Rapid Reaction: Drew Lock, Jaxon Smith-Njigba Pull Off Hat Trick in Seahawks 31-7 Win vs. Cardinals

Turning a halftime tie into a laugher on the road, Drew Lock and Jaxon Smith-Njigba combined for three touchdown connections and A.J. Barner added a late score on a “Barn Yard” sneak as the Seattle Seahawks blew out the Arizona Cardinals 31-7 behind 24 unanswered points.

Playing a near-perfect game, Lock completed 19 out of 26 passes for 235 yards and three scores with no turnovers, while Emanuel Wilson bludgeoned Arizona’s defense in the second half to finish with 92 rushing yards to pace Seattle’s ground game. Leading the charge defensively, Julian Love intercepted Jacoby Brissett and Jarran Reed and Leonard Williams each recorded sacks as the visitors held the Cardinals to 151 total yards of offense on the afternoon.

Diving into a satisfying NFC West beatdown for Seattle, here are five takeaways from State Farm Stadium:

1. Playing with growing confidence, Lock continues to play clean football and wisely lean on his best weapon.

Building off a steady outing in relief of Sam Darnold in his first start in two years, Lock could not have had a more perfect start on Sunday afternoon, gifted a busted coverage on the back end by Arizona’s defense just two plays into the opening drive. Baited by a double move from Smith-Njigba on the outside, safety Budda Baker took a couple steps upfield, allowing the superstar to rocket past him with no additional support in coverage, making for the easiest 82-yard touchdown imaginable to open the scoring. While the Seahawks didn’t score again in the first half, it wasn’t on the quarterback, who threw for 163 yards without any turnovers while completing nine out of 14 attempts, and he continued to sling the pigskin coming out of the locker room.

Once again relying on Smith-Njigba’s brilliance and reliability in clutch moments, Lock rifled a seven-yard touchdown to the star receiver on a third down slant to put Seattle back out in front 14-7 early in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, he flashed his elite arm talent by throwing a fastball in between three converging defenders in coverage for a 17-yard connection to tight end Elijah Arroyo, helping set up a Jason Myers field goal to push the lead to 10 points. Putting a dagger in the red birds early in the fourth quarter, the quarterback found his favorite weapon once more to finish off the hat trick, throwing a rope over the outstretched arm of a dropping linebacker to Smith-Njigba for a 12-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone, finishing off the best game of his NFL career.