Cardinal Victory Is Quite a Rush

SEATTLE â€”  Arizona’s Thomas Jones knew the weaknesses of the Seattle defense.

Jones ran for a career-high 173 yards and MarTay Jenkins had a 95-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals rallied to beat the Seahawks, 24-13, Sunday.

It was the second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance given up by Seattle (0-2). Charlie Garner had 127 in Oakland’s 31-17 opening-week victory.

“We watched the Raiders game,� Jones said. “Charlie Garner and the other running backs all had a good game. We thought we could do some good things against them because of the size of our offensive line.�

The Cardinals (1-1) won the first regular-season game at $430-million Seahawks Stadium, and they handed Seahawk quarterback Trent Dilfer his first loss as a starter in 16 games, ending a remarkable streak that included Baltimore’s victory in the Super Bowl two years ago.

“It’s been a while, but I never got too caught up in that,� said Dilfer, who returned after being sidelined five weeks because of a sprained right knee.

“There were a lot of games in there that were like today. It gets to the fourth quarter, and the team I was on was able to make a play. We didn’t do that today.�

Dilfer was 29 for 47 for a career-best 352 yards and a touchdown, but he slowed down in the second half after Seattle built a 10-3 lead at halftime. His last loss as a starter came when the Ravens were beaten by Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2000.

“Having Trent back clearly gives the offense a boost, but we have some young people in there,� Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren said. “When we had chances at plays, crazy things happened.�

Arizona’s Jake Plummer was 10 for 22 for 107 yards, and his four-yard touchdown pass to Frank Sanders with 3:18 to play sealed the victory.

Jones, meanwhile, had the first 100-yard rushing game of his three-year NFL career.

“Thomas was a byproduct of the way those offensive linemen were blocking,� Arizona Coach Dave McGinnis said. “He kept telling me on the sidelines he was going to break one.