'Thursday Night Football' tonight: Streaming, TV, why the Seahawks will beat the Cardinals
"I feel like that's one thing I've always tried to do throughout my entire career. We make it hard enough on ourselves. We take everything so serious, and it should be serious. It's very important, but at the same time, we need to go out and have fun and you only do that by being able to relax and play at your potential. Sometimes, I just go out there and do what I need to do and try to be infectious with that in some way, shape or form."
Unfortunately, there probably won't be many opportunities to light up the Seahawks' defense. In part because the unit is sixth against the pass, but primarily because the Seahawks are also 19th against the run. And while Arizona has struggled offensively -- it's 27th overall and 31st when running the ball -- expect a lot of Adrian Peterson, who has rediscovered himself since arriving in the Valley of the Sun in mid-October.
Two weeks after rushing four times for four yards in his final game with the Saints, Peterson went wild in his Cardinals debut. He finished with 26 carries for 134 yards and two scores. He had just 21 yards the next week, a 33-0 drubbing at the hands of the resurgent Rams, but he ran all over the 49ers last Sunday, carrying the ball 37 times for 159 yards.
If the Cardinals are going to have a chance against the Seahawks -- Arizona is 0-3-1 at home against Seattle in the Bruce Arians era -- Peterson will need a big night. And while All Day has been a fantastic story these last few weeks, it won't be enough to overcome the loss of key players, including one of the game's best players: running back David Johnson, who was injured in Week 1.
Drew Stanton owns the 49ers.
OK, maybe not, but the Cardinals’ backup quarterback has had success against the 49ers in his career. Of his seven wins as the Cardinals’ starting QB, now three of them have come against the division foe.
The third occurred Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, as Stanton completed 15-of-30 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in a 10-point win.
The real story of the game was Adrian Peterson. The veteran running back, playing in just his third game for the Cardinals after a trade with New Orleans, ran a career-high 37 times for 159 yards in the win.
On the other side, San Francisco had chances late. Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, the 49ers had a drive stall near midfield on which they turned it over on downs with under four minutes to play. Peterson, however, fumbled on the next play, giving San Francisco another chance. They would drive down to the Arizona 9-yard line, but C.J. Beathard’s first down pass ricocheted off the back of left tackle Trent Brown and was intercepted by linebacker Karlos Dansby.
Beathard was battered in the game. The Cardinals got five sacks and hit the rookie 16 times.
Stat of the Game: With his 159 yards (the sixth-highest single-game total in the league this season), Peterson is now one of only six backs in the NFL with two games of 130 or more rushing yards. The others are Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt, Chicago’s Jordan Howard, Jacksonville’s Leonard Fournette, Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott and Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell.