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what I'm seeing so far is a very tight game predicted, and expected, and picks are about 50/50. Arizona is coming off a bye week. Could be another highly entertaining game I should think.

The only road to the playoffs for us to win the division, the only way for us to win the division is to beat the Cards, at least once but preferably twice. The next three weeks will be completely revealing of who the 2024 Hawks really are. I think we win this week just to keep the suspense up.

c_hawkbob wrote:The only road to the playoffs for us to win the division, the only way for us to win the division is to beat the Cards, at least once but preferably twice. The next three weeks will be completely revealing of who the 2024 Hawks really are. I think we win this week just to keep the suspense up.

If the same team shows up that beat the Niners, I agree.

c_hawkbob wrote:The only road to the playoffs for us to win the division, the only way for us to win the division is to beat the Cards, at least once but preferably twice. The next three weeks will be completely revealing of who the 2024 Hawks really are. I think we win this week just to keep the suspense up.

It's not the only road. If the season were to end today, the 4-loss Commanders would get the 7th seed. We have 5 losses. At this point of the season, a wild card entry is every bit as much as a viable possibility as a division championship. But I agree with you about the next 3 weeks being a fork in the road, so to speak.

I'm not very optimistic about this Sunday. The Cards are coming off their bye week and have won 5 of their last 6 including the last 4 straight. Kylar Murray is having a very solid season, completing 69.2% of his passes and has thrown just three interceptions while Geno's tossed 11 picks.

But on the other hand, the Cards haven't beaten any juggernauts. Of their 6 wins, just one, the Chargers, are currently above .500. So, who knows. Sort of a glass half empty, glass half full proposition.

I still listen to local Arizona Sports, and the sports talk of the town is they are taking the Hawks very seriously and realize this game is the biggest game this season thus far. And should not take the Hawks' lightly. The feeling is that the Hawks have figured out their defense after the bye. They also feel they need to keep the Cardinals strong run game going to keep the defense on the field more and tire them out, and prevent Geno from getting into a rhythm with JSN and DK.

They talk a lot about their 4 game winning streak, and there was a coaching emphasis of building off a strong running game whether it be Connor, Benson or Kyler on design runs. The last 4 games they have won, they averaged 156 yards per game on the ground as a team. The Hawks in the last 4 games have averaged 84 yards per game as a team, so you can see the drastic difference. However, their main talking point is not letting JSN tear up the middle, as their interior defense at linebacker and slot corner isn't all too great.

So this may be another 10 + catch day for JSN, as I mentioned before he is starting to look a lot more like Doug Baldwin working the slot.

As for a prediction, I think it's tough to string wins together and keep that winning streak alive for the Cardinals, and if our defense is starting to buckle up and play better with EJ4 and Knight in the middle, and Spoon in the slot, then I think we take this in a close battle

24 Hawks
20 Cards

Pretty much a coin flip. Cardinals are not a powerhouse team, but they are a division rival looking to hang on to their division lead. They will play us tough.

I think we play better on the road, so I'm saying the Cards by a field goal.

Aseahawkfan wrote:Pretty much a coin flip. Cardinals are not a powerhouse team, but they are a division rival looking to hang on to their division lead. They will play us tough.

Vegas also thinks this is a coin flip, Pick 'em game. If it were on a neutral field, it would be Cards -2 or so.

I would feel better if it was at Arizona, which is in a few weeks.

For some reason, this team sucks at Lumen (not just this season, with 4 straight losses - but previous seasons as well). It used to be a house of horrors for opponents.

That being said, the defense gives me cause for hope. We have won 5 straight vs the Cardinals, and we need to stop losing games at home - especially divisional.

Seahawks 24, Cardinals 20

Just their nature, the Hawks still think Bruce A is in the stadium but put together a convincing win 27-17

Howevere, the following week they lay an egg at the Jets

The weather forecast I'm looking at calls for rain, sometimes heavy rain, for the entire day on Sunday. It used to be that we had a very poor record in inclement weather conditions, but who knows how we'll handle it under this regime.

Speaking of inclement weather, did anyone besides me watch the Steelers-Browns game last night? That was some snowstorm, but it didn't seem to affect play very much, or if it did, I didn't notice it. Not a lot of players slipping around as you might expect.

Bad weather suggests that the run game will be most important.
Our run game has been pretty bad and theirs has been pretty good, so if that form holds the Cards should win. It might be a low scoring game if our run defense holds up.

NorthHawk wrote:Bad weather suggests that the run game will be most important.
Our run game has been pretty bad and theirs has been pretty good, so if that form holds the Cards should win. It might be a low scoring game if our run defense holds up.

Is Kyler still highly mobile? We're really going to need the backers and safeties to be on their game or Kyler will make us suffer.

Sports radio brought up that all Arizona's losses are to top performing teams like Detroit, Buffalo, Washington, and the Packers. All teams above .500.

Aseahawkfan wrote:Is Kyler still highly mobile? We're really going to need the backers and safeties to be on their game or Kyler will make us suffer.

