Nearly halfway through the 2026 NFL Season, there was clearly something wrong with the Seattle Seahawks, both physically and mentally. This was evident in the Seahawks’ 34-17 home loss on Monday Night Football to the Chicago Bears. The Seahawks needed to make some changes to save their season amid the long list of growing injuries.

​Week 9 versus the Arizona Cardinals is the Seahawks' "get right" game on both sides of the ball as they come out with a 17-3 win. While there are some glaring issues on offense that the Seahawks need to address, there are some areas that the Dark Side Defense needed to fix. Seattle ranks at the top in major defensive categories; there were two huge concerns that head coach Mike Macdonald needed to fix against the Cardinals.

​Red-Zone and Clutch Play were a Real Problem

​The Dark Side Defense was one of the toughest defenses to play against, but there were certain aspects that made them vulnerable. The Seahawks were sixth in the league in points allowed per game (19.9) entering Sunday, but they were last in allowing fourth-down conversions (90.9%) and last in red zone defense (83.2%). One of the biggest reasons is that if the Seahawks don't get the quick stop and their backs are against the wall, they crack under pressure.

​Macdonald and veteran edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence knew this was an issue coming out of Week 8 and knew this had to change. They both mentioned that the days leading up to the Cardinals were going to be crucial. It would be the team's best chances to fix their biggest mistakes against competition before they played more efficient teams.

​The Dark Side Defense had one of their best performances on Sunday against the Cardinals. The Seahawks allowed 198 total yards from the Cardinals with only 50 yards coming from the running game. The Cardinals only converted 4-of-13 on third downs in the game.

​The biggest moments were Seattle's clutch play, which was on fourth-down plays and in the red zone. Arizona only converted one of its two fourth-down attempts and was 0-of-2 in the red zone.

​This was against a Cardinals offense that had some traction towards a more productive unit. Arizona entered Sunday with the 20th-ranked scoring offense (21.9) and the 11th most efficient offense in converting on fourth downs (61.5%). The Seahawks held their own against a young offense that has shown signs of becoming a dangerous team in the future.

​The Seahawks were without some of their stars in defensive tackle Leonard Williams and edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu. They were also without some reliable depth players like defensive tackle Brandon Pili.

​Seattle (5-4) now has this momentum and can prepare for the second half of the season, which starts with a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders (4-5). Like the Cardinals, the Raiders also possess a solid slate of young players that have been improving.

The Raiders have a head coach in Klint Kubiak and offensive coordinator in Andrew Janocko, who were the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach last season, respectively. They know how to beat the Seahawks’ elite defense regularly.

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