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Cardinals @ Seahawks

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By JACK CASSIDY

STATS Writer
(AP) -- The only misstep the Seattle Seahawks suffered at home during their romp to a Super Bowl title last season came against the Arizona Cardinals.

 

The Seahawks now get a rematch at CenturyLink Field on Sunday with far more than just redemption or bragging rights on the line.

 

Arizona handed the Seahawks their only home loss in 2013, winning 17-10 on Dec. 22 to end Seattle's 14-game home win streak and move within striking distance of the franchise's first postseason berth since 2009. However, the 10-6 Cardinals eventually missed out.

 

This time around, with the roles of front-runner and underdog flipped, Arizona looks to further cement itself as the team to beat in the NFC.

 

"The belief system that everything that we're doing is working solidified itself up there last year," coach Bruce Arians said about last year's matchup in Seattle. "You have to build that camaraderie and what it takes as a team. Each team doesn't buy into that always, and some guys don't buy into it. This one has."

 

The Cardinals (9-1) own the NFL's best record, and since losing at Denver in Week 5, have won six straight - their longest streak since stringing seven together in 1974.

 

Arizona has continued to find success despite a tumultuous stretch of offensive health issues highlighted by the season-ending knee injury to Carson Palmer in Week 10. Filling in for Palmer has been Drew Stanton, who is now 3-1 as a starter this season after posting a career-best 306 passing yards in Sunday's 14-6 win over Detroit.

 

"Drew did what we expected from Drew," receiver Larry Fitzgerald said of Stanton, who finished the day 21 of 32 with two touchdowns and two interceptions. "There was no question he was going to go out there and play well."

 

Andre Ellington has been limited by a foot injury all season, and Fitzgerald suffered a sprained MCL on Sunday. Ellington has 624 yards rushing, 356 receiving and five total touchdowns, while Fitzgerald leads the team with 46 receptions for 658 yards.

 

Both players had been expected to play, but Fitzgerald did not practice all week and will be a game-time decision.

 

More crucial to Arizona's success than its offense, which sits close to the league average at 23.7 points per game, is a stout defense led by cornerback Patrick Peterson.

 

"We're definitely one of the best in the game," Peterson said. "I believe we have caught our stride. The last two games, we didn't give up over 200 yards passing with three or four interceptions. That's something we're hoping for the rest of the season."

 

The Cardinals rank near the top of the NFL with only 17.6 points allowed per game, and in their past five contests, they've allowed fewer than 270 yards four times.

 

Peterson, who in the last three weeks has held Dallas receiver Dez Bryant and Detroit's Calvin Johnson to a combined 74 yards, promises to be a challenge for the Seahawks' less-than-stellar passing attack.

 

Seattle (6-4) has thrown for more than 200 yards only twice this season, instead depending on the rushing abilities of Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson, who has run for a career-high 571 yards. Lynch is averaging 4.6 yards per carry and has nine rushing touchdowns - three shy of tying his career best.

 

The Seahawks' reliance on the run, which has proved both consistent and effective with Wilson under center, may be forcibly lessened Sunday by Arizona's front seven. The Cardinals have allowed just one team to rush for more than 100 yards, something Seattle has accomplished nine times.

 

"These guys are flying high and we have to see if we can find a way to stop them and score on these guys and then we'll take it to the next one," coach Pete Carroll said about Arizona. "I'm really excited about the way this thing sets up and I think most people should be with all of the drama still out there about the division."

 

Seattle's rushing attack will be without Max Unger for three to four weeks after the center suffered a high ankle sprain in a 24-20 loss to Kansas City last Sunday.

 

The Cardinals lead the Seahawks in the NFC West by three games. They have four divisional contests remaining after Sunday, including at home against Seattle on Dec. 21.

 

"There's nothing that's won yet," Arians said. "You still have to come to work Wednesday or it's all going to be gone. The only thing it does is it ratchets it up even more because each game's bigger now."

 

The Seahawks are 19-2 at home since 2012 and 14-16 against Arizona all-time.

