Seahawks vs Cardinals
Final Score: Seahawks 30, Cards 18
Written by: Matthew Bevins (MattBQBlist on Reddit)
The division matchup pitted the Seahawks against the Cardinals. Geno Smith has had a relatively difficult start to the season but has succeeded against the Cardinals, often being a get-right match. In the five games they’ve played against one another, Geno has finished with above seventy percent passing completion twice and over 200 yards three times. The Cardinals have had a relatively lackluster year, and while continuously in the spin cycle, the one thing that doesn’t seem redundant is Kyler Murray’s performances. While in the past four games, he has had a game with a 91 percent completion rate, he’s hovered around 65 percent the entire past month. A Kyler-led offense shows the possibility but hasn’t yet shown the potential, and we’re now looking at journeyman Geno Smith to possibly lead the NFC North into the playoffs. The game ended in a pretty unexciting 30-18 finish, while the beginning was full of shock and awe. The game started with a quick link-up to Michael Wilson from Kyler Murray, but by the end of the first quarter, Murray had also connected twice with two defenders, rendering two picks. While the season had started with some promise for the Cards, they’re likely looking from the outside looking in, as the Seahawks work to make a bigger gap between them and others. Let’s dive into the findings!
Three Up
- Zach Charbonnet- The Seahawks took some bashing early on when they drafted Zack Charbonnet just a year after picking up prodigy Kenneth Walker, who was already showcasing what could make him a number-one runner. Now, they don’t look so silly. Whenever we see Kenneth Walker ailed or not playing well, Charbonnet has stepped in and shown ultimate prowess, one of the hottest benchwarmers once if given a chance. He did it again on Sunday(will continue in the write-up.)
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba- Speaking of dynamic young players, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is doing it for himself now. When the career started for Njigba, he was hampered behind the aging legs of Tyler Lockett. While it may have looked like a potentially failing pickup, we’re now looking at the ascension of JSN.
- Michael Wilson- Michael Wilson had some interesting buzz post-draft, but it seemed like, for a while, he may just have been a reach for plenty. Wilson was able to find a touchdown pass today from Kyler to start the game on a pretty beautiful pass and catch
Three Down
- D.K. Metcalf – D.K. Metcalf seems to be one of those guys we see on the field and immediately envision a week-1 stud. What we do end up finding out is that the offense is less predicated for this guy than many others, and the fact of the matter is that he may be quickly morphing into the veteran who is more of a blocker and protection stealer than he is your week in and week out number one.
- Kyler Murray- We’ve all seen the videos of Kyler throwing the ball the length of the football field or discussing how he was a two-sport elite athlete. There’s no denying that Murray is a talented player. However, the NFL is a level above anything that anyone can comprehend, and Murray continues to be humbled by professional defenses.
- Kenneth Walker- Oh man, Kenny. Why can’t you just stay on the field? The man has continued to miss games due to injury, coming back and quickly regaining his crown and scepter for his throne. Will this always be the case? He’s missed three games on the season, and while it’s his most injury-riddled season so far, it seems like it’s early in his career for dings to pile up while holding back a prodigy like Charbonnet in the wings.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterback
Geno Smith- 24/30, 233 Yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 0 yards
Geno Smith won’t ever be your all-exciting #1 pick, but the amount of times he’s led this team on comebacks or consistent winning runs is pretty impressive. It’s time to maybe realize that this is a player who can be built around when saving at quarterback is a prevailing thought. Smith was able to get the team up early and coast through most of the game. An early game pass in the first quarter to JSN led to a touchdown pass, and there wasn’t much left to be earned. The one thought prevailing is that while Geno will have outputs like this, they’re never usually weighted with any rushing prowess or large amounts of passing touchdowns due to a dual-engine rushing attack. If the rushing dials down, he’s losing roughly 2 to 5 points of ceiling off his cap, as he has only rushed for more than 20 yards once in the past four games. A large portion of Smith’s potential upside is going to be reliant on some solid yards after the catch. This game plan wasn’t entirely Geno-friendly, as they went up early with some fantasy value, and then the rushing game just wore out the clock.
