GLENDALE—Games are rarely easy, or normal, when the Seahawks play in Arizona, and Thursday night's game was no different.

Riding a dominant defensive performance and an efficient day from Sam Darnold, the Seahawks built a two-score lead early and appeared to be in control, only to see the Cardinals come storming back with two touchdown in the finals six minutes of the game. But thanks to a clutch Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba pass, the Seahawks were able to get into field goal range, and Jason Myers walked it off with a 52-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 23-20 victory that improved their record to 3-1.

Here are five rapid reactions the Seahawks' Week 4 win in Arizona, Seattle's eight straight road win and eighth win in a row over the Cardinals:

1. The Darnold to JSN connection came through again when it mattered most.

For much of Thursday's game, Seahawks leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held without a catch, but he and Darnold started connecting when the team needed it most, and Seattle's Pro-Bowl receiver finished with four receptions for 79 yards, all in the second half.

Smith-Njigba had a big 36-yard catch in the fourth quarter that, had Jason Myers later made a field goal, would have helped the Seahawks put the game away, but since that kick missed and the Cardinals tied it on their ensuing possession, Darnold and JSN had to come through with one more big play. This time, with the Seahawks getting the ball back with only 28 second left in the game, Darnold hit Smith-Njigba down the left sideline for a 22-yard gain. One Zach Charbonnet run later, Myers was back out, and this time he did not miss, drilling a 52-yarder for the win.

For his part, Darnold was sharp again, completing 18 of 26 passes for one touchdown with no turnovers, giving him a 111.4 rating.

2. That was a solid win, but the Seahawks made it harder than they needed to.

Any win on the road is a good one, especially one over a strong division opponent with a winning record, but for as impressive as Thursday's win was, the Seahawks had to have come out of it feeling like they should have been even more in control of the game than they were.

The Seahawks had a14-3 lead at halftime—again, a solid showing against a good opponent—but could have been up by more had they gotten any points off of two interceptions. First, Coby Bryant picked off Kyler Murray, but at the end of his return, as he slid to give himself up, he was accidentally hit by teammate Tyrice Knight, who was trying to throw a block, resulting in a fumble that the Cardinals recovered. So instead of the Seahawks having the ball in Cardinals territory, the Cardinals got the ball back with a new set of downs, and eventually got a field goal out of the drive. Later in the half, the Seahawks intercepted Murray again, with Ernest Jones IV getting the pick this time. But while the offense was able to move the ball deep into Cardinals territory on that drive, they eventually went backwards, first on a 15-yard taunting penalty on Kenneth Walker III, then a negative run, knocking them out of field goal range.

After all of that, they had a chance at a third interception late in the half, but Julian Love was unable to hang onto the ball for a turnover that would have given the Seahawks a chance to add to the lead before halftime.

In the second half, the Seahawks appeared to have a touchdown on an impressive Zach Charbonnet run, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba was called for a rather questionable holding call, taking the touchdown off the board and knocking the Seahawks back 10 yards. Another penalty, a false start, made things even more difficult on the drive, and the Seahawks had to settle for a field goal.

The Seahawks also missed out on a chance to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when Jason Myers missed a 53-yard field goal, but after the Cardinals tied it, Myers came through with a walk-off 52-yard kick.

3. Effort plays made a difference once again.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald uses the phrase "shocking effort" to describe what he wants to see from his team, and one example he pointed to last week was the team effort to push tight end Eric Saubert to the goal line on a short pass, setting up a Kenneth Walker III touchdown run.

On Thursday night, a couple more of those effort plays showed up again for the Seahawks to help put points on the board. First, there was Zach Charbonnet's 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, which not only featured great effort by him to keep his feet and keep pushing after initial contact, but also a great effort play by left tackle Charles Cross, who shoved his teammate across the goal line when he momentarily appeared to be stopped short.

In the third quarter, the Seahawks almost saw their second half get off to a bad start when Sam Darnold was sacked and fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, but Saubert was able to dive on the loose ball to maintain possession for Seattle. And instead of turning the ball over in their own territory, the Seahawks were able to drive into field goal range and extend their lead with a Jason Myers field goal.

4. Uchenna Nwosu is back.

After missing long stretches of each of the past two seasons due to injury, Uchenna Nwosu also saw his 2025 season delayed because of offseason knee surgery that caused him to open training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

Nwosu missed Seattle's opener, then played in the last two games, but they were rather quiet performances as he played his way back into game shape. Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde told reporters this week that he saw improvement in Nwosu from his first game to his second, and expected to see that improvement continue, and sure enough, Nwosu came through with a big game against the Cardinals.

Nwosu had 2.0 sacks of Kyler Murray, as well as five total tackles, and did so while taking on a bigger workload than was probably planned due to DeMarcus Lawrence leaving the game in the first half with a thigh injury. It was Nwosu's first multi-sack game since Week 4 of the 2022 season.

The Seahawks finished with a total of six sacks and for the vast majority of the game kept the Cardinals in check, but Arizona was able to put together two impressive drives late to become the first team to score more than 17 points on Seattle this season.

5. The tight ends came through with big catches.

While Smith-Njigba again finished as Seattle's leading receiver, for much of the game it was other pass-catchers leading the way, including tight ends Elijah Arroyo and AJ Barner. Arroyo had two catches for 44 yards, including a 32 yarder, while Barner had three for 32, including a touchdown.

While Saubert didn't get in on the receiving action, he was important in the run game, and as mentioned earlier, had a critical fumble recovery.