Seahawks-Cardinals Preview: 5 Qs, 5 As with Revenge of the Birds

It’s Week 9 of the NFL season, and for the Seattle Seahawks this season that means it’s the second installment of Beak Week, as the Hawks fly south for a matchup against both the Ghosts of Glendale and the Arizona Cardinals.

Joining Field Gulls to preview the game is Seth Cox of Revenge of the Birds, and without wasting any time we can jump right into the questions and answers.

1. It’s been a rough few weeks for the Cardinals, but a win Sunday has them just a game out of first place in the NFC West with plenty of season left to play. How do fans feel heading into this matchup, and how much optimism is there for potentially reaching the postseason in a weak conference?

Checked out until something changes? I don’t think anything will change, but fans desperately want to see Kliff or Keim gone and someone else brought in. The issue becomes, there was little interest in this job last time, so will there be interest if anything were to change?

That is the funny thing, they have been average the entire Kingsbury experience, and are close to average again, but fans want something more. Although the Cardinals need to improve, they are in the same place they have been in the Kliff era. Wanting more is fine, but I have questions of who and how.

All of that said, they have not shown me enough to see them as a playoff team as of now, but outside of a couple of losses to the Seahawks and Chiefs, nothing has been a blowout.

2. Between now and Thanksgiving is almost make or break for Arizona in a brutal three-game stretch. This weekend it’s the Seahawks, then it’s a trip to Los Angeles to take on the Rams before coming back home to play the 49ers. What’s the worst the Cardinals can perform in those three games and still have a legitimate shot at the postseason this year?

I mean they probably have to go 3-0, but 2-1 in this division with the only loss to San Francisco could be okay. Cannot fall behind an extra game to Seattle and Los Angeles with regards to the tiebreaker.

They need to go 3-0 and be 6-5 if they want a realistic shot, but I think 2-1 at a minimum and being 5-6 would be… passable.

3. What should Seattle fans expect from Robbie Anderson? Arizona brought him in, and certainly he needs time to learn the offense, but he’s been on the field for just 19 snaps in the two weeks he has been with the Cardinals. Will he be a bigger part of the gameplan this week, or is he likely still adjusting and learning the system?

No idea. This is the interesting thing about Kliff. His offense is super wide receiver friendly, but sometimes it seems like they slow roll guys.

Even Marquise Brown who had most of a full offseason and camp was slowly brought in during game one of the season.

Anderson should take over the A.J. Green role, who looks old and washed at this point, but I thought that bigger part would be last week and it wasn’t.

So, I go back to, no idea.

4. I thought for certain we would see an offensive explosion the first time these two teams played a few weeks ago and was dead wrong. The over/under is currently at 49.5 for a pair of teams that combined for a whopping 28 points last time they met up, and this time around the Cards have DeAndre Hopkins back, while the Seahawks defense has been playing much better the past few weeks. What are your expectations for the Arizona offense in this game and will this be another low scoring affair?

You and me both. If you told me the Cardinals and Seahawks would combine for 28 points I would have assumed you were talking in the first half.

I am actually excited about the prospects of this week because I want to see Hopkins against Woolen. They have both been great and it will test the rookie, but also give us a look at the best cornerback that DHop has faced in 2022 (based on how Woolen has played this year).

I think we get more offense this time.

The Cardinals offense has started to find the rhythm again with Hopkins back and while they couldn’t run the ball last week, I think we see a better offensive game this week from them.

5. How do you see the game playing out, and what’s your prediction for the final score?

I have given up on predicting these games simply because the effort level we see week-to-week is so inconsistent. Although the last two weeks have been better, I just don’t know what to think, so I am taking the Seahawks.

Seattle 27
Cardinals 24

Good luck and good health to the Seahawks.

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