Seahawks crush Cardinals, set up showdown for first place in NFC West

SEATTLE — Seahawks fans could hardly ask for a more perfect fall day at Lumen Field.

There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the temperature was a balmy 59 degrees at kickoff.

And then there was the game — a surprisingly easy 44-22 rout of the usually pesky Arizona Cardinals in which they led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 38-7 at a halftime.

True, the third quarter was a little sloppier than needed, with two Seahawks turnovers helping momentarily to give Arizona some life.

But the Seahawks quickly readied the ship to assure the game finished as the blowout it was from the beginning.

And aside from that blip, it was a day in which Seahawks fans could not only look out as far as the eye could see at the exquisite surroundings, but also to what could be a limitless future for the home team.

What more could the Seahawks do to convince anyone that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender?

— The offense was explosive from the first moments of the game. The Seahawks took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in seven plays capped by a 43-yard pass from Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to take a 7-0 lead jus 4:05 into the game.

That keyed an offensive onslaught in which the Seahawks gained 244 yards and 7.9 yards per play in the first half as Darnold was again almost perfect passing in the first half (9 of 10 for 167 yards), while Smith-Njigba had 82 yards by halftime to go over the 1,000-yard mark.

They even got the running game going the best it has all year, finishing with a season-high 198, including all 79 on a second-half drive in which the Seahawks ran it 12 straight times to set up a Jason Myers field goal and ran it for all but one play of a seven-play drive that set up another Myers field goal.

— The defense was head-slapping historic, scoring two touchdowns in the span of roughly 10 minutes in the first half on almost identical-looking plays — sacks by Tyrice Knight that forced fumbles that were scooped and returned for scores by DeMarcus Lawrence.

The first, a 34-yarder when Knight and two other Seahawks blitzed over the right side, with Seattle bringing six in all — with Knight hitting Brissett as he threw, with the ball tumbling to the turf and allowing Lawrence as easy of a TD as possible — made it 14-0 in the first quarter.

The second — a 22-yarder when Knight came through the middle on a five-man rush and hit Brissett’s hand as he threw, with the ball falling to the ground — made it 28-0 early in the second.

Knight started the game only because Ernest Jones IV was sidelined with a knee injury, benched in favor of Drake Thomas following the loss to Tampa Bay.

Knight drew lengthy commendations this week from Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald for the way he handled his benching and replaced Jones in the second half last week to lead them with nine tackles against Washington.

Oddly, the Seahawks’ defense hadn’t forced a fumble all season until Sunday.

The two fumble returns for TDs by Lawrence were the first time it happened in an NFL game since 2020, the second since 1948 and only the fourth ever.

More fun with numbers?

— The 38 points were tied for the third-most in a first half in team history — but also tied for the most in a first half this season, also accomplished on Sept. 21 against New Orleans.

— According to NFL writer Rene Bugner, the Seahawks are the only team this season to twice have 21-0 leads in the first quarter.

— It was the second time in two weeks the Seahawks have jumped out to leads of 28-0, doing so last Sunday at Washington. According to Mike Renner of CBSSports.com, only two other teams since 1967 (or the Super Bowl era) have also taken 28-0 leads in back-to-back games.

— It was their ninth straight win over Arizona and improved their home record to 3-2 after going just 3-6 at Lumen Field last season.

The most important number?

The Seahawks are 7-2 after winning its fourth in a row, and now 13-4 since the midway point of last season.

They also remain tied with the Rams atop the NFC West and can prepare for one of the biggest regular-season games in the Seahawks’ recent history next Sunday against Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

Macdonald will surely say he and his players aren’t looking ahead any further than to that game against a Rams team that looks every bit as good as the Seahawks, beating the San Francisco 49ers 42-26 in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, with Matthew Stafford throwing four touchdown passes.

Everyone else could dare to dream after an afternoon in which all of the team’s strengths were on display.

There were some warts — Darnold lost a fumble on a botched exchange, a lost fumble after a sack and an interception on a pass that deflected off a helmet.

And the defense gave up some yards in the second half while seeming to be in run-out-the-clock mode much of the time.

And maybe some could point to Arizona looking lifeless at the start having made the trip to Seattle after winning at Dallas on Monday night, the second straight week the Seahawks have gotten to play a foe coming off a Monday night game.

Still, the first half was a picture of domination — and what this team can be — on a picture-perfect day.

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