The Seattle Seahawks (11-4) fell to the Arizona Cardinals (5-9-1) at home and lost the NFC West lead to the San Francisco 49ers (12-3) once again. Here are a few takeaways from the game.

Seattle’s offensive line got dominated

Russell Wilson did not play well by any means, but his offensive line did not consistently give him time to throw. Duane Brown’s absence certainly played a factor, but the line collectively gave up five sacks and likely would have given up more if not for Wilson’s scrambling abilities. This injury-riddled offensive line’s play has not been solid in the past few weeks and they face an even tougher task against the 49ers’ vicious defensive line.

Injuries hamper both sides of the ball

In addition to Brown’s absence, both Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise suffered injuries that took them out of the game, leaving rookie Travis Homer to fill in with little success. The Seahawks also missed key contributors on defense in Shaquill Griffin, Quandre Diggs, Jadeveon Clowney and Al Woods, particularly in the running game as Seattle gave up 253 rushing yards to Arizona’s ground game. The Seahawks were thoroughly outplayed in Week 16 and injuries were a major factor in the outcome.

Seahawks couldn’t capitalize on another lucky injury break

The Cardinals lost quarterback Kyler Murray to a hamstring injury in the game, leaving former Seahawk Brett Hundley to take over. However, Seattle still could not capitalize on the opportunity to gain ground on its division rival, coming up short on multiple possessions. Hundley did enough for Arizona to win and even led a touchdown drive to make the score 27-13 and put the game away. The Seahawks’ own injuries were simply too significant to make up for and it led to another embarrassing blowout loss to a division rival.

DK Metcalf shut down by Patrick Peterson

Metcalf had a massively disappointing showing in one of the most important games of the year. Patrick Peterson is an elite cornerback, but not recording a single reception in any game will not garner a player any positive recognition. Metcalf is still a rookie and his future looks bright, but he has been a key cog in Seattle’s offense this year and has expectations to contribute from game to game. He could not pull it off against Peterson this week.

Arizona is Seattle’s kryptonite at home

The Cardinals are now 5-2 against the Seahawks in their last seven games at CenturyLink Field and continue to be one of the only teams in the NFL that can consistently defeat Seattle at home. Some teams just have another’s number, and it’s safe to say that the Cardinals nearly always bring the fight to the Seahawks in the Emerald City, even when they have nothing to play for.

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