SEATTLE — Until it was mentioned, Seattle’s Jamal Adams hadn’t considered that more than a year had passed since he last played a game inside his home stadium.
In fact, Adams hasn’t experienced playing very many games before the home fans since arriving with the Seahawks before the 2020 season.
“I’m just looking forward to it,” Adams said ahead of Seattle hosting Arizona on Sunday. “I know it’s going to be amped. I know it’s going to be juiced. I know we’re going to feed off one another, so it’s going to be good.”
With what’s upcoming on the schedule, the matchup with the Cardinals is of high importance for the Seahawks. After losing last week at Cincinnati and games with Cleveland and Baltimore on the horizon, Seattle (3-2) can’t afford a slip up against the struggling Cardinals.
“No matter what the record is or who the opponent is, they are going to bring their A-game and it’s going to be a good team,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “If you watched the film, (the Cardinals) have been close in a lot of their games. Their record could really be different than what it is right now.”
For Adams, it will be his first game at home since suffering a torn quadriceps tendon in the 2022 season opener. Playing before Seattle’s rowdy fans has been rare for Adams — the 2020 season was played without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic and he played in just six home games in 2021 before a shoulder injury ended his season.
Adams made his return in Week 4 against the Giants, but lasted only nine plays before suffering a concussion. Last week, he played 85% of the snaps against the Bengals and was pretty sore afterward. But it was a “good” sore after going nearly two calendar years since last playing a complete game.
“It was more so about getting back in the groove, the routine, understanding my body and understanding what comes after playing a full game,” Adams said.
Arizona (1-5) has lost three straight after its surprising win over Dallas in Week 4. The Cardinals’ problem during the losing streak has been the second half, where they’ve been outscored 51-12 in the three games.
Arizona led Cincinnati at halftime two weeks ago and was outscored 17-6 in the second half. Last week, the Rams outscored the Cardinals 20-0 in the second half after Arizona led 9-6 at halftime.
“I think it’s all of us just making a couple more plays here or there and the consistency of that,” Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said.
FOR NOW, DOBBS IN CHARGE
Journeyman Joshua Dobbs is still the quarterback for the Cardinals, even though his days as the starter appear numbered.
The return of Arizona’s Kyler Murray appears imminent after the team announced the quarterback was returning to practice on Wednesday following a 10-month layoff because of an ACL injury. The Cardinals have 21 days to move the quarterback to the active roster. The 28-year-old Dobbs was acquired from the Cleveland Browns in a trade just before the season started and performed very well the first few weeks before regressing during the team’s three-game losing streak.
RED ZONE WOES
Seattle would likely be riding a four-game win streak if it was better in the red zone last week against Cincinnati.
The Seahawks managed just 10 points out of five red zone trips against the Bengals, including twice failing to come away with points in the fourth quarter of the loss.
For the season, Seattle has scored 11 touchdowns in 22 red-zone trips. The Seahawks should get a few more chances to improve that percentage this week as the Cardinals have allowed the most red-zone possessions in the league with 30 through six games.
BANGED-UP SECONDARY
The Cardinals are struggling in the secondary, ranking 22nd in the league in pass defense while allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete more than 70% of their passes.
Two-time All-Pro Budda Baker has missed the past five games with a hamstring ailment, though he was designated to return from injured reserve Wednesday. The team’s other starting safety, Jalen Thompson, also missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury. Rookie cornerback Kei’Trel Clark had a tough time guarding L.A.’s Cooper Kupp last week, with the receiver racking up seven catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.
HOME COOKIN’?
Playing at Lumen Field was once a fortress for the Seahawks. Now? Not so much.
Since the start of the 2019 season, the Seahawks are just 13-14 in home games played with fans in attendance.
The Cardinals are responsible for two of those losses with wins in 2019 and 2021.
“We have to get back and get out ahead of this thing,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “If you’re going to have a really good season, you have to be really good at home and there’s no two ways about that.”
