Seahawks beat Cardinals 17-3 without a 20-yard play, a first for Seattle since 2000

The Seattle Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 on Sunday without gaining 20 or more yards on a single play. According to Field Gulls, SB Nation's Seahawks site, the franchise had not won a game without a 20-yard play since November 2000. The win lifts Seattle to 5-4 and gets it back on track a week after a 34-17 loss to Chicago.

That last win came almost exactly 26 years earlier, a 17-15 escape against a San Diego team that finished 1-15. SB Nation's report, syndicated on Yahoo Sports, notes how thin Seattle's offense was that day. Shaun Alexander ended with negative rushing yards, and Darrell Jackson led the team with 27 receiving yards. The quarterback on the other side was Jim Harbaugh.

Seattle did have one play that would have broken the streak on Sunday. Zach Charbonnet turned a short catch into a 25-yard gain, but a personal foul on guard Jalen Sundell wiped it out. Referee Clete Blakeman said the foul happened "at the end of the play" and not after it. Because of that distinction, the penalty cost Seattle the gain and left it facing third-and-20 instead of a new set of downs. An Arizona offside flag on the same snap was canceled out by the Seattle foul.

What made up for the lack of big gains was ball security and staying on schedule. Field Gulls points out that the offense did not turn the ball over and converted 7 of 14 third downs. The defense handled the rest, holding Arizona to a field goal. That's the second time in three weeks Seattle has allowed only three points, after it beat Kansas City 20-3. The Seahawks have also beaten the Cardinals twice this season. The first meeting was a 31-7 win in Arizona.

What it means for Las Vegas

Seattle plays at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, November 15 (CBS). Its season has gone back and forth, with no winning streak longer than two games since it opened 2-0 against New England and Arizona. Three of the four losses were by three points or fewer: Washington, San Francisco and Denver. The Denver loss is also Seattle's only road loss away from the NFC East so far, which makes the defense's recent form the most reliable part of the team going into a road game.

The board for the game has Seattle favored across all 10 venues. On the moneyline, Novig has the Seahawks at -167 and the Raiders at +163. On the spread, Novig has Seattle at -3.5, priced at +106. The best Seattle number anywhere is Hard Rock Bet's -3 at -115, so the venues differ by a half point on the key number of three. The best Raiders spread price is BetRivers' +3.5 at -110, a little better than Novig's -115 at the same number. Novig's total is 43.5, with the over at -108 and the under at -113. BetMGM has 43 and bet365 has the best under price at -106. The sportsbook hold runs from 3.8% to 6.4% on the moneyline and stays under 5% on the spread and total.

If the total stays in the low 40s, the market is expecting a game like Sunday's: Seattle grinding out drives and leaning on its defense rather than hoping for long plays. For more on the season, see our Seahawks team page.