Cardinals continue to win in Seattle while rest of NFL struggles
Dec 25, 2016, 10:30 AM | Updated: Dec 26, 2016, 3:47 pm
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) passes to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, right, during the second half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, in Seattle. The Cardinals won 34-31. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
This season has not gone according to plan for the Arizona Cardinals, but the one thing they’ve still been able to do is beat the Seattle Seahawks in their own building.
Since 2013, the Cardinals are now 3-1 in Seattle after their 34-31 win Saturday while the rest of the NFL is a combined 3-25.
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians believes the team plays with a certain confidence behind quarterback Carson Palmer.
“There’s no doubt (the team has a certain confidence in Seattle), three times with Carson,” Arians said after the win Saturday.
Palmer, however, wasn’t so quick to say the win was because of a certain comfort level in the stadium.
“This was just one of those weeks where we felt like we were going to win,” Palmer said after the game.
When looking at those six wins for the opposition in Seattle since 2013, one thing that’s clear is it’s not going to be a blowout.
Of those six wins at CenturyLink Field for visiting teams, the average margin of victory is 5.6 points and the Seahawks have never lost by more than seven points.
Arians sees the run game and Palmer’s play as two main factors.
“We have been able to run the football good enough and Carson makes plays,” Arians said of the wins in Seattle.
In all six losses, Seattle has lost the battle in rushing yards. Arizona, in particular, had over 100 rushing yards in two out of three of those games.
“There’s something about this matchup, the games are really tight with these guys, and probably no surprise,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said after the game.
The Cardinals have also been able to get a big play on offense in all three wins.
In the 2013 17-10 win, Brittan Golden had a 63-yard catch, and in this year’s edition, J.J. Nelson went 80 yards for a touchdown.
The biggest play of the rivalry in Seattle, of course, came in the 2015 win when running back Andre Ellington went 48 yards with under two minutes left on 3rd-and-4 for a touchdown to effectively seal the win, leading to backup quarterback Drew Stanton’s memorable celebration on the sideline.