 

The NFL announced Wednesday it had fined Lynch $50,000 for violations of the league's media policy. The fine will total $100,000. Along with the newest fine, the league is collecting the $50,000 fine that was imposed against Lynch for violations last season. The fine from 2013 was held in anticipation of future cooperation from Lynch.

 

The media policy mandates that players must be available during the week and in the locker room following all games. Lynch has only spoken to reporters postgame after Seattle's Week 9 victory over Oakland and did not talk the past two weeks.

 

Source: Hosted.Stats.com

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No Unger. No Mebane. Ouch. Still a must win. I still believe this offense has 30 PPG potential when executing right and when Bevel calls the right kind of plan. I'm expecting the defense to pin their ears back and finally start throwing some blitzes with Bruce Irvin at this sub-par QB.

 

Malcolm Smith to return. I am very, very excited about this. Having a linebacking core at full strength and in it's 2013 form is going to do wonders.

 

:Seahawks: 28

:Cardinals: 6

 

 

The Seahawks’ first of five matchups against NFC West rivals in their final six games might be the most important, as they host the division-leading Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.

 

A look at the Seahawks’ Week 12 game against the Arizona Cardinals, including five matchups that could impact the outcome: Records: Seahawks are 6-4 and tied for second in the NFC West after last week’s 24-20 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City; Cardinals are a NFL-best 9-1 and first in the NFC West after last week’s 14-6 victory over the Detroit Lions.

Streaks: The Cardinals have won six in a row, their longest winning streak since 1977; the Seahawks have won 21 of their past 23 home games, including playoffs.

TV: FOX (channel 13 in Seattle), with Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), John Lynch (analyst) and Pam Oliver (sideline)

Radio: 710 ESPN Seattle and KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, with Steve Raible (play-by-play), Warren Moon (analyst) and Jen Mueller (sideline)

Rest of the West: Redskins at 49ers (6-4); Rams (4-6) at Chargers

Matchup Microscope


The Seahawks vs. the situation:Their season doesn’t all come down to this game, but the Seahawks’ hopes of winning the NFC West title certainly do. Already three games behind the Cardinals, the defending NFC West champion Seahawks cannot afford to fall four games back with five to play. And this is just Step One in a late November/December stretch of six games that will determine whether there will be any January games for the defending Super Bowl champions. It was the Cardinals who snapped the Seahawks’ 14-game home winning streak at CenturyLink Field last December, a 17-10 victory that helped generate the swagger that has allowed the Cardinals to start 9-1 this season and win 16 of their past 19 games. As coach Bruce Arians put it this week, “It was very critical. I can’t deny that. That was probably the cement … and that’s been the building block that we’ve used ever since.” Which makes it time for the Seahawks to turn back the clock and come up with one of their wrecking-ball performances at home.

 

One to Watch

The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom secondary vs. the Cardinals wide receivers: This is as healthy as the Seahawks’ secondary has been all season, with right cornerback Byron Maxwell and nickel backJeremy Lane returning last week; and Kam Chancellor “the best that’s he’s been,” as coach Pete Carroll put, after the All-Pro strong safety has battled an assortment of injuries all season. And the Seahawks will need them all, as well as All-Pro left cornerback Richard Sherman, All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas and cornerbackTharold Simon, because the Cardinals use so many four- and even five-receiver sets. So Maxwell and Lane could find themselves covering the slot receivers, with Sherman and Simon outside. Larry Fitzgerald is “iffy,” as Arians said on Friday, because of knee injury the Cardinals’ leading receiver got last week. But there’s still Michael Floyd, and John Brown, and Ted Ginn, Jr., and Jaron Brown. The Cardinals will spread the Seahawks out, and QB Drew Stanton will test them deep. It should be a combination that plays into Sherman and Thomas having more opportunities for interceptions.

