GLENDALE, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 25: Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks catches a pass against the Arizona Cardinals during the fourth quarter of the game at State Farm Stadium on September 25, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
A mistake-filled fourth quarter for the Seahawks allowed the Arizona Cardinals back into the game before a 52-yard field goal as time expired lifted Seattle to a 23-20 victory on Thursday night.
A defense that had been fairly dominant through three quarters allowed back-to-back touchdown drives to Kyler Murray and Arizona in the fourth to erase a 20-6 lead with less than 10 minutes to play. Myers missed a 53-yard field goal with just over three minutes remaining that would have restored a two-score game, but he delivered the winning boot to give the Seahawks their third straight victory.
Sam Darnold's 22-yard strike to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Seattle's final drive was the final touch on a terrific performance, and it moved the Seahawks into range for Myers' winning kick.
It was a game that shouldn't have been that close in the final minutes, but the win counts all the same. Getting two wins in five days is still a great spot for the Seahawks to be with more than a week to recover until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town on October 5.
"We didn't play our best game, and we had opportunities to put the game away throughout the second half. There are a lot of learning experiences that we're going to be able to take from this game so we can improve," head coach Mike Macdonald said.
Here are the takeaways from Seattle's eighth straight win over the Cardinals:
Sam Darnold was stellar and delivered in key moments.
The Seahawks now have a four-game sample size of what Sam Darnold can do at quarterback and fans should be very happy with what they've seen.
Darnold was sharp and poised throughout the night despite being pressured into a season-high three sacks from Arizona's defense. Darnold completed 18-of-26 passes for 242 yards with a touchdown, and also had a 24-yard scramble to boot.
While the numbers aren't eye-popping, Darnold made nearly every big play Seattle needed.
"Sam's playing out of his mind right now," Macdonald said. "You see him and he’s such a cool customer. He is a guy on a mission. He's just so determined for us to be a great team and a great offense. He's doing a great job leading us."
Darnold made several top-tier plays for Seattle that were critical to the offensive success.
A 32-yard strike to rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo off a scramble to his right kickstarted Seattle's second touchdown drive. On the next play, Darnold saw the middle of the field vacate as he took off running for a 24-yard gain across midfield.
Arguably his best throw of the night wasn't even a completion. Darnold delivered a perfect throw while retreating and off his back foot to Arroyo in the end zone that managed to draw a pass interference call on Budda Baker to put Seattle at the 1-yard line. Zach Charbonnet's 1-yard touchdown made for a 90-yard scoring drive that gave the Seahawks a 17-3 lead.
"Keeps on doing his thing and keeps leading the guys," said tight end A.J. Barner, who scored Seattle's first touchdown of the night on a 16-yard throw from Darnold. "A true veteran presence out there. Consistency and he doesn’t put us in bad situations with turnovers and he’s really doing a great job."
A tight-window throw to Jake Bobo in the second half, a 9-yard completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a third down, a 36-yard throw to Smith-Njigba with five minutes left to play, and a 22-yard strike to Smith-Njigba to set up Myers' game-winning kick were all standout plays for Darnold.
"Sam made a perfect throw. Back shoulder ball, the corner was on top of me, so he just placed it perfectly and it was an easy grab," Smith-Njigba said.
The Seahawks came up just short in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers when Darnold lost a fumble as Abe Lucas was pushed back into his arm, but that was nearly another game-winning drive for Darnold in Seattle. Darnold is playing great football through the first month of the season.
The defense was dominant until the fourth quarter.
The Seahawks' defense was completely shutting down Kyler Murray and the Cardinals through the first three quarters of the game.
Arizona had just 138 yards on 44 offensive plays through 45 minutes as the Cardinals were unable to accomplish anything without star running back James Connor. Murray had thrown a pair of interceptions to Coby Bryant and Ernest Jones IV, and Marvin Harrison Jr. had seen his struggles continue as a drop bounced into Jones' hands for his interception.
Additionally, the Seahawks broke through with a season-high six sacks, with four coming through the first three quarters of action. The longest drive for Arizona through three quarters was 40 yards and ended in Jones' interception.
But the defense cracked in the final frame, allowing consecutive touchdown drives with Harrison and Emari Demarcado scoring on touchdown passes from Murray to tie the game with 28 seconds left.
Some tough catches from Harrison and Michael Wilson were critical to Arizona being able to complete the rally to tie the game. An obvious pass interference call on Riq Woolen also helped set up a Cardinals' touchdown.
