Ah, the life of a kicker. Jason Myers nailed a 52-yard walk-off field goal just minutes after missing a 53-yarder that could have put the game away, powering the Seahawks to a 23-20 win over the Cardinals in a game that turned from snooze fest to thriller in a matter of moments.
The Seahawks led 20-6 with under six minutes to go before Cardinals touchdowns sandwiched the Myers miss. Marvin Harrison Jr. had a spectacular catch to make it 20-13, and then Emari Demercado tied the game on a 7-yard reception.
But Sam Darnold was unfazed, finding Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard gain to help set up Myers' heroics.
The game got off to a bit of a disjointed start, represented by Coby Bryant picking off Kyler Murray only to run into teammate Tyrice Knight on the return and fumble. Trey Benson recovered, and Arizona turned its good fortune into three points.
Then the Seahawks got going, and Darnold found A.J. Barner for a touchdown to cap a long drive.
The Cardinals were threatening to take the lead back when Harrison Jr. bobbled a perfect Murray pass on third and 11, and the ball landed right in the arms of Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV. The 2024 No. 4 overall pick had a big drop last week, too.
Late in the half, Zach Charbonnet powered in from a yard out, shrugging off several would-be tacklers to cap a seven-play, 90-yard drive. Darnold produced a pair of highlights as well: a 32-yard pass to Elijah Arroyo followed by a 24-yard scramble.
The Seahawks led 20-6 midway through the fourth quarter before the Cardinals began mounting a furious comeback, spurred by Harrison Jr.'s outstanding touchdown catch over Seattle's top cornerback, Devon Witherspoon.
The Seahawks looked to still be in control -- especially after a 36-yard completion from Darnold to Smith-Njigba on third and 6 -- but Myers pushed a 53-yard field goal to the right, and the hosts were in business again. Demercado snuck out of the backfield and cruised in to tie the game.
Ultimately, though, a special teams mistake played a huge role. Chad Ryland's kickoff landed short of the return zone, meaning Seattle got the ball at the 40. One big Smith-Njigba catch and a short Charbonnet run later, Myers delivered.
Here are our takeaways from this "TNF" thriller:
Smith-Njigba entered this game with a 40.3% target share, not only in the highest in the NFL but on pace to be the highest ever. Then he didn't have a target in the first and didn't have his first catch until late in the third quarter.
Then he came alive, recording four catches for 79 yards over the final 16 minutes of the game. That included this huge 22-yarder in the waning seconds. Replay review determined Smith-Njigba was also able to get out of bounds, a huge bonus because it allowed Seattle to sneak closer with one more run and set up Myers' game winner.
"Right when I got here in OTAs, we just had a great chemistry," Darnold said on the broadcast postgame. "He's a great route runner. He's so fluid, just the way that he gets in and out of breaks. It's very predictable as a quarterback but it's not predictable as a defense."
Earlier in the game, though, Darnold did a great job finding other targets with Smith-Njigba smothered. Young tight ends Arroyo and Barner combined for five catches for 76 yards, and that duo looks really promising. Overall, eight different Seahawks caught passes.
Harrison Jr. essentially handed the Seahawks an interception early in the game and then nearly made up for it late with a pair of big catches, including the remarkable touchdown grab that reminded us why Arizona drafted him fourth overall last year. He finished with six receptions for a team-high 66 yards.
Still, things are just a bit off -- and sometimes significantly off -- between him and Murray. There was one play earlier in the night where he ran a go route when Murray expected him to stop. There's still much for those two to work on.
Murray can be a frustrating player to watch. His pocket management can be inconsistent, he has some misses, and he doesn't access the entire field. But his offensive line has really struggled, one of his two interceptions was a perfect throw, and the running game has been really poor. In fact, Arizona is last in rushing success rate, and with James Conner done for the year, Benson has to step up in a big way behind a blocking unit that has underwhelmed.
Coach Mike Macdonald's fingerprints are all over this Seattle defense, which had been arguably the NFL's best through three weeks and continued that form in Week 4. The Seahawks got constant pressure on Murray even when not blitzing, and when they did blitz, they disrupted pretty much everything. Macdonald has a deep bag of blitzes, personnel packages and defensive looks, and he and his defense had Arizona's offense on its heels from the get go. Seattle finished with six sacks.
Late in the game, though, the Cardinals got going, using tempo to its advantage. Over his final two drives, Murray completed nine of 12 passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns and scrambled for 30 yards. Macdonald won't be happy with that finish.
Still, Seattle showed sticky coverage downfield -- Murray's longest completion was 18 yards -- and the longest rush by an Arizona running back was just 12 yards. Seattle is sixth in the NFL allowing 4.5 yards per play.
The Cardinals will stay at home to face the Titans, who are 0-3 going into this week's game vs. the 0-3 Texans. The Seahawks face another trip, this time to Tampa Bay, 3-0 pending Sunday's game against 3-0 Philadelphia. Seattle will certainly appreciate the extra rest before that.
Jason Myers goes from zero to hero! The Seattle kicker, minutes after missing a 53-yarder, nails a walk-off 52-yarder. Credit Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a few crucial connections down the stretch.
