Seattle – Shaun Alexander perks his ears when the Arizona Cardinals are on the schedule.
“I think they talk a lot of mess,” Alexander said. “That kind of gets me excited.”
Alexander, Seattle’s Pro Bowl running back, rushed for four touchdowns, two in a 30-second span of the third quarter, and the Seahawks broke open a 10-9 halftime lead, cruising to a 37-12 romp over winless Arizona on Sunday.
Scoreless in the second half of its first two games, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren guaranteed the Seahawks would score in the second half sometime this season. His players made Holmgren look like a prophet after they put up 27 points in the final 30 minutes.
“I was right on that one,” Holmgren quipped.
Alexander continued his impressive track record against the Cardinals at home. Alexander rushed for 135 yards and three scores in the first three quarters, and his 1-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth gave Seattle a 31-12 lead.
Alexander finished with 140 yards on 22 carries, the 24th 100-yard game of his career, tying him with Chris Warren for most in team history. The last two seasons against Arizona, Alexander rushed for 135 and 154 yards at home against the Cards.
Matt Hasselbeck finished 20-of-31 for 242 yards for 125 yards for Seattle (2-1).
Meanwhile, the day got progressively worse for Arizona (0-3), a trendy preseason pick to win the NFC West.
Down 10-6 with 3:56 left in the first half, Arizona lost quarterback Kurt Warner to a right groin injury.
Facing a third-and-9 at the Seattle 32, Warner was pressured, and ran from the pocket to his left. He attempted to throw across his body to fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, but the pass fell incomplete.
Warner said he felt the groin begin to give out twice on the play and limped to the center of the field after throwing and was replaced by Josh McCown.
Neil Rackers kicked field goals of 54, 39, 50 and 39 yards for Arizona, which has just one offensive touchdown all season.
