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The Seattle Seahawks vaulted into first place in the NFC West with a huge win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12. While Geno Smith and the offense got things going with a second quarter touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle’s defense showed up and showed out in the Seahawks' second straight divisional victory.
Third-year safety Coby Bryant made the play of the game, intercepting Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray and returning it for a pick-six that brought the house down. As he scored, he leapt up and crossed the goal line backwards while grabbing his crotch in a Marshawn Lynch tribute. It turned out to be a costly homage as the league has fined Bryant $6,594 for an obscene gesture / unsportsmanlike conduct, per NFL insider Tom Pelissero on X.
Lynch made the gesture famous after his remarkable Beast Quake run against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card game following the 2010 season. However, the iconic running back’s Beast Quake 2.0 was against the Cardinals. Lynch ripped off a 79-yard touchdown run in a matchup against Arizona in Week 16 of the 2014 season. That, too, was punctuated with his signature… grab. But following the second Beast Quake, the league stepped in and fined Lynch $11,050 for an obscene gesture.
On Sunday, the Seahawks held a 7-3 lead halfway through the third quarter. The Cardinals faced a 4th-and-1 from Seattle’s 39-yard-line. Murray faked the handoff and sprinted right but heavy pressure forced him to overthrow wideout Michael Wilson. The ball sailed into Bryant’s arms and he took it the distance, returning the interception 69 yards for the score and the wild Lynch-themed celebration.
Seahawks’ safety Coby Bryant put his stamp on the Week 12 win
The Seahawks missed the extra point making it a 10-point game but the Cardinals wouldn’t recover. Arizona managed just a field goal the rest of the way, falling to Seattle 16-6.
With the win the Seahawks tied the Cardinals for the best record in the division. But thanks to the head-to-head victory, Seattle moved into first place and the team appears to be favorites to win the NFC West after toppling the San Francisco 49ers in Week 11.
While the division is obviously still far too close to call, with all four teams separated by just one game, the Seahawks have looked like legit playoff contenders of late. Seattle relied on the offense coming up with a game-winning drive to beat the 49ers. In Week 12, the team played hard-nosed defense, shutting down a Cardinals team that scored 31 points in Week 10 against the New York Jets and ending Arizona’s four-game winning streak.
The Seahawks will head east to play the Jets in Week 13 as Geno prepares to take on the team that selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. The Jets have already lost to one of their former starting quarterbacks this season when Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings beat New York 23-17 in Week 5. Jets’s owner Woody Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh following the defeat.