Just a few minutes ago, the Cardinals looked lifeless. Now, they're 28 seconds away from overtime. After Jason Myers missed a 53-yard field goal, Murray led a second consecutive touchdown drive, this time capping it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Emari Demercado.
The Murray-Marvin Harrison Jr. connection is coming alive, too. They connected on an 18-yard slot fade to help set up the touchdown.
Here we go!
It had been a very quiet night for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but the NFL's second-leading receiver entering the week just came up big at a huge time. With the Seahawks facing third and 6, Smith-Njigba beat his man off the line and reeled in a beautiful 36-yard go ball from Sam Darnold.
Huge, huge play at a huge time. He had just two catches for 21 yards before that play. If Seattle holds on here, we'll point to this conversion as a big reason why.
That's more like it from Marvin Harrison Jr.! The former Ohio State star makes it a 20-13 game with a magnificent touchdown catch over Devon Witherspoon here:
Harrison Jr. had an awful drop earlier that resulted in an interception and had been quiet most of the night before coming alive here recently. He reeled in a nice back-shoulder ball earlier in the second half and now has his second touchdown of the year. He's up to four catches for 43 yards on the night. The Arizona defense has quietly done a nice job here in the second half, and now we have a game on our hands.
Jason Myers just knocked through a 31-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 20-6 lead. Good job by the Cardinals defense to tighten up in the red zone, but at this point, it's on the Arizona offense to make this thing competitive, still only down two scores.
Kyler Murray is just 18 for 29 for 116 yards passing. That's 4 yards per attempt, which is ... not good. There hasn't been much open downfield, and he often hasn't even had a chance to look for things downfield. Arizona also has just 44 yards on 11 carries. We'll see if Trey McBride can wriggle free in the passing game; he has six catches, but for just 43 yards.
The Cardinals finally appeared to get somewhat on track, getting into Seahawks territory. Then things fell apart.
Chad Ryland did hit a 57-yard field goal to help Arizona scratch closer, but it's another tough end to a drive.
Seattle extends its lead to 14-3 with a really good seven-play, 90-yard drive capped by Zach Charbonnet's 1-yard touchdowns.
Really good stuff from Sam Darnold on this drive, too: He hit Elijah Arroyo for a 32-yard gain on the first play and followed that up with a 24-yard rush. Seattle is in full control.
Lawrence was a big signing for Seattle this offseason, but after a solid first three games, he's unlikely to return to this one. Seattle has a deep rushing group, but this loss certainly hurts one of the league's best defenses.
After a big drop last week, Marvin Harrison Jr. just had another one, this time resulting in an interception by Ernest Jones IV.
This is a really bad one, too, especially since Kyler Murray made a perfect throw on third and 11 and Trey McBride had made a couple of big chain-moving catches on the drive.
Now there's the drive Seattle was looking for. With Kenneth Walker III chewing up yards on the ground, the Seahawks were able to get down the field in a hurry, and Sam Darnold hit A.J. Barner for a touchdown.
Really good play design here with Cooper Kupp running interference, and Darnold put this one on the dot. Walker is already up to 64 yards from scrimmage.
Forced to defend a short field, the Seattle defense bent but did not break, and Chad Ryland's 32-yard field goal has Arizona on top 3-0.
It's been an uneven start for both teams: Kyler Murray was intercepted on the Cardinals' second drive, and the Seahawks failed on a fourth and 1 on their only drive so far.
This play had a little bit of everything! Coby Bryant picked off an errant Kyler Murray pass, but on the return, he ran into his own teammate, Tyrice Knight, and fumbled. Cardinals running back Trey Benson recovered, and the Cardinals are in business.
Phew!
The Cardinals start with the ball.
With James Conner (ankle) out for the season, Trey Benson will get plenty of work tonight as the Cardinals' lead back. He gets a stern test against a Seahawks defense allowing just 3.2 yards per carry -- third-lowest in the NFL -- but will be a key part of Arizona's chances. The Cardinals will want to establish a physical run game to complement Kyler Murray, Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. in the pass game.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr. played together at Ohio State in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Smith-Njigba emerged as a star, catching 95 passes for 1,606 yards, including a record-breaking 347-yard performance in the Rose Bowl against Utah.
With Smith-Njigba injured much of 2022, Harrison stepped into the limelight with 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns and earning All-America status. He repeated as an All-America performer in 2023.
In their two meetings as pros, Smith-Njigba has 11 receptions for 159 yards and two scores; Harrison has seven receptions for 96 yards.
The Cardinals will debut their "Rivalries" uniforms tonight. The team announced them back in August, and both the uniforms and the end zones look sharp.
The Seahawks will be in navy jerseys and grey pants.
The Seahawks will return to their two-headed rushing attack tonight as Zach Charbonnet returns from a foot injury to join Kenneth Walker Jr. in the Seattle backfield.
Safety Nick Emmanwori (ankle) was listed as doubtful and is indeed out for the third straight game. Here are Seattle's inactives:
The Cardinals will be without cornerback Will Johnson tonight but do get tackle Paris Johnson Jr. back. Will Johnson (groin) had not practiced on this short week, so his absence isn't a surprise. But Paris Johnson Jr., who missed Week 3 with a knee injury, is a go, which helps a James Conner-less offense significantly in both the run and the pass.
Here are all of Arizona's inactives:
