All night against the Seahawks, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had been playing with Russell Wilson’s head with different kinds of pressure/coverage looks from the A-gaps. When Wilson thought blitzers were coming, they would drop. When he thought they would drop, they would blitz. It is exceedingly difficult to fool Russell Wilson, but the Cardinals seemed to have him on a string with this concept more than you might expect.
And then, with 1:04 left in overtime and the score tied at 34, Joseph directed his blitzers to drop, and this included rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons. Simmons, who played every position imaginable and has linebacker size with free safety speed, picked Wilson off on just his fourth defensive snap of the night.
The Cardinals had the ball on the Seattle 49-yard line after that play, and quarterback Kyler Murray, who finished the game with 34 completions in 48 attempts for 360 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, drove his team downfield, setting up Zane Gonzalez’s 48-yard game-winning field goal with 15 seconds left in the fifth quarter.
The loss takes Seattle from the ranks of the undefeated, while the win for the Cardinals takes them to 5-2. Arizona never led in the game until it was over.
