Although neither Seattle or Arizona had forced a turnover after two games, the Seahawks changed their fortunes against Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb by turning up the pressure and forcing him into some bad decisions.
The $65 million dollar man had his worst game of the young season for his new team, finishing 25 of 39 for 252 yards, including one spectacular touchdown throw to Larry Fitzgerald, and two critical interceptions.
Kolb was sacked three times and finished with a 69.6 passer rating.
Marcus Trufant corralled his first interception of the season at the end of the first half to thwart a potential Arizona scoring drive deep in Seattle territory.
A Trufant interception usually is a good omen for Seattle – the Seahawks are now 16-3 when the Tacoma native has a pick.
Seattle safety Kam Chancellor then sealed the game by picking off a Kolb pass over the middle intended for tight end Todd Heap on third down and 12 from Seattle’s 36-yard line with 1:15 left in the game.
“Once I seen my man go under, I knew the third man was going to go right over the top of him,” Chancellor said. “So I just jumped it.”
In between those interceptions, Seattle’s defensive front finally created some consistent pressure. The Seahawks had only two sacks coming into the Arizona game, but totaled three sacks and five tackles for a loss against the Cardinals.
Seattle also held Arizona to a season-low 261 total yards and 3 of 14 (21 percent) third-down conversions.
Leroy Hill led the Seahawks with 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. And defensive end Chris Clemons finished with a combined seven tackles on the day, as well as a sack, a tackle for loss and a deflected pass.
Defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove said he and his teammates got an extra boost from the CenturyLink Field crowd.
“It always great playing at home,” Hargrove said. “Especially on third downs because the crowd is standing up getting loud. They’re behind you. And they’ve got to go silent count. So it’s always an advantage.”
Added Chancellor: “The front line, they pressured all night. And we knew that if they were in his face, he was going to have to throw the ball quick. And you could kind of sit on routes a little bit and just jump what you see.”
Clemons seems to always show up against the Cardinals. In his last three starts against Arizona, Clemons has four sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
“He was alive today,” Carroll said. “He just missed that one at the end of the game. It was really exciting to see him play so fast.”
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