TNF: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals - preview and prediction
Seattle Seahawks (5-1) at Arizona Cardinals (3-3)
Thursday Oct 17 at 8:30 pm ET on NFLN
Seattle favored by 6½
Over/Under 40½
Even though the Seahawks have won two of three road games, much is still made about whether or not they can win away from CenturyLink. Some of that may be style points (the margin of victory in those two wins was a combined eight points), and some of it may have to do with the disparity in how they fare against the Cardinals. Last year Seattle lost to Arizona in the season opener, and then crushed the Cardinals 58-0 late in the season. The Cardinals will be looking for their third straight win over Seattle in Phoenix, and they have won six of the last seven games between the two teams in Arizona.
Seattle has now on 11 straight home games but trailed in the 4th quarter before winning 12-7 at Carolina. After that they were gifted on a brain-dead Matt Schaub pick-six to lead to an overtime victory at Houston, before their good fortune on the road ran out two weeks ago when they blew a 4th quarter lead at Indianapolis.
Last week Seattle limited Tennessee to 223 total yards, including just 66 on the ground. The Seahawks picked off Ryan Fitzpatrick twice, including one on the first play from scrimmage after a score in the 4th quarter that led to a touchdown and a 10-point lead. However, the Seahawks put the ball on the ground five times, losing two of those fumbles. In addition they had a field-goal attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown for the second week in a row. That is something they need to fix ASAP, but traveling on a short week offers precious little time to correct that problem.
The Cardinals had gone eight straight quarters without allowing a touchdown before TE Vernon Davis scored on two lengthy (61, 35) touchdown passes. When all was said and done Arizona had given up the more points (32) and rushing yards (149) than they had in any of their previous games this season, and Carson Palmer had thrown his ninth interception in the last four games. The Cardinals need to do a better job of securing the ball, after turning the ball over four times (and allowing a safety) last week.
Arizona Offense
18.5 points per game (25th)
322 yards per game (26th)
6.8 yards per pass (23rd)
3.8 yards per rush (20th)
2.5 giveaways per game (30th)
San Francisco Defense
19.7 points per game (9th)
319 yards per game (9th)
6.5 yards per pass (6th)
3.8 yards per rush (11th)
2.2 takeaways per game (T-5th)
San Francisco Offense
24.2 points per game (13th)
333 yards per game (23rd)
7.6 yards per pass (12th)
4.5 yards per rush (10th)
1.8 giveaways per game (T-19th)
Arizona Defense
21.2 points per game (12th)
351 yards per game (15th)
7.2 yards per pass (17th)
3.5 yards per rush (4th)
2.2 takeaways per game (T-5th)
Pick • Seahawks 20, Cardinals 17
Cardinals +6½
Under 40½
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