The Arizona Cardinals may be one of the NFL’s most underachieving franchises. They finished 2019 with the worst record in the league but they always seem to put up a stout fight against the Seahawks. Last season it took a Seattle walk-off field goal to win 20-17 over an Arizona team that would finish 3-13.
The Seahawks have not lost a game in Arizona since Week 1 of the 2012 season. But Glendale has become a place of nightmares for the Seahawks as of late, the location of some of the most painful moments for the organization.
First and foremost, it is the site of their infamous Super Bowl XLIX loss to the Patriots where Seattle was denied a second world championship. Then in 2016, the Seahawks finished with their first and only tie in franchise history after a missed field goal in a 6-6 Sunday night slugfest. Since then, it has managed to get worse.
On a Thursday Night Football showdown in 2017, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor suffered season-ending injuries which ultimately ended their careers as Seahawks. Chancellor eventually was forced into retirement as a result, and Sherman was released the following offseason. The next year, Earl Thomas broke his leg, which proved to be the final game he would wear a Seahawks uniform.
Not only have the games in Arizona taken an emotional toll, but they also required great physical effort to come away with victories. The Cardinals may be 0-2-1 but they are not pushovers. Arizona rallied back in Week 1 from a 24-6 deficit to tie the Lions at 27-27. Then in Week 2, they hung around with the Ravens on the road and only lost 23-17.
Although it has yet to produce a win through the three weeks, the air raid offense Arizona is employing is clearly working. It will present a significant challenge for the Seahawks to defend against, especially considering they like to have all three linebackers on the field as much as possible.
Prediction: Seahawks over Cardinals 24-23
Expect another close showdown in the desert on Sunday. The Cardinals are scrappy and would love to earn their first victory of the year by beating a team they have not won against at home in seven years.
However, the Cardinals are still young and growing under first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Rookie quarterback Kyler Murray has shown flashes of brilliance, which will keep the Seahawks defense honest, but ultimately this should be a win for an older and more experienced Seattle team.
Russell Wilson is off to the best start of his career and will certainly be chomping at the bit to build off this against an Arizona defense which just surrendered 38 points to Carolina’s backup quarterback in Week 3.
The Cardinals may be winless, but the Seahawks are the more desperate team. Sitting at 2-1, they are behind both the 49ers and the Rams, with the latter coming to Seattle next week for Thursday Night Football.
Seattle should win, just don’t expect them to cover the five-point spread over a deceptively competent opponent.
