Week 2 recap: Seahawks 31, Cardinals 7
Arizona went three-and-out, and on Seattle’s second snap Drew Lock threw deep right to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 82 yards and a touchdown. It was 7-0 fifty-four seconds into Seattle’s first possession, and the rest of the afternoon was the Cardinals learning that their Week 1 plan against the Chargers, hold the ball and grind, does not work when the run does not. Seattle won 31-7 for its twelfth straight win counting last season’s playoffs, a franchise record, and its tenth straight over Arizona.
How it happened
It was not a rout at halftime. Arizona tied it early in the second quarter with its best drive of the day, 12 plays and 61 yards over 6:19, and Jacoby Brissett found Trey McBride from two yards out on fourth-and-goal. Jadarian Price then fumbled on Seattle’s next possession, and just before halftime Arizona made a goal-line stand. Seattle had first-and-goal at the 6 inside the last three minutes; Price got two yards, Emanuel Wilson got two more and then one, and on fourth-and-goal from the 1, with two extra linemen reported eligible, Wilson was stopped for a loss. Lock was sacked by Budda Baker on the last play of the half, and it was 7-7.
The second half turned on a play that went wrong first. Rashid Shaheed fumbled the second-half kickoff at the end of a 27-yard return, and Chazz Surratt picked it up and ran it to the Arizona 37. An Arizona encroachment penalty and a 25-yard run by Price put Seattle at the 7, and Smith-Njigba scored from there. On Arizona’s third snap of the half, Julian Love intercepted Brissett at the Arizona 44, and Jason Myers kicked a 33-yard field goal for 17-7. A 10-play, 80-yard drive ended in Smith-Njigba’s third touchdown, a 12-yarder early in the fourth quarter.
Then Seattle took the ball at its own 30 with 11:25 left and did not give it back for 10 minutes and 14 seconds: 16 plays, 14 of them runs, 70 yards. Two runs from the 1 were stopped, and on fourth-and-goal, the same down and the same spot where Arizona had held before halftime, a direct snap went to tight end AJ Barner, who scored with 1:11 to play.
The numbers
| Seahawks | Cardinals | |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 381 | 151 |
| First downs | 23 | 10 |
| Third down | 6 of 13 | 3 of 12 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
| Sacks | 2 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 36:33 | 23:27 |
| Penalties | 3 for 26 | 6 for 48 |
| Red zone | 3 of 5 | 1 of 1 |
Lock went 19 of 26 for 235 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, a 139.1 rating in his first start since 2023. Smith-Njigba caught nine of the 11 passes thrown to him for 155 yards and three touchdowns, the first three-touchdown game of his career, and the 82-yarder is his career long. Wilson carried 21 times for 92 yards and Price 13 for 52, and Seattle ran 40 times for 162. Brissett finished 17 of 28 for 95 yards, a touchdown and the interception, and Arizona’s leading rusher, the rookie Jeremiyah Love, had 29 yards on nine carries. Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed had the sacks, Ernest Jones IV and Devon Witherspoon had eight tackles apiece, and 63,191 were in the building.
What decided it
Our preview said Seattle 20, Arizona 16: the front gets to Brissett two or three times, McBride catches eight anyway, and Lock’s job is to hand off, take the shot to Smith-Njigba when Arizona brings a safety down, and not give away a short field. The front got there twice, McBride caught eight, for 41 yards, and the game went under the 41.5 total. The margin is where we were wrong, and the reason is the thing the preview underrated: Seattle’s run game, which wore Arizona down in the fourth quarter.
Macdonald gave the game ball to the line. “The offensive line got a game ball today… That’s Seahawk football,” he said after the closing drive. On Lock: “Really proud of Drew… He did a tremendous job.” On Smith-Njigba: “That’s what we expect from Jax.” Leonard Williams put it more simply: “Man, this guy’s a wizard.”
The ledger from Week 1 is mostly settled. Ten penalties for 98 yards against New England became three for 26 in a road building, which is what Brian Fleury meant when he called the first set “controllable.” Nothing in two red-zone trips became three touchdowns in five; the other two ended in the goal-line stand and a field goal.
The defense has now allowed 17 points in two games. Arizona had 151 yards, 81 of them passing, and the streak without a 100-yard rusher allowed is at 28 straight regular-season games.
Injuries, and what comes next
Nose tackle Brandon Pili left with a concussion and was ruled out before the second half; he is in the protocol. Price was checked for a chest injury that the team later called a shoulder, and X-rays were negative; Macdonald said it “shouldn’t be a long-term thing.” George Holani was evaluated in the fourth quarter and cleared. Nick Emmanwori played his first snaps of the season.
The bigger news came Monday: the plan is for Sam Darnold to practice Wednesday in some capacity, his first work since he hurt his glute on the opening drive of the season. Macdonald did not name a starter for Sunday. The injury report carries each practice report as it posts, and the game day guide for Sunday’s 10 a.m. kickoff in Landover has the broadcast, the line, and which Seattle bars are open in time. Washington lost Jayden Daniels to a dislocated elbow at Dallas, so Marcus Mariota starts, and the line has moved from Seattle by 3.5 to Seattle by 7.