Arizona Cardinals-Seattle Seahawks Preview

The Seattle Seahawks visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams.  The Cards lost to the Hawks three weeks ago in Seattle 22-10.  The Cards turned the ball over five times.  Turnovers clearly the reason the Hawks won, as their offense leaves a lot to be desired.  That much was evident the past two weeks when the Hawks were outscored 74-10 by the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants.

The Cardinals haven't won since then either, however have played games over the past two weeks that quite frankly they should have won.  The Cards need to learn how to close games out.  They had late leads over the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Minnesota Vikings the last two weeks.  The defense allowed  both teams to close them out.  That must change and quick if the Cards want to win the NFC West.

The Hawks get quarterback Matt Hasselbeck this week, but so far this season it really hasn't mattered who has played behind center for them.  Last week Charlie Whitehurst started in place of the injured Hasselbeck.

The Cardinals will counter with Derek Anderson this week.  Max Hall started the first game up in Seattle and was replaced in the second half.  Anderson actually hasn't played all that bad the past couple of weeks, although his interception at the end of the Tampa game, as we all know, was a killer.  Last week he didn't turn the ball over at all.  They will need that type of performance out of him again on Sunday.

What the Cards also need is a running game.  Beanie Wells is still a question mark thanks to his injured knee.  He didn't practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was limited on Friday.  However it sounds as if the Cards and Wells himself still expects to play.  I'm not holding my breath.  It would be nice to get him in though for 10-15 carries this week along with Tim Hightower.  The Cards are going to need balance in the offensive attack, something I have stressed all season long.

I think the Cards get back on track this week and win this one.  Seattle hasn't won in University of Phoenix Stadium since it opened, going 0-4.  I see no reason why that would change this week.  Arizona 31  Seattle 17