Cardinals’ Zaven Collins, 2 others record 1st career sacks vs. Seahawks

Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals offense may not have produced against the Seattle Seahawks, but the same couldn’t be said for a trio of defenders in Zaven Collins, Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders.

Among the team’s lone bright spots in the 19-9 loss up north were Collins, Thomas and Sanders, who registered the first sacks of their careers on Sunday.

Following an opening-drive field goal for the Cardinals — their first first-quarter points of the season — Thomas and the defense went to work against quarterback Geno Smith and Co.

After watching the Seahawks drive down to the Cardinals’ 15-yard line, Thomas provided the knockout punch of the drive, sacking Smith on third-and-six. The takedown limited the damage for Arizona, which settled for a Seattle field goal instead of a touchdown.

Two quarters later, Collins would get in on the action.

Another third down, another sack.

Staring at third-and-13, Smith dropped back to pass and was met in the backfield by Collins for the eight-yard takedown. The linebacker didn’t stop there, either, registering another sack in the fourth quarter.

“It felt good,” Collins told Cardinals sideline reporter Paul Calvisi after the game. “You can have eight sacks … you can fly all over, you can have pick-sixes but a loss is still a loss. It’s rough. I thought I played up and down. I had a few missed assignments but that’s stuff we get to fix on film tomorrow.”

Sanders wasn’t far behind Collins, with the rookie getting to Smith on third down in the latter half of the third quarter.

Collins paced the team in tackles with nine to go along with two QB hits, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed. It was yet another strong showing for the linebacker, who has been stacking games and gaining confidence this season as the team’s full-time MIKE backer.

Thomas and Sanders combined for three tackles, two tackles for loss, two QB hits and the two sacks.

The trio, however, weren’t the only Cardinals to get to the quarterback on Sunday, with veteran linebacker Markus Golden registering a third-quarter sack as well.

While it wasn’t anywhere close to Golden’s first career sack, it did mark his first of the season. In addition to the sack, Golden finished second behind Collins in tackles with eight to go along with two tackles for loss and a QB hit.

As a team, the Cardinals notched five sacks and seven QB hits in the loss.

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