Tim Ruskell has invested fewer resources into the offense and so when things get bad, it's invariably the defense that suffers the worst criticism. Seattle allowed a team that scores 22.4 points a game to score 27 points yesterday. The first drive was especially demoralizing. Arizona drove 80 yards on fifteen plays and chewed nearly 11 minutes of game clock. That drive was almost twice as long as any other drive Arizona would accomplish.
That is because when Seattle's defense wasn't hamstrung by the offense or special teams, it played well. In the 11 drives excluding Arizona's Hail Mary interception and the Matt Leinart led drive to kill the clock in the fourth, the Cardinals averaged 26.36 yards a drive. That is a hair better than Airzona has averaged for the season and a hair worse than Seattle has allowed for the season. The Cardinals rank 23rd on offense and the Seahawks rank 6th on defense. A top ten defense played like a top ten defense -- at least according to drive stats.