Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray got hurt early in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, but that didn’t stop Arizona from grabbing a road win in Seattle.
Brett Hundley took over for Murray after the first overall pick injured his hamstring on a scramble and made several key plays on a late scoring drive. Hundley hit tight end Maxx Williams for a 28-yard gain and picked up 32 yards on three runs to set up a three-yard Kenyan Drake touchdown run.
That score accounted for the final points in a 27-13 Cardinals win that pushes the Seahawks back into second place in the NFC West. They can move back in front of the 49ers by beating them next Sunday night, but this loss will make it harder to secure a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
In order to win that game, the Seahawks could use both better execution and better health. They came into the game without defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, left tackle Duane Brown and safety Quandre Diggs due to injuries and then saw running backs Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise leave during the game.
Their offense struggled across the board after driving for a touchdown to open the game. They had the game’s only turnover, allowed five sacks and managed just 224 yards on the day. Chandler Jones had four of those sacks, which leaves him with a league-leading 19 as they head into the final weekend of the season.
We’ll see if Murray plays in that game against the Rams, but back-to-back wins have created some reason to smile around the Cardinals after a six-game losing streak sent their season into the dustbin. Drake continued to make his case for a longer stay in Arizona with an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter and 24 carries for 166 yards overall on Sunday.
The coming days will bring answers to the Seahawks’ health concerns and the outlook for next Sunday won’t be all that good if they don’t get several of those missing pieces back in time for the final game of the 2019 regular season.