The Arizona Cardinals marched into CenturyLink Field and defeated the defending NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks to a final score of 39-32 after giving up a 19 point lead and having to come from behind late in the fourth quarter.

Carson Palmer went 29 for 48 and put 363 yards on the Legion of Boom including three touchdowns and one interception while Andre Ellington and Chris Johnson ran for 119 yards. Ellington clinched the win for Arizona on a 48 yards rush to the end zone on 3rd down just seconds before the two minute warning.

Russell Wilson had little success on the day against the Cardinals defense as he went 14 for 32 for 240 yards and one touchdown and interception. However Wilson led the ground attack rushing for 52 yards compared to Marshawn Lynch who rushed for just 42 yards and a touchdown.

The Cardinals managed to have two 100+ yard receivers as Larry Fitzgerald caught 10 passes for 130 yards while Michael Floyd caught seven passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter.

The game started off with a scoreless first quarter but Arizona roared to life in the second quarter putting up 19 points on the Hawks off of two touchdowns from Palmer to Floyd for 27 and 35 yards, a safety and 33 yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro.

Seattle would finally get a response however following the two minute warning when Will Tukuafa ran it in from the one yard. However with too much time on the clock it gave the Cardinals plenty of time to drive back down the field where Catanzaro managed another field goal this time from 43 yards to make it 22-7 at halftime.

The Seahawks would come out of halftime and get a 31 yard field goal from Steven Hauschka to cut the lead back down to 15. Both sides would trade the ball back and forth then Arizona found themselves with another 43 yard field goal.

Seattle responded on its next drive using just three plays for Wilson to complete a 32 yard pass to Doug Baldwin who took it to the house to make it 25-17, which is how it ended in the third quarter.

The legion of boom initially to showed up at the beginning of the fourth quarter as Cliff Avril sacked palmer and K.J. Wright recovered it to give the Seahawks hope as the offense took over on the Arizona three and Lynch punched it home to make the score 25-23.

On the next Cardinal’s possession Wright delivered a blow to Palmer who again coughed up the ball this time recovered by Bobby Wagner who returned it for a touchdown to make the score 25-29.

Seattle attempted two point conversions after both scores but failed to convert on either as Arizona pressure gave Wilson little time in the pocket to let anything develop.

Arizona however wasn’t done, Palmer took his squad 83 yards on 10 plays and found Jermaine Gresham for the 14 yard touchdown pass to give them the lead back 32-29.

The Seahawks would give the ball back on the next drive after Wilson got called for grounding that pushed them back and unable to recover from the 15 yard penalty. Seattle would give it back to the Cardinals back on its own 26 yard line.

From there Arizona used a combination of rush and passing plays to kill off the clock, on third down and four Seattle gave up a 48 yard rush to Ellington that went all the way to the end zone and increased the Cardinals advantage to 10 points as the score became 39-29.

Seattle would get a quick field goal and attempt an onside kick that Arizona recovered to dash any hopes at a magical comeback the likes of the NFC Championship game.

Before this let down Seattle was 4-0 under Pete Carrol when trailing by 10+ points at home having come back those previous times.  

The game is a major shot at the Seahawks hopes of repeating as NFC West Champions for the third straight year as Arizona improves to 7-2 with a three game lead over the Hawks who fall to 4-5 and need to win out if they hope to contend for the playoffs this year even as a wildcard. Both sides will meet again on January 3rd in Glendale to end the regular season.

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About the author
Brandon Farris
Brandon Farris is a Seattle Correspondent helping cover the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers as a staff photographer and reporter.