Arizona Cardinals and the state of the NFC West

The Seattle Seahawks entered their Sunday Night Football matchup with the Arizona Cardinals one of two remaining undefeated teams. They didn’t play particularly poorly with the exception of three uncharacteristic interceptions thrown by MVP-leading Russell Wilson.

Arizona is likely the best team the Seahawks have had to face thus far in the season with their first five opponents tallying a combined record of 9-23.

Strength

22 touchdowns in six game. Not much more needs to be said. A lot of Seattle’s success thus far has been due to the superhuman efforts of Russell Wilson, a quarterback many are claiming is the best in the league this year.

With a 71.2% completion rate, Wilson is one of the most accurate throwing the football and while his rushing numbers aren’t gaudy his ability to escape the pocket and rush for first-down or throw on the run still mean he is dangerous in nearly any situation.

Weakness

By far, Seattle’s biggest weakness is the complete lack of pass rush that was on full display against the Cardinals. Kyler Murray is undoubtedly shifty, but the Seahawks defense did not sack him or even hit him one time during Sunday’s contest.

Those numbers will typically not be the sole factor in a loss, but being completely unable to shake an opposing quarterback has consequences that reverberate throughout an entire defense and leave it up to the offense to outscore every opponent.

Seattle has gotten away with this glaring problem because of the MVP-caliber season Wilson is having, but they have to address not only this issue but the defense as a whole if they wish to be true contenders this year.