NEXT GAME
Seahawks at Raiders, 1:15 p.m. Sunday
TV: Channel 12. Radio: FM 95.5
More online: Click here for the Seattle Times’ coverage.
SEATTLE — First-rate win? No. First-place win? Somehow, yes.
The Seahawks may not have been on the end zone’s guest list for most of Sunday’s game vs. the Cardinals, but they still managed to pull off a 22-10 win after a slop-heavy 60 minutes.
If you were comparing it to other games throughout the league in terms of sheer physical beauty, it most likely ranked near the bottom. However, if you’re looking at the standings in the NFC West — the Seahawks now sit alone at the top.
Thanks to a stingy defense, a flawless kicker and some generous bounces of the ball, Seattle (4-2) took a one-game lead over division rival Arizona at Qwest Field in Week 7.
A quality start to the season? Hard to say otherwise. But no one’s canceling early January vacation plans quite yet.
“We didn’t even mention it (the fact that it was a division game) all week. We didn’t even talk about it,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, adding that his team “left so much on the field in terms of points.
“I love being in first place, but it doesn’t mean anything right now. To me, it’s like the BCS; it doesn’t matter right now, it’s how you finish.”
That mentality applied to Sunday’s game as well.
The Seahawks scored just three points through the first 24 minutes and cracked the red zone only once.
Then Seattle’s Jon Ryan launched a 53-yard punt that slipped through Arizona returner Andre Roberts’ hands, bounced square off his knee, was knocked forward by a diving Michael Robinson, and eventually recovered by the Seahawks’ Roy Lewis at Arizona’s 2. Two plays later, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams to put Seattle up, 10-0.
“Whether it’s a kickoff or a punt return we feel like we can change the momentum of the whole game,” Lewis said. “The special teams, were a force to be reckoned with and the guys believe it. We hold ourselves up to a high level.”
On a day in which the Seahawks scored just one touchdown despite seven red-zone opportunities, the muffed punt may have been the play of the game. That, however, doesn’t mean there wasn’t an offensive star or two.
A week after his 10-catch, 123-yard effort against Chicago, Williams caught 11 passes for 87 yards Sunday. The numbers are at the very least interesting for someone who missed the past two NFL seasons.
But Williams’ production paled in comparison to that of Seahawks kicker Olindo Mare, who made all five of his field-goal attempts — plus five that didn’t count.
Whether it was due to a holding penalty, delay of game, or offsides call against the Cardinals, Mare repeatedly watched his kicks sail through the uprights sans an accompanying three points.
Did it mess with him psychologically? Not exactly.
“You get a couple free kicks, you get a warm up, most of the guys in this league are going to make it,” said Mare, who has yet to miss a kick of any kind this season and booted a long of 51 Sunday. “It’s almost more chaotic when you’re running out and just letting it go.”
Arizona, which reached the red zone just twice, had a chance to creep to within one score when they drove to Seattle’s 6 late in the third quarter, but settled for a 24-yard field goal that made it 19-10.
Hasselbeck finished with 192 yards on 20 for 38 passing while running back Marshawn Lynch, playing in his second game as a Seahawk, compiled 89 yards on 24 carries.
