With five games remaining in the regular season, the Seattle Seahawks are taking a three-game win streak into their Week 14 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Seahawks (7-5) are holding a one-game lead over the Cardinals (6-6), but their lead is narrow. This game is close to must-win territory for Seattle if it hopes to remain in the NFC West driver’s seat.

Despite their recent stretch of wins, every game remains critical for Seattle. Any loss will hinder the Seahawks’ postseason hopes — especially a defeat against an in-division opponent. There is little wiggle room in the NFC West this season.

Can the Seahawks stay in the win column on Sunday to take a three-game lead over Arizona? Our writing staff has a few predictions and players to watch in Sunday’s Week 14 game.

Only a few short weeks ago, the Cardinals were one of the hottest teams in the NFL, winning four consecutive games before their bye week to vault to the top of the NFC West. But life comes at you fast in the league, and since that week off, Kyler Murray and the offense have gone cold, with the Seahawks holding them to a mere six points at Lumen Field two weeks ago.

It’s hard to envision Arizona, which will be as desperate as an NFL team can be needing a win to keep diminishing playoff hopes alive, not being able to find a bit more of a spark at home on Sunday. Murray will have his full complement of receivers and the chance to do extra self scouting should provide the opportunity to make adequate adjustments to counter how Seattle shut them down only two weeks ago, including mixing in more bootleg action to get the quarterback out of the pocket and testing the edges a bit more with the run game.

With that said, the Seahawks have been winning games even without Geno Smith and their offense clicking anywhere close to all cylinders, and the veteran quarterback has historically played quite well in Glendale. In his past two starts there, he has completed north of 67 percent of his pass attempts with four touchdown passes and an interception, leading the team to a pair of road victories.

After the two teams combined for just 22 points in Week 12, with the roof set to open on a sunny day in the desert, more scoring will likely be needed this time around to secure a win. Not having Ken Walker III available may make that task a little trickier for Seattle, but at the same time, Zach Charbonnet is coming off an impressive outing in New Jersey and weather conditions should be better suited for Smith to air it out to DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Lockett, giving the NFC West leaders a significant advantage in this must-win contest. -Corbin Smith

Corbin’s Pick to Click: Zach Charbonnet

The impact of Walker’s absence cannot be understated, as he’s one of the NFL’s most explosive backs and has the ability to take any carry the distance, a trait Charbonnet can’t physically match. But in an odd way, Charbonnet’s more physical, bruising style may be better suited right now for Grubb’s offense with a suspect offensive line up front. Last week, his no nonsense approach netted better results than Walker, as he averaged seven yards per carry and rumbled into the end zone for a game-winning eight-yard touchdown after breaking multiple tackles in the clutch.

As a starter this year, Charbonnet has rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns in wins over the Patriots and Dolphins, averaging a healthy four yards per carry while also adding eight receptions out of the backfield. When he has had extensive playing time, he has consistently found the end zone and found ways to create despite suboptimal blocking in front of him, forcing 12 missed tackles and averaging over 4.5 yards per carry after contact in those two starts. Facing a defense with smaller linebackers in Mack Wilson and Kyzir White, his size and flair for dishing out punishment could ironically be a blessing in disguise in this particular matchup.

Corbin’s Prediction: Seahawks 27, Cardinals 19

Seattle dominated the first matchup because of its defense. That unit has shown no signs of slowing down since, which positions the Seahawks perfectly heading into this game.

Even though Seattle’s offensive production has declined significantly since the bye, the Seahawks are allowing 10 fewer points during that same span. With the aid of defensive touchdowns, they are only scoring three fewer points. Thus, the offense needs to step up or the defense needs to keep putting points on the board.

The Cardinals didn’t show anything in their game against the Minnesota Vikings last week that displays there will be a massive difference in this contest. Quarterback Kyler Murray and running back James Conner were more productive on the ground, but Seattle’s run defense has been tops in the league the last three weeks. There’s no reason to believe that will change in Week 14.

With Kenneth Walker III out, Zach Charbonnet could thrive versus Arizona. Charbonnet’s downhill running style could punish Arizona’s front seven, and an established run game would make all the difference for Seattle’s offense. With an improved defense, a quality performance by quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense would be a massive push towards a win. – Connor Benintendi

Connor’s Pick to Click: CB Devon Witherspoon

Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon is primed for a big game. Witherspoon has no takeaways and no sacks so far this season, but has created plenty of plays for others (i.e. safety Coby Bryant’s pick-six against Arizona in Week 12). He’s been all over the field, but hasn’t had the box score impact that is expected.

The bold prediction for this game is that Witherspoon nabs a pick-six, which would be Seattle’s third in three games. There’s only so many plays the second-year former No. 5 overall pick can make for others before Witherspoon has to get his own game-changer.

Connor’s Score Prediction: Seahawks 28, Cardinals 12

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