The Seattle Seahawks were on the verge of watching a comfortable win collapse into disaster. A 14-point lead had vanished in the fourth quarter, the home crowd was roaring, and the Arizona Cardinals had tied the game with just 33 seconds left. But Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jason Myers had other plans.
Darnold connected with Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard strike on Seattle’s final possession, setting up Myers, who calmly drilled a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give the Seahawks a dramatic 23-20 victory over Arizona on Thursday Night Football.
It marked the Seahawks’ eighth straight win over their NFC West rivals, moving them to 3-1 on the season. The Cardinals dropped to 2-2, suffering their second straight last-play defeat after falling 16-15 to the 49ers five days earlier. According to Sportradar, it’s the first time since at least 1988 that Arizona has lost consecutive games on the final snap of regulation.
Seattle built a 20-6 lead midway through the fourth quarter thanks to steady quarterback play, a bruising run game, and relentless defensive pressure.
Darnold had another efficient outing, completing 18 of 26 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 81 yards, while Zach Charbonnet added his second rushing score of the season with a determined 1-yard plunge late in the second quarter.
The defense also shined, sacking Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray six times and forcing two interceptions. One came in bizarre fashion, when rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. bobbled a slant route right into the hands of Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV for an interception.
Darnold opened the scoring for Seattle with a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end AJ Barner late in the first quarter, giving the Seahawks a 7-3 lead after Arizona’s Chad Ryland booted a 33-yard field goal.
For most of the night, Arizona’s offense sputtered, drawing boos from the home crowd as the team jogged into halftime trailing 14-3. But Murray, who finished 27 of 41 for 200 yards with two touchdowns and two picks, sparked a furious rally late.
He found Harrison for a 16-yard touchdown with 5:50 remaining to cut the deficit to 20-13. After Myers missed a 53-yard field goal attempt, Murray engineered another drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass to Emari Demercado, tying the game at 20 with 33 seconds left.
That looked like it might force overtime — until Seattle took advantage of a mistake on the ensuing kickoff. Ryland’s boot landed short of the landing zone, drawing a penalty and giving the Seahawks the ball at their own 40-yard line. Two plays later, Darnold hit Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard gain, and Myers delivered redemption by splitting the uprights from 52 yards out as time expired.
Seattle (3-1) will return home to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Oct. 5. Arizona (2-2) will look to regroup when it hosts the Tennessee Titans the same day.
