GLENDALE, Ariz. — The team that had nothing to play for gave it everything it had Sunday in Arizona.
And that proved enough to lift the Seahawks to a 38-30 win over an Arizona team hoping to win the NFC West Division at State Farm Stadium.
While Arizona could have won the NFC West with a win, it was the Seahawks who made a statement, winning four of their last six games, improving to 7-10 and playing the rare role of spoiler.
Seattle twice rallied from seven-point deficits, putting the game away with a 62-yard TD run by Rashaad Penny with 4:34 to play — Penny finished with a career-high 190 yards on 23 carries.
The Seahawks, beginning the day with an NFL Network story stating that the fate of coach Pete Carroll was still unclear, outgained the Cardinals 431-305 using a big-play offense to average 7.6 yards per play while also hitting on 8 of 12 third-down attempts.
And second-year linebacker Jordyn Brooks led an impressive defensive effort with 20 tackles, tying a team record, and also recovering an onside kick when Arizona closed the score to 38-30 in the final moments.
The game was marred by an injury to safety Quandre Diggs, who was carted off the field with 9:12 to play.
Diggs appeared to injure his ankle on an 8-yard run by Eno Benjamin on a first-and-19 play.
Diggs can be a free agent when the new league year begins March 16 and that appeared to be on the mind of several of his teammates — cornerback D.J. Reed threw his helmet in frustration after appearing to realize how severe the injury was.
Seattle stopped Arizona’s drive thanks to one of Carlos Dunlap’s two sacks, but Matt Prater’s 30-yard field goal made it 31-27 with 6:14 left.
But on Seattle’s next series, Penny burst over the right side for 62 yards and a TD that made it 38-27 with 4:34 to play to seal the win.
In what was a back-and-forth game throughout the first three quarters, the Cardinals took the lead with two touchdowns in the first 5:35 of the second half.
Down 17-10 at halftime, Arizona took the opening kickoff and drove 77 yards for a touchdown, James Conner scoring on a 20-yard pass from Kyler Murray. That tied it at 17 with 11:02 to play in the third quarter,
On Seattle’s next possession, Russell Wilson was intercepted by former Washington State standout Jalen Thompson, who returned it to the 1.
Arizona scored two plays later to take a 24-17 lead.
But the Seahawks didn’t die.
Seattle first drove 72 yards in five plays, with Wilson hitting a stunningly wide-open Freddie Swain for a 25-yard TD to tie it at 24 with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
Then, after the Seahawks stopped Arizona, Seattle forced the biggest break of the game.
As Arizona’s Andy Lee went to punt, he felt a rush and bobbled the ball. Seattle’s Travis Homer hit Lee as he was about to try to punt, and Lee then fumbled the ball forward with Cody Thompson recovering at the 10-yard line on the final play of the third quarter.
That gave the Seahawks the ball at the 10 and three plays later Wilson ran it in on third down for a four-yard TD to put Seattle ahead 31-24 with 13:15 remaining.
The Seahawks led 17-10 at halftime, outgaining Arizona 229-89, a surprising total given what the Cardinals had on the line.
Wilson was 10-for-18 for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the first half — both to Tyler Lockett — while Penny had 59 yards on 11 The Seahawks could have had a 21-10 lead had tight end Gerald Everett held on to a perfectly placed pass from Wilson in the end zone on a third down on Seattle’s last possession of the first half.
Seattle instead had to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Jason Myers.
The game featured two touchdowns in the first 2:24 of the first quarter.
First, Seattle basically gave Arizona a touchdown when Chandler Jones burst over the side of the Seahawks’ offensive line to sack Wilson and force a fumble, that was picked up and recovered by Zach Allen, who returned it 16 yards for a touchdown just 12 seconds into the game.
But if you thought the Seahawks were done, they quickly proved otherwise.
The Seahawks took their second kickoff of the game and moved 75 yards in five plays, thanks to 30 yards on three carries from Penny. Penny’s carries set up a third-and-two at the Arizona 43, where Wilson then found a wide-open Lockett for a 43-yard TD that quickly tied it at 7.
After an Arizona field goal, the Seahawks took a 14-10 lead on a Wilson pass of 5 yards to Lockett.
