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- READ: Macdonald on Darnold's performance: 'He's a guy on a mission'
- READ: Murray on Harrison, Cards offense: 'Taking too long' to load
- Smith-Njigba took over in the fourth. Jaxon Smith-Njigba didn’t catch a pass until late in the third quarter, and he was guilty of a critical holding penalty on Zach Charbonnet's negated touchdown run, which kept Arizona in the game when it was starting to look like a blowout. But Smith-Njigba came up huge in the final 16 minutes, catching all four of his passes for 79 yards. Two were big third-down conversions (including a 36-yarder), and his 22-yard catch on the final drive helped set up the game-winning field goal from Jason Myers. With three minutes left, Myers missed a 53-yarder that would have made it a two-possession game. The Seahawks also were helped by Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland's kickoff short of the landing zone, giving them the ball at the 40-yard line to start the final drive.
- Harrison heated up after a nightmare start. Marvin Harrison Jr. had a drop Sunday and has been quiet since Week 1, so you knew the Cardinals wanted to get him going early and often Thursday. Arizona made a concerted effort, throwing Harrison’s way on the first play of the game, but both of Kyler Murray's interceptions came on passes thrown to MHJ. On the first pick, it appeared Harrison stopped his route, even if the throw wasn’t on the money. On the second, Harrison appeared to catch it but bobbled it into the hands of Seattle’s Ernest Jones, killing the most promising drive of the night. Prior to the second INT, Murray threw a stop route and Harrison continued with the fade. They weren’t on different pages, they were reading different books. Then, something clicked. They connected for a gorgeous TD pass, with Harrison almost looking more relieved than anything else. He had four fourth-quarter catches after only one catch on five targets the first 36 minutes of the game. The second half was the Harrison that Cardinals fans have waited for. But what was going on in the first?
- Darnold finished both halves in style. The Seahawks certainly left some meat on the bone Thursday night, thoroughly outplaying the Cardinals into the fourth quarter but needing to sweat it out. Thankfully, Sam Darnold delivered when the Seahawks needed it most. He led a beautiful seven-play, 90-yard TD drive late in the first half to put them up, 14-3. Darnold flashed some great improv skills on a 32-yard throw on the run to Elijah Arroyo and on a 24-yard scramble. The Seahawks and Darnold cooled off in the third quarter, but he led the offense past the Arizona 35-yard line on all three drives in the fourth. Jason Myers’ field-goal miss opened the door for an improbable comeback, but Darnold closed the door with a critical shot play to Smith-Njigba to set up the game-winner. Don’t look now, but Darnold is starting to build a reputation as a strong late-game performer, even with some notable misses on his résumé.
- Murray also battled back late before falling short. For three quarters, Kyler Murray was as much to blame for the Cardinals’ offensive struggles as anyone, Marvin Harrison included. There was an understanding that life after James Conner would be tough, but Murray missed some open throws early and nearly was picked late in the first half. After Darnold stepped up, Murray couldn’t respond. Arizona’s offense had one TD in its previous eight quarters entering the fourth, but Murray finally heated up, throwing for two TDs in the final six minutes to wake the Cardinals up from the dead. After looking despondent all night, Murray started showing some life. But they paid for the sins of the first three quarters, given all kinds of chances early but blowing most of them. Murray’s hot fourth can’t be dismissed, but like Harrison, why did it take so long?
- Seattle’s defense did its job, but settling for FGs hurt. It’s easy to say that the Seahawks broke a little late defensively, especially with a tough few reps from Pro Bowler Devon Witherspoon. But it’s hard to blame a unit that mostly played terrific ball. Despite losing Demarcus Lawrence (thigh), it was a consistent swarm around Kyler Murray, with 14 different defenders recording at least one pressure and only one (Uchenna Nwosu) finishing with more than two. Murray's clock was sped up all night, and he didn’t adjust until late. What hurt the Seahawks was settling for a field goal (on fourth-and-2) on the opening drive of the second half. That felt like a go-for-the-carotid-artery spot. After Zach Charbonnet’s TD was negated, they trusted the kicking game -- and it almost cost Mike Macdonald. Jason Myers rewarded Macdonald’s trust on the game-winner after missing a similar-length kick a few minutes earlier, but the Seahawks should feel a little lucky to get out alive after controlling most of the game.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Seahawks-Cardinals (via NFL Pro): Kyler Murray's 16-yard TD pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. had a completion probability of 26.0%, the ninth-most improbable touchdown of the season. Harrison had 0.3 yards of separation from Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon, the second-fewest on a TD this season.
NFL Research: Calais Campbell had a sack in the first quarter Thursday night against the Seahawks. Campbell’s first career sack against the Seahawks came in Week 6 of the 2009 season.
