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After dropping yet another close contest to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, Earl Thomas and the Seattle Seahawks did some soul searching, and they came up with just the answers they were looking for.

With a huge game against the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals looming and the team’s post-season aspirations on the line, the Seahawks needed a win to jolt their confidence and remain divisional contenders. Recognizing the importance of the moment, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called a meeting with the team’s leaders to address any ongoing issues.

“When he talked in our night meeting, Pete said, ‘The thing that was missing was our connection, our trust,’” Earl said. “He was right on point.”

Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field, Seattle (7-4) came together as a unit and dominated from start to finish in a 19-3 manhandling of the Cardinals (9-2). With the win, the Seahawks moved to within two games of the divisional leaders.

“It’s a special win because we did it together,” ET III said. “For the first time this year, I think we played for pure reasons, for no motives attached. That’s what you love about this team: We can put our egos aside and we can admit when we’re wrong. Guys stayed true.”

Earl recorded two tackles and a pass deflection in the victory, but ET III’s impact stretched far beyond the stat sheet as his mere presence in the defensive backfield made the Cardinals think twice about taking a shot down the field. In addition, Earl was continually seen inspiring and pumping up his teammates. He credited the victory to the team’s renewed trust in one another.

“That’s what we’ve been missing, to be totally honest,’’ ET III said. “I think we haven’t been trusting each other. Especially with me. Out in the middle of the field, I wasn’t trusting guys the way I needed to. I let myself down in that way. I felt I kind of handicapped myself because I wasn’t able to focus on my job. But tonight, man, it was just pureness.”

A week after Arizona quarterback Drew Stanton lit up the Detroit Lions for over 300 yards passing, the Seattle defense stuffed the Cardinals, limiting the visitors to only 204 yards of total offense on the day. Stanton threw for just 149 yards and logged just two completions of more than 20 yards.

Earl attributed much of the defense’s cohesion to the return of middle linebacker Bobby Wagner to the field after he had missed five straight games with turf toe. This allowed K.J. Wright to shift back to his natural outside linebacker position, and together, the two combined for 14 tackles.

“It was very important for us,” Earl said of Wagner’s return. “Bobby’s the general, he led us. I’m so happy to see he and K.J [Wright] play so well—they were patient.”

The Seahawks were also aided by the resurgence of quarterback Russell Wilson, who had struggled to find a passing rhythm in recent weeks. Sunday afternoon, Wilson put together one of his most efficient performances of the 2014 campaign, completing 17-of-22 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown while running for 73 yards.

Arizona got the ball to start the contest and the Seahawks defense immediately showed its strength, shutting down the Cardinals and forcing a three-and-out. On 3rd-and-7, Cliff Avril put pressure on Stanton, who scrambled and threw up an errant pass that ET III batted down.

On Seattle’s opening drive, Wilson and Marshawn Lynch guided the team deep into Arizona territory, but came up just short on a 3rd-and-7 from the Cardinals’ 15-yard line. Steven Hauschka came on to kick a short field goal and the home team took a 3-0 lead.

Stanton and the Cardinals, aided by a 27-yard kickoff return from Ted Ginn and a pass interference penalty, advanced to the Seattle 31-yard line, but ET III and the defense came up big and forced a 49-yard field goal attempt that went wide of the uprights.

After a series of fruitless drives from both squads, Wilson ended the first quarter with a deep pass to Ricardo Lockette for 48 yards. But early in the second, Wilson was sacked twice inside the red zone and the Hawks had to settle for another Hauschka field goal, this one from 32 yards away that gave them a 6-0 cushion.

Two plays into Arizona’s ensuing drive, Byron Maxwell picked off a pass intended for John Brown at midfield, giving the Seahawks another chance to extend their lead. At the end of the resultant drive, Hauschka connected from 52 yards out, his third field goal of the half.

The Cardinals did get one more scoring opportunity before the end of the half after blocking another Hauschka field goal attempt with five-and-a-half minutes remaining.

After the momentum swinging block, Stanton and the Arizona offense ate up clock and methodically marched down the field. A 22-yard reception from Jaron Brown and a John Carlson’s nine-yard catch gave the Cardinals a 1st-and-goal opportunity with just over a minute on the clock.

But Earl and the Seattle defense brought the heat at the goal line and denied the visitors entry into the end zone. Arizona instead had to settle for a field goal that made it 9-3 heading into halftime.

The Seattle defense picked up right where it left off in the second half.

After forcing yet another three-and-out, DeShawn Stead blocked the ensuing punt attempt and the Seahawks recovered it at the Arizona 24-yard line. From there, Hauschka converted a 40-yard field goal to push the lead to 12-3.

Looking to respond on their next drive, Arizona had two efficient plays to bring up a 3rd-and-2 at their own 28-yard line. Stanton found Andre Ellington just ahead of the line of scrimmage and ET III then displayed incredible closing speed, seemingly flying out of nowhere to forcefully bring Ellington to the ground short of the first-down marker.

