For the Arizona Cardinals, the bye week has come to an end. Today it was back to work to get ready for the Seattle Seahawks, who celebrated this weekend with a 23-20 victory over the Bears in Chicago.
The Cards hopefully have studied film and then studied more film. These Seahawks have gotten better. I was impressed with the road victory. I really thought they wouldn’t win on the road at all this season. Now, they go home and it will be loud. Very loud.
Max Hall will most likely be relying on the hands of Larry Fitzgerald again this week. He will need Larry to be extra special this week. I would not be surprised though to see more of a running game this week. If the Cards can control the ball and the clock with a decent running game and don’t make many mistakes, the Cards should be in it until the end. The defense will need to be opportunistic. It was that opportunistic defense that helped the Cards win in Seattle each of the past couple of seasons, even with Kurt Warner behind center.
The difference may just be the special teams. Seattle’s has been great. They had two kickoff returns by Leon Washington against the San Diego Chargers in week three. Yesterday in Chicago, they held on to a very important onside kick at the end of the game. The Cards LaRod Stephens-Howling returned a kickoff against the Oakland Raiders in week three. Against the New Orleans Saints last week, Stephens-Howling returned a kick 59 yards. The Cards have also blocked a field goal this season.