SEATTLE — For the first nine weeks of the 2015 season, the Arizona Cardinals suggested they were ready to dethrone the Seattle Seahawks for supremacy in the NFC West.
On Sunday night, the Cardinals put an exclamation point on that scenario.
After surrendering the lead to Seattle early in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals scored touchdowns on consecutive offensive possessions and the result was a 39-32 victory at CenturyLink Field. The loss — one that head coach Pete Carroll called “a very difficult loss to take” — pushes the Seahawks back under .500 (4-5) and leaves them three games behind Arizona (7-2) in the division race.
With seven games to play, the odds of a third straight division NFC West title for Seattle are not impossible, but certainly improbable.
The outcome was particularly discouraging for a Seahawks team that started the season 2-4, but then found life with back-to-back road wins vs. San Francisco and Dallas. But despite the backing of a boisterous home crowd, Seattle dug itself into a hole, trailing 22-7 at halftime and 25-10 midway through the third quarter.
The Seahawks seemed to get untracked in the third quarter, scoring first on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Russell Wilson to wide receiver Doug Baldwin, and then getting two touchdowns early in the fourth period after recovering Arizona fumbles. The first set up a 3-yard Marshawn Lynch TD run, and the defense scored the second on a 22-yard return by Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Despite the first half struggles, “we didn’t feel like we were out of the game,” Carroll said. “And we weren’t. The guys came back on both sides of the all and got ahead in the football game. They gave us a chance to win.”
But with the game on the line, Seattle’s defense — the foundation of the team’s 2013 and 2014 Super Bowl runs — simply could not stop Arizona. The Cardinals scored the go-ahead touchdown and then an insurance TD in the late minutes, making this the fifth time this season — all of the team’s defeats — the Seahawks have surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter.
Also, Arizona’s 39 points were the most given up by Seattle since a 41-7 loss to the New York Giants on Nov. 7, 2010, Carroll’s first season as Seahawks head coach.
Mathematically, the Seahawks are hardly dead. But practically speaking, the road to a playoff spot — let alone a third straight Super Bowl appearance — is improbably steep. Seattle has home games the next two weeks against San Francisco and Pittsburgh, but then plays three of its final five games on the road.
For the Seahawks, Sunday’s game was one of frustration, mostly due to penalties and other miscues. But in the fourth quarter, Seattle’s defense sent a jolt through the stadium with two outstanding defensive plays deep in Arizona territory. The first came when defensive end Cliff Avril sacked Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer, knocking the ball out. It popped into the air and was snagged by linebacker K.J. Wright, who returned it to the Cardinal 3-yard line.
On the next play, Lynch bulled his way into the end zone, pulling the Seahawks within 25-23, though a two-point conversion try failed.
Moments later Seattle had the lead as Wright came up the middle on a blitz and slapped the ball out of Palmer’s hand. Linebacker Bobby Wagner scooped up the fumble and raced to the end zone for a touchdown. Again a two-point PAT failed, but the Seahawks had moved in front, 29-25.
But the lead was short-lived. The Cardinals mounted a 10-play, 83-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown, with a 14-yard Palmer pass to Jermaine Gresham covering the final 14 yards to the end zone. And after a Seattle punt, Arizona tacked on another TD with a eight-play, 80-yard drive, with running back Andre Ellington dashing 48 yards for the score.
The Seahawks got a field goal from Steven Hauschka with 1:03 remaining to pull within seven points, but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick. The Cardinals were able to take a knee to run off the final seconds.
“We were so excited to play this game,” Carroll said. “But all of a sudden it was one thing after another. … It was our game to win. We have to finish that game and we didn’t get it done.”
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