For the third game in a row, the Seahawks defense showed improvements from the week before. Seattle's defense managed to keep the Cardinals out of the end zone and held them to three field goals, one of which they missed in the fourth quarter. This was the first time all season the Cardinals have gone without scoring a touchdown.
"We were just resilient," Seahawks safety Julian Love said. "That's a very good offense. It's a very explosive offense. Guys were sticky. They made a few plays but we bowed up when it mattered most. So it's just bend don't break."
Cardinals running back James Conner finished with just eight yards on seven carries, his lowest rushing total since his rookie season in 2017. He came into the game averaging 69.7 rushing yards per game this season.
"That's huge," Love said on holding Connor to eight yards. "I have to give credit to our front seven. Our d-line was eating. Ernest Jones [IV] and Tyrice Knight are just dogs right now. They're just playing fast football. Seahawk football, so I can't give enough credit in the world to the front seven. [James] Connor is a very good running back, one of the best in the league, so to be able to limit him to that is pretty special."
The defense finished with 5.0 sacks, the second most this season, after finishing with 6.0 sacks against the Dolphins in Week 3. And also against the Dolphins, the Seahawks defense was able to hold them to only field goals – just like they did with the Cardinals on Sunday.
Leonard Williams said keeping the Cardinals out of the end zone was a mindset.
"'Hey, they're not about to score a touchdown right now.' To me, that's a mindset," Williams said. "I feel that collectiveness and the cohesion growing more and more on this defense. You can tell when you look each other in the eyes that its, 'Ok, we got this.'
"We were just working off of each other, feeding off each other," Riq Woolen said. "We had a great week of practice and it led into the game."
Or as Devon Witherspoon put it, "Coach Macdonald, he's been in his bag lately. He's been on point with the calls, so we just go out there and execute. We're just believing in what we're doing now, and we're just sticking to what we do best. We just go out there and do it."
The Seahawks have gone through a handful of changes defensively, at corner, safety and linebacker but players say those changes have just fueled them to be better.
"It's a great mindset," Love said. "When things shift and change, some guys can get in their feelings, some guys can isolate, you see it all the time across the league, but this team got closer. Guys were demoted, promoted, whatever it was. We've been changing a lot of things but we are focused on our goal. And our goal is just to win games, play good Seahawk football and make this community proud."
Sunday's win showed that the defense is continuing to stack good games on good games.
"Just trust in what we do," Woolen said. "We have one of the best secondaries in the league and we just trust each other really well. We knew coming into the game, we had to be more physical and eliminate all the explosives and we feel like we did great at that today."
On the other side of the ball, Geno Smith has watched the defense dominate and show that they're "building something."
"We talk about complementary football," Smith said. "We talk about championship level football. When you got a defense that plays the way they play when they're shutting down offenses the way they are at a high-rate week after week, it's going to give you a shot to win every single game. We go out there and play clean and we manage the time of possession, do great on third down, finish in the red zone, give those guys a lead to play with, they're going to be even better. I think our defense is outstanding, and I think they can continue to get better and I think they will."
Head coach Mike Macdonald all season has been very consistent in saying there is a process the team has to go through and that there are no shortcuts to being good. He re-emphasized that point after Sunday's win, after Seattle's defense showed improvements from the week before.
"I think just more of an opportunity to go to work on kind of narrowing it down, tighten down the focus about where we're going to live and what we need to do better," Macdonald said. "I just think like it just doesn't happen overnight. You got to go through it. Can't go around it. The guys have that mentality. That's the only way you can make it come to life. Can't just hit a magic button. The guys know that. We are looking at three weeks now. We're trying to do this over the long haul and make a run here in the latter part of the season, it's going to require us to play this way every week. The guys know that and they're locked in. It requires great weeks of preparation so we got to do it on kind of a short week going over to New York because we have Thanksgiving and we'll give the guys some time to be with their families."
Macdonald added, "A credit goes to our coaches and our players and everyone in the building of just understanding what we're trying to build and just when it's not that way, then you just hammer away and just go to work and work on our processes and try to figure out schematically what we're good at, putting our guys in better situations. It's just everybody working together all the time, staying together, trusting the process. Then you have games where you feel like you played pretty good and helped the team win the game, but it's about consistency. Three games in a row now we played pretty decent on defense. There is an expectation and standard here throughout the course of our Seahawks history that we're trying to live up to and build on. So that's the idea."
Must-see shots of the Seahawks at their Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) and Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks players at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) and Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) and Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson (4) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson (4) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson (4) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) and Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks players at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks players at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks cornerback Dee Williams (33) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Julian Love (20) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Julian Love (20) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) and Seahawks center Olu Oluwatimi (51) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris (98) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) and Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks free safety Coby Bryant (8) and Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks linebacker Dre'Mont Jones (55) and Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) at the Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 24, 2024.
