overall pick of the 2024 draft who apologized after dropping two passes on Sunday at San Francisco, bobbled the ball right into the hands of Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who returned it 29 yards to the Arizona 49.
They didn’t score on the drive, but the Seahawks got a stop on Arizona’s next possession and drove for the score that made it 14-3.
The Seahawks got a Myers field goal on their first possession of the second half to make it 17-3. Arizona got a 57-yard field goal late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 17-6.
The Seahawks appeared on the verge of blowing it open when Charbonnet appeared to score on a 7-yard run on the next drive.
But a holding penalty on Smith-Njigba nullified the play and the Seahawks had to settle for another Myers field goal and a 20-6 lead with 9:33 to play.
Still, given the way the defense was playing, that felt like an insurmountable lead for the Seahawks.
It wasn’t, but somehow the Seahawks won anyway.
©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments