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GLENDALE, Ariz. – Better? Definitely. Good enough to win? Not on this day, against this opponent.

The Seahawks jumped to a 14-0 lead against the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and also put up some impressive offensive numbers. But in the end, the Cardinals rallied for a 31-20 victory that lifted them to 6-3 and dropped the Seahawks to 3-6 – and still winless on the road in this frustrating season.

“It doesn’t feel like it right now,” coach Jim Mora said, “but when we look back at this game there are some things we improved on as a football team.”

Like running ball. Despite losing leading rusher Julius Jones to a broken rib in the first quarter – an injured that forced him to spend the night in a Phoenix-area hospital as a precautionary measure – the Seahawks ran for 164 yards. Justin Forsett, who stepped in when Jones went out, had a career-high 123 yards on 17 carries and scored on an 11-yard run.

All this against a Cardinals defense that held the Seahawks to a franchise-low 14 rushing yards during Arizona’s 27-3 romp at Qwest Field in Week 6.

“This was a big improvement for our team in the running game,” Forsett said. “It’s starts with the guys up front. The linemen got it done today.”

It helped that left tackle Sean Locklear returned for the first time since getting a high ankle sprain in Week 2. It also helped that Rob Sims was back at left guard after missing the first game against the Cardinals. Then there was center Chris Spencer – right-handed center Chris Spencer – who had to snap with his left hand after breaking the tip of his right thumb in practice on Wednesday.

Like pass the ball. T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught nine passes for a season-high 165 yards as Matt Hasselbeck passed for 315 yards. As a result the Seahawks converted on six of their 15 third-down situations, after going 0 for 11 against the Cardinals in Week 6.

“It was more fun to be out there on offense,” Hasselbeck said. “We were able to make some plays. Justin Forsett ran the ball well. Everybody was making some plays.

“But we missed some opportunities.”

Like play some inspired defense at times. The Seahawks had a goal-line stand in the first quarter, as cornerback Marcus Trufant hit Tim Hightower low and linebacker Leroy Hill got the Cardinals’ leading rusher high for no gain on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line.

Second-year middle linebacker David Hawthorne led the effort with a game-high 11 tackles. But the defense was unable to sack Kurt Warner, or pick off one of his 38 pass attempts.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons over there, so it’s hard to contain them,” Trufant said. “But at the end of the day, there’s no quit in this team. We kept fighting all the way through. It just didn’t happen for us.”

As Trufant said, the Cardinals just had too much firepower, outscoring the Seahawks 21-3 in the second half. Warner threw TD passes to Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston – giving him 200 in his career – while passing for 340 yards. Beanie Wells scored twice while rushing for 85 yards. Anquan Boldin, who sat out last week’s game, caught eight passes for 105 yards. The Cardinals also intercepted Hasselbeck twice in the fourth quarter as the Seahawks continued to move the ball, but could not capitalize when it counted most.

“They didn’t do anything different in the second half, they just executed better than we did,” Mora said. “They have a ton of talent on that team and they started making plays.”

So here the Seahawks are, three games off the division lead and looking at yet another road game – this time against the 8-1 Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

“We’re not counting ourselves out of anything, or readjusting our goals,” Mora said. “The bottom line is, that team we played today, they’re ahead of us.”

Asked about their all-but-dashed chances to reclaim a division they dominated for four seasons, Hasselbeck offered, “It’s like being behind in a game. The best thing is not to look at the scoreboard. But it is tough. We’ve got to try to get some games.”