Running Back
Zack Charbonnet- 22 carries, 134 yards, 2 TDs | 7 targets, 7 receptions, 59 yards
Kenny McIntosh- 7 carries, 38 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 7 yards
Charbonnet continues to show that he’s just held back by another dominant running back, but you have your best handcuff right here in the league. Looking dominant, refreshed, and ready to roll, Charbonnet steamrolled through the Cardinals. The birds were grounded, and the downhill running ensued. Just before the half, Charbonnet took a monster 51-yard touchdown to the house, hitting the middle of the line, a quick bounce off, and was then heading downhill untouched for another 45 or so yards. The dominance of Kenny Walker and Charbonnet may leave this team with a huge run-first expectation, and we are likely going to see this team unload them at a 50/50 clip for the remainder of the season. It’s a luxury to have, and the lot of them will likely equal one fully healthy running back at any given time. It should be noted that there’s potentially an injury that could hold back Walker for a bit when you realize that this game by Charbonnet is the highest rushing yards game of the season. Kenny McIntosh looked like a decent change of pace back when this seemed out of reach for the Cardinals, letting us know he’s the guy to get if both go down.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jaxon Smith-Njigba- 5 targets, 5 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 4 yards
D.K. Metcalf- 6 targets, 4 receptions, 49 yards
Noah Fant- 4 targets, 3 receptions, 18 yards
The receiving core for the Seahawks has been cored down, with Tyler Lockett given his walking papers but being paid due to his veteran nature. He saw a single target and left it nonconverted. With that knowledge, we’re only garnering any sort of fantasy value from the remaining two consistent names. JSN was dominant on the day but did so beautifully on all five targets, converting one of them on a beautiful touchdown reception on a beautiful target to the corner of the endzone for a 19-yard score. Likely, Metcalf will operate somewhere between 8 to 15 yards from the line of scrimmage, and we’re starting to see that the bigger play attempts will go to JSN. Metcalf had a lot anticipating a big game for him, but he also suffered from a call back on a likely 30-yard reception called for holding, where he had ample open space in front of him had it converted.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray- 25/38, 259 Yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs | 3 carries, 16 yards
Kyler made plenty of attempts while trying to bring his team back from the depths of the first quarter, but there wasn’t ever a chance they’d get back in this game, never getting within 9 points of the Chargers. Murray has had a subpar year for someone who was looking to break out, and it was a short showcase today. He accrued 259 yards while being down the entire game throwing, and he started the game with two interceptions in the opening quarter. Murray has had times where he was able to rush away for some extra yardage on the ground, but we weren’t given that today either, as he was left behind center attempting to dig them out. Just off of a game where he rushed for almost 50 yards, he couldn’t eclipse twenty this week against the number one-ranked passing defense. While he was able to find Michael Wilson on a nimble passing route early on in the first quarter, it was mostly downhill from there. With just a minute left in the third quarter, he did complete a half-shovel lateral pass to James Conner to go in for pay dirt, but otherwise, this game can be thrown away for Kyler.
Running Back
James Conner- 18 carries,90 yards | 4 receptions, 32 yards, 1 TD
Trey Benson- 2 carries, 15 yards
James Conner did his best and ended his game just shy of 100 yards on the ground and an “air touchdown.” You may find that Conner is the most reliable player on the Cardinals’ offense, just years removed from being discussed as a “Throwaway” offensive player for the Steelers. Conner’s version of gritty, abrasive rushing has gained him a contract extension, and is one of the most exciting players to watch. Conner often shows that he has a few yards before any type of contact, he also plays almost every snap rushing-wise, as he only gave way for two carries for highly drafted rookie Trey Benson. Benson will likely gain some more carries going into next season, but for the remainder of the season, we’ll likely see Conner carry about 95 percent of their carries and about 70 percent of their snap share. Conner will continue to profile as a number-one rusher. His touchdown pass from Murray was a very quirky shovel pass forward on a fake run play.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Trey McBride- 14 targets, 7 receptions, 70 yards
Michael Wilson- 3 targets, 2 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD
Marvin Harrison Jr.- 8 targets, 4 receptions, 49 yards
The Cardinals offense was unable to spring much, with the first-drive touchdown to Wilson saving a pretty lackluster and not noteworthy first half. Wilson was able to dive for paydirt, but when the game was finally called, the reception layout was a bit different. Trey McBride is arguably the most talented and dynamic talent on the offense for the Cardinals, but they once again started on their heels and couldn’t get him very involved early. McBride saw almost all of his targets and had seven catches in the second half. McBride is the closest thing you have to a purely dominant tight end form, but Arizona continues struggling and hasn’t found a way to make him the centerpiece of their offense. He can pile up catches in rapid succession and showcased that in this game. The team has a lot of resources, but there doesn’t seem to be a true understanding of who can do what, and we still need to figure out just what is happening with Marvin Harrison Jr. He converted 8 targets into 4 receptions but hasn’t been able to break away from coverage, or muscle out extra yards. He’s currently entertaining box scores as a high-end number 2, at times a flex option, and in this battle, wasn’t showing anything that would put him above the world in terms of talent.