Earl’s huge tackle ignited the raucous home crowd and set the Seahawks up for their first touchdown drive of the game. Wilson finally fell into a groove and beat the Cardinals with both his arm and his legs. One play after scrambling for 15 yards, the Seattle signal caller found Cooper Helfet for a 20-yard touchdown reception.

In the fourth, the Seattle defense maintained its pressure. They allowed the visitors to earn just one first down in the frame and the offense ate up clock en route to a hard-fought 19-3 victory.

Earl noted afterward that the main factors in his team’s success included their ability to take away the run-game and put constant pressure on Stanton.

Arizona accumulated just 64 yards on the ground in the afternoon and the Seattle defense recorded three sacks.

“I think we had fun. It was just strictly fun,” Thomas said. “Man, just looking at each other’s eyes; every time somebody got a sack, I’m jumping on backs. You get a sack, I’m jumping on your back. I love it. Our (defensive) front played great, we stopped the run, we made them one-dimensional. And that’s our key to success every time we play: Just have fun. And if we mess up, our brothers are always going to be there to clean it up for us.”

Earl also credited the home crowd at CenturyLink and Carroll for inspiring him to have fun and be free on the field.

“The 12th man was awesome,” Earl said. “Coach Carroll told me before the game, ‘Just have fun.’ He actually said that he was going to ‘play for me,’ I didn’t quite understand that because he doesn’t play, he coaches, but that gave me so much confidence and the thing that stuck out to me was for me to just get absorbed in it—the crowd just made me feel like I was on another planet. It was fun out there.”

NEXT UP

Following the win, the Seahawks (7-4) quickly turned their attention to the short week ahead.

Another NFC West rival, the 49ers (7-4), awaits in a nationally televised Thanksgiving matchup on Thursday night in San Francisco.

The two sides enter their first meeting of the season boasting identical records and will be looking for a crucial edge in the divisional championship hunt. The rivalry between the two teams had already been among the most intense in the NFL, but last year’s NFC Championship – a game which the Seahawks won in thrilling fashion – took it to new heights.

In that contest, the 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick got off to a strong start and took a 10-3 lead into halftime. Kaepernick was particularly effective on the ground, accumulating 98 yards rushing in the half.

Seattle did not take the lead until the second play of the fourth quarter when Wilson found Jermaine Kearse for a 35-yard touchdown reception on 4th-and-7. ET III and Seattle defense then put together a strong fourth quarter performance.

The Seahawks sacked Kaepernick and forced a fumble on the ensuing drive. After Wilson turned the ball over on the 49er’s 1-yard line, the Legion of Boom came up huge, as Kam Chancellor intercepted Kaepernick and gave the Seahawks the ball with excellent field position. Hauskcha kicked a short field goal on the drive to give Seattle an extra 3-point cushion.

With 3:37 left in the game and his team trailing by six, Kaepernick did his best to march the 49ers down the field in a hurry. San Francisco efficiently moved the chains all the way to the Seattle 18-yard line with 30 seconds remaining.

On first down, Kaepernick decided to take a shot at the endzone. In a play that ranks among the best in Seahawks history, Richard Sherman tipped the ball away from Michael Crabtree, and redirected it into the arms of Malcolm Smith to secure a 23-17 victory for Seattle and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Sherman’s now-infamous postgame comments to media only elevated the heated competition between the two sides.

This time around, the 49ers are riding a two-game winning streak after they pulled out a close win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday. It took a late touchdown drive from Kaepernick and a fumble from Robert Griffin III on Washington’s final drive for San Francisco to edge out Washington (3-8), 17-13.

Kaepernick went 20-for-29 for 256 yards on the day and Anquan Boldin had nine receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick is averaging 235 yards passing — the highest such mark of his career — and has thrown for 14 touchdowns.

Boldin, Crabtree and Steve Johnson have each accumulated over 400 receiving yards on the season. Still, the 49ers rank 24th in the NFL in passing offense.

In addition to the threat that Kaepernick can pose with his arm, ET III and the Seahawks defense will have to be particularly wary of his rushing abilities. Kaepernick rushed for 130 yards in the NFC Championship game and has earned 336 yards on the ground thus far in the 2014 campaign.

The comination of Kaepernick and Frank Gore gives San Francisco the league’s 10th best rushing offense, averaging just shy of 120 yards per game on the ground.

Although Gore is having the worst season statistically since his 2005 rookie season, he still poses a significant threat to the Seahawks defense. The last time the two teams met in the regular season on December 8, 2013, Gore exploded for 110 yards, including a 51-yard run which helped San Francisco eke out a 19-17 win on a late field goal.

Kickoff of Thursday’s game is set for 8:30 p.m. EST and NBC will broadcast the marquee matchup.