"We rushed him (Murray) well," Macdonald said. "We had the one where he got out there at the end, which is unfortunate. There are going to be some things we're going to learn from how we played this game and we'll look forward to it. Our guys are going to attack it."
There was far more good than bad for Seattle's defense, so it shouldn't be anything overly concerning. Nevertheless, you'd like to see the defense put the finishing touches on the performance in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals focused on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so others stepped up.
The Cardinals did their best to focus their attention on Jaxon Smith-Njigba and force the rest of Seattle's offense to be the ones to beat them.
And that's just what the Seahawks did throughout the first half before Smith-Njigba rose up to star in the latter stages of the contest.
Smith-Njigba wasn't targeted once in the first half, and Darnold still was 8-of-11 for 123 yards and a touchdown. Darnold completed eight passes to seven different receivers, with Elijah Arroyo the only player with multiple catches.
"At the end of the day, our other guys did a really good job," Darnold said. "In two-minute (situations), ‘Jax’ does a really good job but we’re going to have other options for the other guys to shine and I know they’ll get their opportunities."
But Smith-Njigba still had time to make his impact, too.
He caught four passes for 79 yards in the second half, with all four grabs being pretty big plays for Seattle's offense.
"He’s just comfortable in those moments," Darnold said. "He showed that even in the San Francisco game. Obviously, we didn’t get the job done when we played them in the first game but he showed his big play ability - not only in two-minute, but throughout the game. We have that rapport to where we can trust each other with different routes, feeling leverage and all those types of things."
A step forward for the rushing attack, but with a caveat.
Seattle's ground game also had a solid night with its highest rushing output of the season.
Ken Walker III rushed for 81 yards on 19 carries, and Zach Charbonnet returned from a one-game absence to add 39 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. With Darnold's scramble and three rushes by Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks finished with 155 rushing yards.
"I thought we took a stride here," Macdonald said. "I thought our coaches did a great job to get the things as the game started to progress. Our guys are fighting up there. They're blocking and (I) felt like we targeted things a little bit better."
Walker had runs of 21 and 20 yards, and also had a catch-and-run of 29 yards in his best yardage game of the season.
However, Walker also had five rushes that failed to gain positive yardage, and three carries that lost yardage. On those plays, Walker was often running backwards trying to wriggle free from defenders and losing yards in the process.
"We’ll look at some of those things where those negative-yard runs… but you have to give Arizona a lot of credit, too. That's a really good front (and) great scheme. They play hard (and) they have great players so some of those things are going to happen," Macdonald said.
Walker needs to make sure he isn't always forcing the issue and trying to manifest a big play when it's just not there.
Uchenna Nwosu signals his return to form with two sacks.
The best pass rushing game of the year so far for Seattle came with standout pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu leading the way.
Nwosu delivered two sacks of Kyler Murray for his first of the season after missing the entire offseason program recovering from a knee surgery.
"I put a lot of time and effort into this and I feel good. It’s a blessing I'm able to come back here and play to the level I played today and that I'm used to playing," Nwosu said.
Nwosu had his knee injured last preseason when Wyatt Teller of the Cleveland Browns dove into his leg for a highly questionable block. Nwosu returned to action midseason, but he sustained a torn thigh just 20 snaps into his first game back from the knee injury and was sidelined again.
"I just kept preparing the way I usually do and attacked my rehab really hard," Nwosu said. "Studied, leaned on my brothers. All of my brothers in the locker room kept staying positive with me. The trainers--everybody. It was a whole organizational effort to get me back on that field. I’m very appreciative and I take none of those moments for granted."
Nwosu ended up playing quite a bit on Thursday night as Demarcus Lawrence was sidelined early with a thigh injury. He finished the game five tackles and two sacks. It's just the sixth time in Nwosu's career he's had two sacks in a game, with five of the six coming with Seattle.
"He was one of the guys I was most excited about to play with when I was traded here," said Leonard Williams, who had 1.5 sacks in the win. "He’s been battling some injuries. The thing that has impressed me the most is that it never got to him mentally. I see players go through injuries, especially back-to-back injuries like he had and you can see it creep into people’s mental (health). He’s always been a leader, even when he hasn’t been on the field. It’s nice to see him come out and have a game like this today."
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
MORE SEAHAWKS NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE
Jason Myers 52-yard field goal as time expires gives Seattle Seahawks 23-20 win over Cardinals
Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love to return to action for Seattle Seahawks at Cardinals
Sam Darnold continues to impress for the Seattle Seahawks with his arm and legs
Mike Macdonald focused on improving Seahawks rushing attack
Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks 44-13 win over Saints
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.