There’s no such thing as an ugly road win.
This includes a game with multiple special teams failures and an inability to punch it in from inside the 5. The Seahawks left New York last Sunday with multiple things to fix — but another mark in the win column.
Though Seattle would sign up for any type of win in Arizona on Sunday (1:05 p.m., CBS TV, KIRO Radio), the game against the Cardinals will have some different characters in the cast, as Seattle waived both kick returners — Laviska Shenault Jr. and Dee Williams — this week after fumbles against the Jets.
Sunday may bear some similarities, though, to the game the Seahawks and Cardinals played two weeks ago at Lumen Field. It might not be 16-6 again, but a 49-42 type of result seems unlikely.
This game will feature two defensive masterminds who will try to out-wit each other’s sometimes spotty offenses. Running back Kenneth Walker III’s status is suddenly very questionable. Here are the other three keys to victory for the Seahawks.
Ryan Grubb’s growth
Eleven months ago, Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was calling plays for the University of Washington football team in a national championship game as someone who had never been part of an NFL football team in any capacity. Now, he’s essentially the head coach of the Seahawks offense. As with first-year head coach Mike Macdonald, there’s a learning process. He’s also feeling out how to work with a head coach who has a defensive background, versus the offensive-minded coach (Kalen DeBoer) he’s spent most of his career with before joining Macdonald’s new staff.
While any new NFL coach deserves a grace period, pressure may begin to mount if the offense continues to fizzle. Scoring touchdowns is the best way to relieve pressure. Here’s what Mike Macdonald said on Wednesday when asked about goal-line struggles against the Jets.
“We have sound schemes for how we’re blocking those things — we’ve got to execute better,” he said. “I think we have to have, frankly, just a better plan going into it, and we’ve got to work together on it. That’s something that is definitely a point of emphasis this week.”
At this point, the offensive line is the offensive line. If they can keep the same five as last week going forward (Charles Cross, Laken Tomlinson, Olu Oluwatimi, Saotaoa Laumea, Abraham Lucas), they may gel and work better as a whole unit. Time will tell if that’s enough talent to get to the postseason and make a run. The plan, though, is something that coaches work on. To be clear, Macdonald did not mention coaches at all when he talked about the “plan” and goal-line issues.
Grubb knows the offense has a long way to go, but the 48-year-old believes he’s learned a lot so far.
“There are tons of things,” he said on Thursday. “I think finding ways to build your team around the guys you’ve got are things that we’ve always been pretty good at. I think that we’ve tried to highlight those things and keep building around the guys that we have and the players we have.”
In addition to finding five healthy bodies on the offensive line, Grubb continues to learn what exactly his players do best — in particular his quarterback.
“It’s only been 12-13 weeks of regular season games and it’s still developing,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “It’s still building, it’s still early in the stages for us, but I’m so happy with the strides we’ve made throughout the course of the season.
“Also, just our system that we have in place,” he continued. “I think it is really good. I think we have a lot of answers and I think he gives the quarterback the ability to get to those answers. He empowers us to make plays on the field and to be the quarterback and be the coach on the field.”
Smith must avoid catastrophic mistakes
Smith entered the Jets game leading the league in interceptions (12). Multiple snap issues with his centers led to major lost yards on balls over his head or off his hands. While special teams took the catastrophe reigns last week, Smith played a clean game. It wasn’t his most dynamic performance, but one Smith turnover might have given the Jets victory.
Macdonald’s defense has played well during a three-game winning streak against the 49ers, Cardinals and Jets. There’s no reason to think that will change significantly in Arizona, though it seems unlikely the Seahawks will hold the Cardinals out of the end zone as they did during a 16-6 win on Nov. 23. The Seahawks must avoid giving Arizona points as they did in 26-20 loss to the Rams on Nov. 3.
Special teams must rebound
Michael Dickson is the Seahawks’ best player. While he’s not the most important player on the team, it’s arguable that no one is better at their respective job. Seattle needs the Australian punter to be fully rid of the back spasms that kept him out of much of the win against the Jets. The Seahawks added punter Ty Zenter to the practice squad on Thursday. It sounds like Dickson should be good to go, but if Zentner is added to the roster Saturday or active for the game Sunday that’s significant.
Also — stating the obvious here — Seatte’s returners must catch the ball and hang on to it. The kick return coverage must avoid allowing big returns like the 99-yard kickoff return by the Jets last week. Macdonald and special teams coach Jay Harbaugh seem to favor forcing teams to return kickoffs rather than kicking the ball out of the end zone for touchbacks that put the ball at the opponents’ 30-yard line. That has worked for most of the season — except for when it very much didn’t. Will they continue to try to pin teams deep, or settle or the touchback? Any performance resembling the special teams meltdowns from last week could lead to Harbaugh looking for employment. (It’s possible that he knows a guy or two.)
The pick: The Seahawks defense should travel well to State Farm Stadium, which is not known as a hostile environment for visiting teams. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray has played well for parts of the season. Though it might not be as ugly as it was two weeks earlier, I foresee more struggles from the diminutive quarterback.
Seattle 23, Arizona 16
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