The Setup
Pandemic shifted this game to MNF, so we got to feel the emptiness of State Farm stadium and hear recordings of crowd noise (kind of like watching your brotyhers play ping pong in your unfinished basement.
Cards started out flat and stayed that way. Seattle received and moved down the field like your car going downhill with the brakes off.
By all the standard indicators - their skill vs. our skill, our athletiicsm vs their athleticism, their effort vs. our effort, our miscues vs. their miscues, our big plays vs. their big plays...you name it, we didn't belong on the same field.
Yet we won. Go figure.
Lede
"Cards Edge Seattle in OT 37 - 34."
The Bottom Line:
Seattle received , started from their own and moved the ball at their willl. They scored a quick TD at 3:01 on a 3 yd pass from Russell Wilson to Tyler Lockett and followed up at 8:25 with a 41 yd Myers FG to make it 10 - zip Seahawks.
Cards could have folded like a cheap tent had Seattle tacked on another score that would have widened their margin to 13 - 0 or 17 - 0, but the Cards came back to narrow the score to 10 -7 on a 35 yad pass from Murray to Hopkins.
Things became fairly murky in the 2Q when Seahawks tacked on 10 points on a Myers FG and Hyde's 24-yd run to make tjhe score the score 20 - 7. Cards narrowed the score to 20 - 14 on Kirk's 7-yd TD catch. Seattle countered with a 47-yd Wilson-to-Lockett hookup to make it 27 - 14 Seattle . Cards were able to tack on another 3 pts when Gonzalez booted home a 49-yarder and the Cards left for the lockers down 27 - 17.
A 5-yd Murray TD run narrowed the Seattle lead tp 27 - 24 and represented the only points scored by both teams in the 3Q. (Note - the Card score kept them within one score of tying Seattle and set the stage for a wild final quarter).
Seattle scored midway thru the 4Q on a 3-yd Wilson pass to Lockett. This gave Seattle s 10-point lead at 8:16. Kirk's 8 yad TD pass from Murray narrowed thse score to 34 - 31 Seattle. A stingy defense a gutty short passing game set the stage for Gonzalez's 50 yd FG to tie the game 34 - 34 at the buzzer.
The rest - as they say - is "history." Gonzo's missed FG...our defense stopping Seahawks late in the 4Q and in OT for arguably the first time in the contest...the interception by Simmmons that marked rookie prospect debut as a defensive force to be reckoned with.
To be honest, we were outplayed by Seattle for most of the game, but...on grit alone...we earned it.
And we'll take it.
(Ed Note - It's not often that the national media devotes precious space (any space!) to our Cardinals - both in bad times and in good. Therefore, a shout-out to Arizona Republic's Kent Somers who grabbed a big chunk of sports page in USA Today with his write-up of the Cardinal win over Seattle. Kent touched on the irony of a struggling football team (Arizona) all but handing Seattle an easy win only to stick around long enough to somehow back itself into the unlikliest of wins. Nice to see a feature story talking about our favorite football team)!
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Sea 3:01 Tyler Lockett 3 pass from Wilson ( Myers Kick)...Seattle 7 - Cards 0.
Sea 8:25 - FG Myers 41...Seattle 10 - Cards 0
Ari 12:21 - Hopkins 35 pass from Kyler Murray (Gonzalez Kick) Seattle 10 - Cards 7
2nd Quarter
Sea 2:10 FG Myers 44...Seattle 13 - Cards 7
Sea 10:56 Carlos Hyde 24 run (Myers Kick) Seattle 20 - Cards 7
Ari 13:46 Christian Kirk 7 pass from Murray (Gonzalez Kick) Seattle 20 - Cards 14
Sea 14:17 Tyler Lockett 47 pass from Wilson (Myers Kick) Seattle 27 - Cards14
Ari 15:00 FG Zane Gonzalez 49 yds Seattle 27 Cards 17
3rd Quarter
Ari 12:01 Kyler Murray 5 run (Zane Gonzalez Kick) Seattle 27 - Cards 24
4th Quarter
Sea 8:16 Tyler Lockett 3 pass from Wilson ( Myers Kick) Seattle 34 - Cards 24
Ari 12:32 Christian Kirk 8 pass from Murray ( Gonzalez Kick) Seattle 34 - Cards 31
Ari 15:00 FG Zane Gonzalez 44 yds Seattle 34 - Cards 34
Overtime
Ari 9:45 FG Zane Gonzalez 48 yds Seattle 34 - Cards 37
Last Word:
Overreaction Alert! Overreaction Alert! Cards were lucky to have backed into a win. On any given day, the odds of their beating Seattle are most likely less than 50%.
Yet they hung around long enough to catch Seattle at 0:00 and win it in OT.
That doesn't make us more talented/ it makes us grittier.
And in close games, "gritty wins."
Should the Cardinals go deep within the playoffs, it will be due more to the psychology of winning than it does physical talent.
Lesson to be learned: "Stay gritty."