Yep, he sure is. Murray is the Cards' 2nd leading rusher, averaging 8.1 yards a carry.

Aseahawkfan wrote:Sports radio brought up that all Arizona's losses are to top performing teams like Detroit, Buffalo, Washington, and the Packers. All teams above .500.

And the flip side of that, as I said earlier in the thread, is that the Cards haven't beaten a team with a .500+ record. They're definitely beatable.

After thinking it through and re-watching the “statement win”, Hawks take this 31-20. Our defense has turned a pivotal corner, watch out. Also this is the healthiest the Seahawks have been all season. We get our homefield advantage back!

Stream Hawk wrote:After thinking it through and re-watching the “statement win”, Hawks take this 31-20. Our defense has turned a pivotal corner, watch out. Also this is the healthiest the Seahawks have been all season. We get our homefield advantage back!

I was going to mention that the injury report looks as good as it has all year. The only players not on IR that didn't practice Thursday are Abe Lucas and Leonard Williams...but that doesn't mean they were injured and is more likely just a scheduled day off....and TE Brady Russell and WR Laviska Shenault Jr., both nursing minor injuries and might still play. It's caused me to change my prediction to a narrow Hawks win, 21-20.

Arizona stuns early and often, wins going away……

But I saw Mina Kimes and others on some NFL station earlier talking up Cards. So maybe Cards will score more than 20. I’ll go with a higher scoring game, but Hawks still take it 31 to 27.

feels like a playoff game today. For all intents it is. Defense playing awesome. Lets go!!!!

Tight game so far and we're winning. Gotta make good second half adjustments and match any changes they do.

Tyrice Knight is flying to the ball on defense. Dickson is dropping perfect punts.

Coby TD int. Congrats.

Aseahawkfan wrote:Coby TD int. Congrats.

I was about to flame Mike MacDonald for calling that TO when we made that stop, but now it looks genius

Run the DAMN BALL!!

That was a great kick.

Aseahawkfan wrote:That was a great kick.

Probably sealed it.

Nice win, defense looks awesome, but we have to play them again in 2 weeks. 49ers getting blasted by the Pukers.

Nice defense. We lead the division. May be able to punch the playoff ticket, get experience, while continuing to build. Even with lower draft position, we can pick up quality players at LB, Guard, and center with lower picks. Same with safety. QB will be rough though without a high pick unless John has someone in mind.

Outstanding defensive game! Had some frustrating open field tackling misses but our D-line was dominating!

c_hawkbob wrote:Outstanding defensive game! Had some frustrating open field tackling misses but our D-line was dominating!

Leonard Williams was a game wrecker up front. Knight was out of position a few times, but showed some solid tackling in his in second start. I think we have something going with this revamped defense after our bye week, and I think going with EJ4 and Knight in the middle is starting to develop into a strong group. Be interesting to see if they can keep this defense that has shown in back to back weeks to shut down the opponents run game or slow it down. Both the 49ers and Cards were run heavy teams and we took those elements away.

One thing to add: this defense might just be savage.

So I rewatched today’s game again tonight. The defensive outlook is looking damn good. While I admittedly don’t really know x’s & o’s, I know common sense. Big Cat can literally take over a game - against a damn good OL. We also do have some savage pass rushers in Hall, Boye, and even Jones. Murphy II can also dominate. Jones 4 & TKnight wow. Spoon is everywhere.

Mike Macdonald is going to unleash some crazy good stuff. I’m in.

The last 2 game have shown us that there is hope for the Defense including a pass rush and run stop ability. MacDonald said he thought they looked like they turned a corner a couple of games ago and maybe he is right.
I think they can be special if they get a couple of additional players in FA/Draft and everyone is on the same page.
Now watch them lay an egg against the hapless Jets...

NorthHawk wrote:The last 2 game have shown us that there is hope for the Defense including a pass rush and run stop ability. MacDonald said he thought they looked like they turned a corner a couple of games ago and maybe he is right.
I think they can be special if they get a couple of additional players in FA/Draft and everyone is on the same page.
Now watch them lay an egg against the hapless Jets...

Hello no!!!!

Stream Hawk wrote:One thing to add: this defense might just be savage.

So I rewatched today’s game again tonight. The defensive outlook is looking damn good. While I admittedly don’t really know x’s & o’s, I know common sense. Big Cat can literally take over a game - against a damn good OL. We also do have some savage pass rushers in Hall, Boye, and even Jones. Murphy II can also dominate. Jones 4 & TKnight wow. Spoon is everywhere.

Mike Macdonald is going to unleash some crazy good stuff. I’m in.

Copy that sir. I have always be in, and sometimes over optimistic of our chances.

I always felt the most important part of Mike Macdonald's defense are the interior linebackers, and clearly Dodson and Baker weren't able to fill those rolls. It's amazing to see EJ4 step up so quickly, and now is one of our team captains(I know it's a week to week thing with Mike Macdonald). EJ4 is so bought in on the concept and it's starting to show. Out interior linebackers have to do so much in this defense, they have to pass rush, they have plug the gaps on inside runs, and they have to chase down screens and interior route running. I am starting to see the evolution of EJ4 and Knight, but they are still far from being Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith.

