Enemy Reaction 2024: A special tour of the NFC West!

We’re going all around the NFC West to relish in the defeats of the Seahawks’ rivals!

The Seattle Seahawks ended their losing streak against the San Francisco 49ers last week, then extended their winning streak versus the Arizona Cardinals this week. A lot less drama was involved for this win, but it was just as hard-fought to get a 16-6 victory over a team that had won four in a row.

As always, when the Seahawks win, it’s Enemy Reaction time! Since the Cardinals don’t exactly have a massive fanbase, and this wasn’t exactly a game filled with a ton of major highlights, we’re going to do an NFC West tour after the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams also took damaging Ls on Sunday. We’ll start with the Cards as the appetizer, then follow with the 49ers as the main course, and wrap up with the Rams as dessert. I had to leave a lot of our stuff on the cutting room floor due to lack of game thread comments on Revenge of the Birds, so if you see highlight plays absent then you know why.

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Holding call negates Kyler Murray touchdown to Michael Wilson (0-0)

Geno Smith finds Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the touchdown! (7-3 SEA)

Coby Bryant with a pick-six of Kyler Murray on 4th down! (13-3 SEA)

Geno Smith throws an awful interception in the red zone (13-3 SEA)

Chad Ryland misses field goal, Seahawks win! (16-6 SEA Final)

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Post-Game: Don’t print the NFC West banner just yet (Craig Morgan, Go PHNX)

You were hoping that Arizona’s four-game winning streak going into the bye week was a sign that this team had turned the corner. You were hoping that the team’s ability to take care of business in back-to-back home games against the Bears and Jets was a sign of maturity.

Well, don’t print the Cardinals’ NFC West championship banner just yet. A 16-6 loss in Seattle sidetracked those plans. This is the NFL, where fortunes change on a weekly basis.

Man, did they change in Seattle.

The Cardinals had the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the division with a win on Sunday and 49ers QB Brock Purdy out of the lineup in a loss in Green Bay. That should have been motivation enough to turn in an A-plus performance, but the Seahawks knew that if that happened, they would be the team with hands around their neck, gasping for their last breath as they stared at a second straight season without playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Desperation is a powerful motivator in the NFL. So was a raucous crowd at Lumen Field where the Seahawks had lost four straight games for the first time since 2008. This was a taller task than some imagined. The Cardinals are not yet the type of team that can steamroll any opponent, and the Seahawks are not yet the type of team that is ready to lie down in front of the roller.

Post-Game: Offensive line struggles against Seattle (Theo Mackie, Arizona Republic)

All season, the Cardinals have found success with their physicality. They’ve dominated teams on the ground, then used that threat to open up space in the passing game. The offensive line has been at the center of it all, creating holes for James Conner and space for Kyler Murray.

Not on Sunday. Murray was pressured on 14 of 43 dropbacks and sacked five times. Even the Cardinals’ most reliable offensive linemen, like Froholdt and left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., were beaten for sacks. On one second-half sequence, Seattle’s Leonard Williams came up the middle to blow up a run play on first down, then beat Johnson off the edge on third down.

The run game was even worse. The Cardinals did not create any lanes for James Conner, who finished with 8 yards on seven carries.

Post-Game Video: Cardinals fumble the NFC West lead (Mythic AZ)

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BONUS Enemy Reaction: San Francisco 49ers

Post-Game Video: Grant Cohn calls for Deebo Samuel’s benching

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BONUS Enemy Reaction: Los Angeles Rams

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Enemy Preaction: New York Jets

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Everything broke Seattle’s way in Week 12. Even the Washington Commanders losing at home to the Dallas Cowboys has opened up a tiny chance of a Wild Card berth, given the Seahawks are just a half-game back in the standings. Seattle was on the precipice of collapse entering the bye week. In back-to-back weeks, staring virtual postseason elimination in the face, the Seahawks did not blink. Now they’re in the driver’s seat with the fate of their season firmly in their hands.

The story isn’t over here, of course. I know the New York Jets are a dumpster fire and their defense isn’t even as good as it has been in recent years, but they’re still talented enough to make this a difficult game for the Seahawks. This is the worst team Seattle has faced since the New York Giants, which… we know how that ended. Don’t take any team lightly. Even one with an ancient, rapidly decaying Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

Thanks for reading and go ‘Hawks!