This is a guest post by Curtis Allen…
Nine straight games.
The Seahawks currently hold the NFL’s longest winning streak against another team, with nine wins against the Cardinals. Even more impressive – they play each other twice a year. Most winning streaks of this type are against teams that do not play each other often (for example, Seattle also has an eight-game streak going against Philadelphia).
Their last matchup was in Week 11 last year and was an absolute pasting by Seattle. The teams went into the locker room at halftime with the Seahawks up 38-7. Demarcus Lawrence scored twice on Tyrice Knight strip sacks and Nehemiah Pritchett got horizontal and denied Marvin Harrison Jr a Touchdown on Fourth Down.
The offense then slammed the door shut with this soul-crushing sequence:
It was a sign of things to come for this team on their way to the Super Bowl. The formula found a very high expression in this game: build up a lead, then play defense to keep the opponent out of the end zone, and run the ball to ice the game.
As much as everyone would like another win like that today, the truth of life in the NFL is a win is a win, even if it is rather unpleasant, like Week Four last year against the Cardinals team. The Seahawks dominated statistically but let the Cardinals stay in the game and ultimately needed a Jason Myers field goal at the buzzer to win it.
The Cardinals have a new coaching staff, picked Jeremiyah Love #3 overall and have installed Jacoby Brissett as their starting Quarterback.
They are 1-0 after a surprising win over the Chargers in Week One.
How did they win? They controlled the game script by putting several long drives together, trading minutes for field goals. It kept the game close. When the Chargers starting getting desperate, it led to mistakes and the Cardinals were able to capitalize.
With only one game in this new regime, trends and tendencies have yet to fully emerge. So, it falls on Mike Macdonald and the staff to prepare a game plan that works for them. Still, there are some familiar elements the Seahawks can employ to have success.
Week One Lessons Learned
The win last week was thrilling and exhilarating.
And much harder than it could have been.
Ten penalties do not begin to tell the story. It is when they were called during the game.
A 34-yard Pass Interference call in the end zone by Josh Jobe that led to a Patriot touchdown. A sloppy late hit by Derick Hall on Drake Maye that extended a drive and moved field position. Chazz Surratt with a roughing the kicker penalty that let the Patriots keep the ball and kick a field goal. An “offensive offsides” penalty by Anthony Bradford (after they had overcome back-to-back false starts) that killed a drive. An illegal motion flag that wiped a touchdown off the board.
That is not just a lot of penalties. It is a lot of key penalties. Plenty of teams end the game with ten total penalties and they can shrug them off because they did not hurt the outcome too terribly much.
The Seahawks are not one of those teams. They played sloppy, undisciplined football and it nearly cost them. It cannot happen again.
On the bright side, we all let out a sigh of relief that Jason Myers had a good performance after a shaky preseason. Myers was responsible for seven points, more than the difference in the game. He needs to keep that momentum going. A relapse to bad form could really cost the team. As we saw above, he saved the Seahawks from themselves in Week Four.
It would instil a ton of confidence in the team and fanbase for Myers to have another perfect game today.
And lastly, Drew Lock. After some shaky series, he calmed down and ran the offense well. He showed exactly what the team needs from him in a starting role: run the offense within its parameters and do not be a hero. Get the ball into the hands of his playmakers and let them work. The defense and special teams will do the rest.
Thankfully two of these three factors worked well last week. If the Seahawks can clean up the penalties while scoring high marks in the other two factors again, Arizona’s strengths and weaknesses will not be as big a factor in this game.
Get To Jacoby Brissett
Brissett is not unlike Geno Smith: He is 33 years old, he has bounced around the NFL looking for a full-time starting job, and he has found late-career success with a team that needed a breath of fresh air after parting ways with their franchise Quarterback.
Another similarity to Smith: When he is comfortable, he can be accurate and deadly. When he is not, his effectiveness plummets.
Have a look at his stats from Week One:
All-Pro when he’s comfortable, rookie scrub when he’s blitzed.
The key here is the Chargers cannot apply pressure in normal sets sending only four rushers. Blitzing for them is the better option and yet they decided to blitz a Seahawk-like ten times.
Brissett diced them up. He had fifteen completed passes of nine yards or more. The Cardinals finished the game with 15 more minutes of possession time than the Chargers.
It is critical that the Seahawks get Brissett uncomfortable. His greatest strength might be that he does not put the football in harm’s way in the passing game. Not a lot of unforced errors are coming.
In Week 11 last year, the Seahawks blitzed only one more time than the Chargers did on Sunday. Yet they got more pressures, and Tyrice Knight’s ability to strip the ball twice tilted the game.
Sam Darnold only had to throw 12 passes in a 44-point win.
That’s the dream.
Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett talks like the defense has him rattled already.
They just need to live up to their reputation and keep the Quarterback out of synch.
Brian Fleury and the Offense Need to Support Drew Lock
It was encouraging to see a competent second half from Lock and the offense. The first half was a bit of a trainwreck. Yet Fleury and Lock put together an effective plan that was more than just a Band-Aid on the offense.
Now, they have had a full week to get Lock ready. There may be a temptation to run out more of the playbook than is necessary. If the defense is as effective as it had been against Arizona, a slightly less aggressive plan than they would have rolled out with Sam Darnold may hit the spot.
Fleury dialed up several plays that Lock could run without well within his capabilities. He was able to scheme receivers free for Lock, and when the team needed Lock to make an effective throw, he was up to the challenge.
It should be noted that the Chargers ran this kind of in-breaking pass route against the Cardinals several times with success.
Between the running game and options like the Tight Ends and quick passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tory Horton, the offense should be able to run somewhat close to capacity. And with Drew Lock’s arm strength, a deep shot is not out of the question.
The Cardinals do try to disguise blitzes and can occasionally dial up a big play on defense. I believe that play was on Justin Herbert for either not sliding protection to where he thought the rush was coming from pre-snap, and also not utilizing a hot read or just throwing the ball away.
It will be very interesting to see if Fleury furnishes the team with an effective offense with their star Quarterback out.
What a treat that would be for Lock to only need to throw 12 passes in a comfortable game.
