Kickers miss 27-, 24-yarders to win game for each team
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Stephen Hauschka needed only to make a 27-yard field goal to give the Seattle Seahawks an overtime victory over Arizona.
Chandler Catanzaro’s only had to hit a 24-yarder to give the Cardinals a win.
Such kicks are often called automatic. They aren’t.
Hauschka’s kick was wide left with 7 seconds left after Catanzaro booted one off the left upright, and the game between two teams that have dominated the NFC West in recent years ended in a 6-6 tie Sunday night.
“I make that kick 999,999 times out of a million,” Catanzaro said.
The last tie in the NFL came in 2014, when Carolina and Cincinnati tied 37-37. It was the Cardinals’ first tie since Dec. 7, 1986, a 10-10 draw at Philadelphia when the franchise was based in St. Louis, and the first for Seattle since entering the NFL in 1976. There had not been an NFL tie with no touchdowns scored since 1972.
“That was really an amazing football game,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I don’t think I have ever been in a tie before and my brain doesn’t really know where to go.
The Cardinals (3-3-1) dominated the game statistically and looked to be in shape to win it after Carson Palmer’s 40-yard pass to J.J. Nelson set up Catanzaro’s short kick.
The Seahawks (4-1-1), stuffed throughout regulation by the Arizona defense, took over and Russell Wilson completed passes of 31 yards to Jermaine Kearse and 27 yards to Doug Baldwin to give Hauschka his short attempt.
“We work hard to make those kicks all season long and it is disappointing when it doesn’t go well,” Hauschka said. “I feel like I let me time down.”
Both kickers made field goals on their teams’ first possession of overtime.
Catanzaro, who kicked field goals of 46 and 45 yards, also had a 39-yard field goal blocked by a stunning play by Bobby Wagner .
Until overtime, the only time the Seahawks crossed midfield came when Tanner McEnvoy blocked Ryan Quigley’s punt with 4:33 to play. That gave Seattle the ball on the Arizona 27 and led to Hauschka’s 40-yard field goal that tied it at 3 with four minutes to play.
“It’s disappointing to put up those kind numbers and not come away with points because of the kicking game,” Arizona coach Bruce Arians said. “It’s disheartening to play that well and not come away with a victory.”
Catanzaro’s 46-yard field goal put Arizona up 3-0 with 3:11 left in the first half, and the Cardinals nursed that lead until the blocked punt.
On a bruising night, Arizona’s David Johnson had a career-high 41 touches. He carried the ball 33 times for 113 yards and caught eight passes for 58 yards. Wilson, obviously slowed by leg problems, completed 24 of 37 passes for 225 yards, most of the damage coming in the overtime. He carried the ball once for minus-2 yards.
Arizona’s defense nearly scored halfway through the fourth quarter when Chandler Jones hit Wilson as he was about to pass and the ball bounced toward the Seattle goal line, but Michael Glowinski jumped on it for Seattle at the 4-yard line, a 20-yard loss.
The Cardinals finished with a 443-257 advantage in yards, 23-11 in firsts downs and 46:21 to 28:39 in time of possession.
Arizona had one drive end when the Cardinals failed on fourth-and-1 from the Seattle 19. And Johnson came so close to scoring a game-winning touchdown on Arizona’s last possession. He ran four yards to the 1-yard line and his foot knocked over the pylon as he was knocked outside, but officials did not review to see if it was a score.
SUPREME HURDLE
The Cardinals had the first scoring threat. Catanzaro lined up for a 39-yard field goal but 245-pound linebacker Wagner jumped over Arizona long snapper Aaron Brewer like an Olympic hurdler and blocked it. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians argued loudly for a penalty and was charged with a timeout when he challenged a play that is not reviewable. That proved significant when the Cardinals couldn’t stop the clock to get off a short field goal attempt as the first half ended.
MISSING BROWNS
The Cardinals were without speedster John Brown after doctors diagnosed sickle cell traits that were causing leg pain. The other wide receiver named Brown, Jaron, left the game early with a knee injury, depleting is usually one of the league’s deeper wide receiver corps.