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GLENDALE, Ariz. – The view from the top looked so good to the Seahawks on Sunday because it took so long to get back.

With a 36-18 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium – and the San Francisco 49ers’ overtime win against the St. Louis Rams – the Seahawks sit alone atop the NFC West with a 5-4 record.

Underling all the good feelings generated by the Seahawks’ dominating performance was that it came against the team that won the past two division titles, and a team they had not beaten in Arizona since 2005.

“There was a time when we owned the division,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said of the Seahawks winning the West from 2004-07. “The Cardinals took it away from us. We knew what needed to happen, what we needed to do to earn it back.”

That started with sweeping the Cardinals, which the Seahawks did by winning Sunday as well as in Week 7 at Qwest Field.

The loss, the fourth in a row for the Cardinals, dropped them to 3-6 and into a tie with the 49ers. The Rams are wedged in the middle at 4-5.

Yes, it’s still early – especially with the Seahawks looking at another road game next week against the defending Super Bowl champion Saints in New Orleans – but the magnitude of dispatching the Cardinals for the second time in a month was significant nonetheless.

“I really enjoyed today,” first-year coach Pete Carroll said has he stepped to the podium after the game. “It was great to watch our team hang tough and get a win that really feels good.”

That’s figuratively, as Hasselbeck cracked a bone in his left wrist on an unsuccessful sneak on fourth-and-1 in the first half and leading receiver Mike Williams was playing with a right pinkie finger that he fractured in practice on Thursday.

If they were feeling the pain, it didn’t show.

Hasselbeck passed for a season-high 333 yards by completing 22 of 34 passes – including a 63-yard TD to wide receiver Deon Butler. Williams had a career-high 145 receiving yards, on 11 receptions – which matched his career high, from the Week 7 win over the Cardinals.

The Seahawks also got rushing touchdowns from Justin Forsett (64 yards on nine carries) and Marshawn Lynch (29 yards on 13 carries), as well as five field goals from Olindo Mare – which tied the franchise record that he already matched in the Week 7 win over the Cardinals.

On defense, Chris Clemons and Aaron Curry each had two sacks, and strong safety Lawyer Milloy celebrated his 37th birthday by adding as fifth as the Seahawks pressured Cardinals QB Derek Anderson into a 23-of-45 passing performance and held Arizona to 41 rushing yards.

Clemons forced a fumble with one of his sacks, while cornerback Kelly Jennings intercepted a pass that was deflected by nickel back Jordan Babineaux.

It was all by design – a plan devised by offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates and defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to be more aggressive that the players went out and executed.

The idea on offense was to come out throwing and challenge the Cardinals’ attacking defense, which called for the line to provide Hasselbeck with the needed protection and others to step up and help Williams. Hasselbeck was sacked only once – after going down a career-high eight times against the Oakland Raiders two weeks ago that left him with a concussion; and five times in the first game against the Cardinals. Butler and Ben Obomanu each caught four passes, including a 40-yarder from Obomanu to go with the 63 yarder from Butler. Tight end Chris Baker also had a 44-yarder.

“We were able to bring our own energy today,” Williams said. “And we had so many guys step up to make plays.”

The plan on defense was to stop the run and then pressure Anderson into making some mistakes. That, of course, is the plan every week. But it’s not every week that the players execute it was as they did in this game.

“We knew if we could get Anderson into situations where he had to pass, and if we could get some pressure, it would play into what we wanted to do,” Curry said after the first two-sack game of his career.

All this after being outscored 74-10 in their past two games against the Raiders and New York Giants.

“There was a lot of good stuff here,” Carroll said. “Just to respond after the last two weeks and come back and play well.”

Not to mention being alone atop a division they won dominated, even if there are still seven more games to play.