Fun to Watch


The Cardinals’ defense vs. Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch:The Cardinals are allowing averages of 80.5 rushing yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry, which rank third and fourth in the league. And, they’ve also held nine of their 10 opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards. And, their streak of not allowing an individual 100-yard rushing performance has now reached 20 games. But the Seahawks have to come at them with a so-what attitude and a whole lot of Lynch, who has averaged 132 rushing yards and 6.9 yards per carry the past two weeks – when the Seahawks have rushed for 350 and 204 yards. The line won’t have Pro Bowl center Max Unger and also could be without left guardJames Carpenter. But again, so what? Whoever’s in there needs to create creases that Lynch can use to get to the second level. Lynch has averaged 81.5 rushing yards in six games against the Cardinals since the Seahawks acquired him in a 2010 trade. With their season on the line, the offense – and the team – needs something closer to the 128-yard, three-touchdown performance he had against the Cardinals at CenturyLink Field in 2012, than the 13-carry, 29-yard effort he had against them in Arizona in 2010.

 

One Tough Task

The Seahawks’ offense vs. the Cardinals’ blitzing defense: The Cardinals’ run defense is one thing; the Cardinals’ pass defense is something completely different. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles loves to blitz. It’s something he learned as a defensive back at Temple, when Arians was the Owls’ head coach. “That’s always been who I was,” Arians said of bringing pressure for pressure’s sake. “I only knew two calls when I was the head coach at Temple, and both were all-out blitzes. Todd was a player in that system, so he’s kind of grown up with that, too.” And Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is expecting it on Sunday. “We’re going to be challenged to pick up the pressure,” he said. “This is a big blitzing team and we need to do a good job of handling that. Hopefully we can get the ball out the way we want and get the one-on-ones matched up the way we want to.”

Don’t Overlook


Seahawks’ QB Russell Wilson: This week, Wilson shouldered the blame for the woes in the passing game in the past four games (an average of 174 yards) and the offense’s performance in the red zone in three of the past four games (four touchdowns in 12 possessions inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, or 34 percent). The offense must do better, and so must Wilson. But the third-year QB also has shown that he can carry the team on his shoulders. That might be necessary on Sunday against a Cardinals defense that has made so many other quarterbacks look far less than average this season.

 

Worth Noting

The Cardinals lead the series 16-14, including a 17-10 victory last December that snapped the Seahawks’ 14-game winning streak at CenturyLink Field. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 91-34 in the fourth quarter. … Stanton is 3-1 as the starter in replacing QB Carson Palmer, who’s out with a torn knee ligament. Stanton passed for 306 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns in last week’s 14-6 win over the Lions. … The Cardinals’ Brown has four game-winning TD catches, the most in NFL history by a rookie. … In the Cardinals’ win at CenturyLink Field last December, eight of the Seahawks’ 13 possessions lasted three or fewer plays. … Seahawks MLB Bobby Wagner returns after missing the past five games with a torn toe ligament. … LBK.J. Wright leads the Seahawks with 75 tackles. … LB Larry Foote leads the Cardinals with 66 tackles.

Edited by BC

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Cardinals declared Larry Fitzgerald (knee) inactive for Sunday's Week 12 game at Seattle.

Fitzgerald, who was a true-game time call, has an decent chance to be back for a dream Week 13 matchup against the Falcons. Meanwhile, John Brown will start against the Legion of Boom Sunday.
The rest of the Cardinals inactives: RB Kerwynn Williams, LB Desmond Bishop, LB Glenn Carson, DT Alameda Ta'amu, DT Ed Stinson, TE Matt Mulligan.

 

 

 

 

Seahawks declared LG James Carpenter (ankle) inactive for Sunday's Week 12 game against the Cardinals.

The Seahawks had expressed some hope that Carpenter would return this week, but he's not quite ready.
No surprises in the rest of their inactives: C Max Unger, TE RaShaun Allen, CB Marcus Burley, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB Allen Bradford and DE Demarcus Dobbs.

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Old school black n blue football

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This could easily be a blowout, but the Cardinals keep hanging in there.

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Arizona was absolutely due for a dud.

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