This also gives us the chance to see Spoon be free to roam the field and cover or pass rush, which is always keeping the QB thinking of Spoon on every play. Using Spoon as this type of threat is vital, even if he doesn't make the tackle, because the offense always has to account for what Spoon is up to. It will be fun to see if we can keep this going.

That was by far the best defensive performance of the season and obviously of the Macdonald era. The Cards were a legitimate contender with a dual threat QB and we held them to less than 50 yards rushing and kept them out of the end zone.

I was at the game watching from the 300 level and had forgotten to bring my glasses, so I couldn't see as much detail, like player's numbers, as I normally would have, so I'm afraid I can't comment too much on individual players. But yeah, I did notice Williams tearing up the defensive front. Damn Geno pissed me off, though, throwing a completely unnecessary red zone interception when we were well within scoring range with the defense playing lights out. That man is going to cost us big time if he doesn't clean up those kinds of mistakes.

I'm pretty much on the bandwagon, now. I don't think we're SB contenders, but I think we're the best team in our division and if we can stay healthy like we are now, we have a chance to catch lightening in a bottle.

So I still listen to 98.7 FM Arizona Sports, as this was my hometown before I moved out of the country. I listen to Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta on the recap of the Hawks games, and read Tyler Drake(beat writer for the Cards) on the post game of analysis. From what I have gathered they both mention that when Kyler gets knocked around, he tends to play more timid. It has been a known thing that Kyler doesn't like contact, doesn't like to be hit, and when running he will not lower his head for extra yards, versus someone like Josh Allen of the Bills who loves contact and loves to lower his shoulder for extra yards. Anyways back to Kyler, they spoke after he took a few sacks and got roughed up early, they noticed he wasn't the same and seemed disconnected with the team. They were questioning why he folded up and slid to the ground and took a 3 yard sack when he could have easily thrown the ball away as he was running to the sideline(if everyone remembers that play).

So it looks like to get in Kyler's head is to get to him early and get him off of his game.

4XPIPS wrote:So I still listen to 98.7 FM Arizona Sports, as this was my hometown before I moved out of the country. I listen to Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta on the recap of the Hawks games, and read Tyler Drake(beat writer for the Cards) on the post game of analysis. From what I have gathered they both mention that when Kyler gets knocked around, he tends to play more timid. It has been a known thing that Kyler doesn't like contact, doesn't like to be hit, and when running he will not lower his head for extra yards, versus someone like Josh Allen of the Bills who loves contact and loves to lower his shoulder for extra yards. Anyways back to Kyler, they spoke after he took a few sacks and got roughed up early, they noticed he wasn't the same and seemed disconnected with the team. They were questioning why he folded up and slid to the ground and took a 3 yard sack when he could have easily thrown the ball away as he was running to the sideline(if everyone remembers that play).

So it looks like to get in Kyler's head is to get to him early and get him off of his game.

That's an interesting theory about Murray that I had never thought about, but it seems to make sense. Except for his size, he has very similar gifts that the top dual threat QB's in the league, like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson. But it's obvious that he's not in the same class with those guys, and an aversion to contact could be the reason why he's never been able to take that next step.

Williams had a monster game and it would have been a lot different if he hadn’t played. That pressure on the QB along with his run stopping put the Cards Offense off kilter and often ruined their timing.

River Dog wrote:That's an interesting theory about Murray that I had never thought about, but it seems to make sense. Except for his size, he has very similar gifts that the top dual threat QB's in the league, like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson. But it's obvious that he's not in the same class with those guys, and an aversion to contact could be the reason why he's never been able to take that next step.

It has been pretty much the case for Kyler's entire career thus far. He gets big gains on the ground because he is athletically gifted, and when the play breaks down he is elusive enough to out run most d-lineman and some linebackers and pick up double digit gains, but you will rarely see him lower his shoulder and truck a defender. Till this date, it was mentioned that Kyler Murray has only attempted one QB sneak since he has been a Cardinal.

River Dog wrote:That's an interesting theory about Murray that I had never thought about, but it seems to make sense. Except for his size, he has very similar gifts that the top dual threat QB's in the league, like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson. But it's obvious that he's not in the same class with those guys, and an aversion to contact could be the reason why he's never been able to take that next step.

4XPIPS wrote:It has been pretty much the case for Kyler's entire career thus far. He gets big gains on the ground because he is athletically gifted, and when the play breaks down he is elusive enough to out run most d-lineman and some linebackers and pick up double digit gains, but you will rarely see him lower his shoulder and truck a defender. Till this date, it was mentioned that Kyler Murray has only attempted one QB sneak since he has been a Cardinal.

I haven't followed Murray's career closely enough to comment on your thoughts about his style of play, but I will say that his not attempting many QB sneaks is likely due more to Murray's very small stature (5'10", 207) than it is anything else. Russell Wilson didn't attempt very many QB sneaks, either.