The discourse among Seahawks fans on social media has taken a bizarre turn this week. A sizable portion of the fan base has been advocating for either Geno Smith to be benched or closing the door on Smith being the QB of the (near) future over the next few seasons. This article will not delve into all the reasons those perspectives are, at best, mistimed. It is an important backdrop for the coming weeks, starting with this game.

Seattle welcomed back Charles Cross last week, playing their first full game with their starting left tackle in week six of the season. They have yet to play a single full game with their starting right tackle. Most fans have been lulled into thinking everything was alright as the team had won three straight games. Pass protection on the edges, especially right tackle, has been nowhere close to alright.

While most fans, media members, and analysts are talking about Smith playing a “terrible” game this past week, the reality is that they finally had the wool lifted from over their eyes about how hard it is to operate an offense with a tackle who is incapable of pass protection and an offensive coordinator who left him on an island far too often, while calling plays that required too much time to develop.

It would be a real mistake to play Jake Curhan again at right tackle this week. The team could get away with it against a subpar opponent in Arizona. That does not make it the correct decision. Abe Lucas will not be returning this week, and nobody can be sure he will stay on the field after returning soon. Seattle needs to start learning about other right tackle options now.

Jason Peters is the obvious choice. He has not been elevated off the practice squad yet, and it would be foolish to expect the 41-year-old tackle to be great. Seattle does not need him to be great. They need him to be competent. That would be a significant upgrade from what Curhan has provided as a pass protector.

No matter what they do at right tackle, Waldron has to prove he can scheme usage of three receivers without having all hell break loose. He dramatically increased three receiver sets against the Bengals (over 70% vs ~55% the previous five weeks). That led to Jaxon Smith-Njigba breaking out. It also led to challenges in pass protection and slow-developing plays without enough outlets.

Smith needs to more quickly utilize outlets when they are there, and Waldron needs to use more motion, rollouts, and play action to stress the defense. Smith spent most of the last week standing in the middle of the field.

The Cardinals are not a good team, and they got less dangerous when running back James Conner went down with an injury. They can be pesky, though, and have been competitive in most of their games.

Seattle needs to use this game as a chance to take a big step forward on offense while continuing their glow-up on defense.

The way this works: Each offense will be pitted against the opposing defense and compared on an array of key statistical attributes based on their respective rank in the NFL. The tables that follow show the rank of each unit for each of these categories.

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Seahawks Offense vs Cardinals Defense

Cardinals key advantages on defense

Budda Baker is out. Jalen Thompson, the other starting safety, missed last week with a hamstring injury. This is not a particularly talented defense. They have managed to create some edge pressure with Dennis Gardeck and Victor Dimukeje. Zaven Collins has flashed at times as well.

Seahawks key advantages on offense

Seattle should be able to run and pass on this team. Their corners are bad. Although, Antonio Hamilton is the best of the bunch at slot corner.

The linebackers also struggle in coverage, which should create space for tight ends and running backs to be productive.

The smart game plan is built around the run game, play action, bootlegs and tight ends. The riskier one is more wide open with more three receiver sets. It will be interesting to see which Waldron picks.

Cardinals Offense vs Seahawks Defense

Cardinals key advantages on offense

Conner had been the key to this offense. Not only was he a great runner, but he was an elite pass protector. The drop off was significant last week. Joshua Dobbs is better than expected, and is dangerous with his feet. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is a solid receiver, and their main target.

Arizona has done a good job of protecting the football.

Seahawks key advantages on defense

Seattle has been the best run defense in football. The Cardinals have been heavily reliant on the run game. It will be very tough for Arizona to avoid turnovers if they are forced to throw the ball a lot.

Dobbs has not thrown a ton of picks, but he has fumbled quite a bit. The Seahawks pass rush has come alive as the coverage has improved, and the run defense has not skipped a beat.

This has suddenly become a tough defense for opponents to attack. Few Seahawks fans expected to see that sentence this season.