Wilson bests Murray as Seahawks beat Cardinals to lead NFC West

Carlos Hyde rushed for a season-high 79 yards and a touchdown and Russell Wilson threw two scoring passes as the Seattle Seahawks broke a three-way tie atop the NFC West with a 28-21 victory against the visiting Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night. The Seahawks (7-3) moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Rams (6-3), who play Monday at Tampa Bay, and a game ahead of the Cardinals (6-4).

Hyde was back in action after missing three games due to a hamstring injury.
The Seahawks’ league-worst defense limited the Cardinals’ top-ranked offense to 314 yards, more than 100 below their average (425.5). Arizona gained just 57 yards rushing after entering with a league-best average of 168.9 per game.

The Cardinals reached Seattle’s 27-yard line in the final minute, but recently acquisition Carlos Dunlap sacked Kyler Murray on fourth-and-10 to clinch the victory.

Wilson completed 23 of 28 passes for a season-low 197 yards but didn’t commit a turnover. He threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to DK Metcalf and 11 yards to Tyler Lockett in the first half, and the Seahawks took a 16-7 lead into the intermission. Jason Myers kicked a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Murray, who was 29 of 42 for 269 yards and two touchdowns, threw a three-yard scoring pass to Chase Edmonds with 13:19 remaining to pull the Cardinals within 23-21.

Seattle punted on their next possession, but backed up the Cardinals to their own 14-yard line. Murray was called for intentional grounding on first down, putting the back at the two, and JR Sweezy was flagged for holding in the end zone on the next play, giving the Seahawks a safety for a 25-21 lead and the ball. Myers kicked a 41-yard field goal with 2:24 left to give the Seahawks a seven-point lead.

The teams traded touchdowns on their first possessions of the second half, both aided by personal foul penalties on the defense. Murray threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Dan Arnold to pull the Cardinals within 16-14. Hyde scored on a two-yard run at the other end to extend Seattle’s lead back to 23-14.

source: theguardian.com