Coming off of arguably the best ending to an NFL game this season, the Arizona Cardinals were set to take on their rivals, Seattle Seahawks, on Thursday night. In the first matchup against the Seahawks, the Arizona Cardinals came out with an overtime win. However, in seasons past, the rivalry matchups tend to go 1-1 every season.
First Half
The Seahawks were the first to receive the ball. This primetime matchup was sure to not disappoint with these two teams who were tied at the top of the NFC West (with a slight edge to the Cardinals). Seattle took a rather long drive down the field, over 5 minutes, which resulted in the first score of the night- a Seahawks’ touchdown. DK Metcalf scored on the play from a 25-yard pass from Russell Wilson. After a made extra point, Seattle went up 7-0 in the first quarter.
The remainder of the first quarter was scoreless as the teams continued to go back and forth with possessions. The second quarter was up and ready to bring more excitement than the first. Very early in the quarter, Kyler Murray was able to find guys down the field in a quick fashion, which wound up resulting in a 2-yard rushing touchdown for Kenyan Drake, and a made extra point by Zane Gonzalez. A tied ball game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
The Seahawks weren’t going to allow a tie for very long. A Tyler Lockett pass from Russell Wilson for 11 yards after a drive down field, resulted in a second Seahawks’ touchdown. However, Jason Myers missed the extra point as the ball hit the left upright, 13-7. A lot of back and forth continued throughout the second quarter, but both teams’ defenses showed up for Thursday Night Football. The first half ended with a Seattle Seahawks drive down the field ending in a 27-yard field goal. The score going into the half was 16-7 with Seattle on top. The Arizona Cardinals needed to step up offensively in the second half, but Kyler Murray’s shoulder was clearly hurting him going into the locker room.
Second Half
The Arizona Cardinals received the second half kickoff. After a few short passes to Christain Kirk and a few penalties from the Seahawks defense, the Cardinals found themselves in the red zone. A Dan Arnold catch from Kyler Murray and the Cardinals had their second touchdown. Another Zane Gonzalez extra point was good, cutting Seattle’s lead 16-14.
After a taunting penalty for 15 yard on the Cardinals defense, the Seahawks were given great field position. Carlos Hyde was able to find his way into the endzone and a made extra point extended the Seahawks’ lead to 23-14 late in the third quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Cardinals had a nice drive down the field. A wide open pass for Chase Edmonds in the endzone for 3 yards from Murray gave the Cardinals another touchdown. An extra point made the score 23-21 with Seattle still on top.
An unfortunate holding call in the endzone on Arizona, resulted in a safety for the Seahawks. A score now of 25-21. Seattle got the ball back and utilized it to the best of their ability. They had possession for a long period of time, however they were only able to turn that drive into a field goal. A score of 28-21 with just over 2 minutes remaining meant Murray needed to have another killer ending to the game.
Unfortunately, Kyler Murray was unable to get his team into the endzone as Seattle sacked him on the final play of the game. The Cardinals lost their first place position in the NFC West as Seattle takes over. Hopefully Kyler’s injury can heal before he takes on the Los Angeles Rams next week.
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