Seahawks
Capsule preview: Seahawks at Cardinals

JAMES BRANAMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Shaun Alexander rushed for two TDs in his last game vs. Arizona.

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Last game

Seahawks: Seattle lost at New England 30-20 last Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. The Seahawks became No. 20 on the Patriots' list of consecutive games won, dating to last October. Two early interceptions thrown by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led to 10 points for the Patriots, and the Seahawks trailed 20-6 at halftime. The Seahawks rallied in the second half with two Josh Brown field goals and a Shaun Alexander touchdown run with a two-point conversion, and they had a chance to take the lead when they started a drive with 6:43 left, down 23-17. They settled for a field goal and needed to stop the Patriots' next possession to get the ball back. But a 48-yard pass play on third down set up their final touchdown, sealing the win for New England.

For Seattle, Hasselbeck threw for 349 yards. Wide receiver Koren Robinson mishandled three passes and clearly dropped one but had nine catches for 150 yards. The team had 443 yards of total offense, their best output of the season.

Cardinals: Arizona had a bye last week, but blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost at San Francisco 31-28 on Oct. 10. The 49ers scored two touchdowns with two two-point conversions in the final 4:35 of the game, and won on an overtime field goal.

QB Josh McCown threw three touchdown passes, one each to TE Freddie Jones, RB Troy Hambrick and WR Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had five catches for 94 yards. The Cardinals' pass defense couldn't stop 49ers' quarterback Tim Rattay, who threw for 417 yards and completed 38 of 57 attempts.

The last time

The Seahawks trounced the Cardinals 28-10 last December at Qwest Field, completing a regular-season sweep of the two games with Arizona in which they outscored the Cardinals 66-10. The win gave the Seahawks an 8-0 regular-season record at home. Alexander ran for scores of 9 and 44 yards and Hasselbeck threw a touchdown pass to Maurice Morris.

Alexander rushed for 135 yards, and tight end Itula Mili has six catches for 70 yards. The Seahawks sacked McCown eight times.

Trent Dilfer came on for Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter and led a 10-play scoring drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Engram.
 
What to expect

This is almost a must-win game for the Seahawks in terms of the race for the NFC West title. They trail the St. Louis Rams by half a game and must keep pace if they want to host a postseason game in January. The Seahawks are a better team than the Cardinals in virtually every aspect of the game, and barring a complete lack of execution on both sides of the ball should leave the desert with a 3-1 road record and a 4-2 overall mark.

Notable

Seattle: The Seahawks waived OL Jerry Wunsch yesterday to make room for P Donnie Jones, whom they signed from the practice squad to replace the injured Tom Rouen. ... Hasselbeck is 3-0 against the Cardinals and has completed 70 percent of his passes in those games. ... Alexander is tied for the NFL lead with eight touchdowns.

Arizona: Coach Dennis Green's teams are 8-2 after bye weeks. ... TE Freddie Jones has 376 career catches, second-most among active NFL tight ends. ... K Neil Rackers is 6 for 7 on field goals this season.

Injury report

Seattle: DE Grant Wistrom (knee), OLB Anthony Simmons (shoulder) and P Tom Rouen are out. OLB Chad Brown (leg) and WR D.J. Hackett (hip) are doubtful. WR Bobby Engram (ankle), P Tom Rouen (hamstring) and OT Chris Terry (shoulder) are questionable. DT Rashad Moore (shoulder) is probable.

Arizona: WR Anquan Boldin (knee) and RB Josh Scobey (knee) are out. WR Nate Poole (ankle) is questionable. LB James Darling (calf), DT Ross Kolodziej (ankle) and CB Duane Starks (shoulder) are probable.

José Miguel Romero

Who has the advantage?
		QB	RB	WR	OL	DL	LB	DB	ST
	Seattle	×	×	×	×	Tie	×	×	Tie
	Arizona					Tie			Tie