Seahawks at Cardinals: 3 things we learned
By John Buhler
The Arizona Cardinals tied the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football in Week 7, 6-6. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this rivalry game.
Well, it happened. In the same weekend that saw the Chicago Cubs get to its first World Series in 71 years, the NFL saw its first tie in nearly two seasons. Yes, ties can happen in the NFL. Just ask the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks about that.
Twelve points evenly split between two teams was all Sunday Night Football at University of Phoenix Stadium could muster. Seattle sits at 4-1-1 and Arizona is 3-3-1. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the rare tie between the Cardinals and the Seahawks in Week 7.
1. If you had the under in this game, good job by you.
The over/under in this NFC West rivalry game was 43 combined points. The grand total of points in this game was 12. Yes, 12 measly points. Count ’em, four field goals. Taking Seattle as the road underdog and the under was the way to go this weekend.
For the point total to be almost four times under the under is borderline unbelievable. The Seahawks don’t have a great offense and the Cardinals’ ebbs and flows, but this was ridiculous. How does an NFL game in this era of football where offense is emphasized more than ever have 12 combined points?
There is a decent chance that one of the games in the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians will get more than 12 runs across. While that is too high for an MLB Postseason game, a primetime NFL game with only 12 points just doesn’t happen.
2. Tying in football is still the worst thing ever.
There are no ties in the MLB, the NBA, and the NHL. Major League Baseball will play as many innings as it takes for a winner to be decided. The NBA will keep using overtime periods to decide a victor. Even the NHL settles things with a shootout after a brief overtime period.
Yet in the NFL, two teams can tie and it’s horrible. It’s understandable that the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t want football to be more than five quarters in a game. However, there has to be a way to stop ties from happening. How about if you can’t win in a game in 75 minutes, both teams lose?
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Nobody feels good about tying. It’s a more unsettling feeling than even the most agonizing of gut-punching losses. With NFL games tying every few years or so, we tend to forget how bad they are. Just give both teams L’s and let’s move on.
3. Kickers, man.
Special teams can win and lose a football team ball games. Apparently, ties are possible if the special teams are deciding the direction of a game. Yes, there was great defense from both the Cardinals and the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, but nobody is going to talk about it at the water cooler on Monday.
The topic of discussion will be about the two kickers on Sunday Night Football that couldn’t hit chip shots to win it in overtime. Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro was 2-for-4 on field goals on Sunday. His gaff from 24 yards out was beyond cringeworthy. Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka swept his game-winning field so wide left he looked liked NFC Wild Card round Blair Walsh out there.
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This was anything but a pretty game. The special teams was the phase of the game that dominated this NFC West rivalry matchup in Glendale. Instead of seeing Carson Palmer and Russell Wilson duke it out as star quarterbacks, we had to resort to this kicker extravaganza. Kickers, man.