It’s All Sweetness and Light for Smith in Win

Emmitt Smith had a record-breaking day. Jerry Rice was barely a factor.

Their fates matched those of their teams in the Arizona Cardinals’ 25-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Smith sealed the win with a 23-yard touchdown run, a play that put him over the 100-yard rushing mark for the 78th time in his career -- to break Walter Payton’s record.

Rice, acquired by Seattle from Oakland on Tuesday, had one catch for 10 yards.

The game marked the first time in 20 years the NFL’s career yardage leaders in receiving (Rice) and rushing (Smith) opposed each other.

When it was over, Rice sought out Smith on the field.

“He’s one of the best, and I just wanted to pull him aside and say congratulations,” Rice said. “You know, he’s still doing it.”

Smith wasn’t the only Cardinal player with a record performance. Arizona’s Neil Rackers was good from 55, 55 and 50 yards to tie Morten Andersen’s record for most field goals of at least 50 yards in a game.

“I just hit them the same,” Rackers said. “They could have been 20-yarders. The way the ball flies out here, you just want to hit the ball smooth, and it will go.”

Gerald Hayes blocked a Seahawk punt for a safety to put Arizona (2-4) in the lead for good after Seattle rallied from 13 down to go ahead, 17-16.

The Seahawks lost their third in a row after a 3-0 start.

“We were bad today. I don’t know how else to say it,” Coach Mike Holmgren said. “I’m embarrassed about how we executed offensive football.”

A victory Sunday would have given Seattle sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

“The mood stinks right now,” Holmgren said. “We’ve got to decide, are we the team that started the season or the team that played the last three games?”

Matt Hasselbeck completed only 14 of 41 passes and was intercepted four times.

“You can put all the blame on me,” he said. “I was just bad. I feel like I really let my teammates down today. I really have no answers. I just couldn’t get it going. I don’t know why. I don’t know what the deal was, but it was my fault.”

Smith gained 106 yards in 26 carries, his second 100-yard effort in three games. He talked about playing with a young team trying to turn a franchise into a winner.

“To be able to do it here, it makes it that much more special,” he said. “Days like this don’t come that often. They are rare days. I’m just glad to have them here to share it with.”

Rackers kicked two 55-yard field goals in the second quarter and hit a 50-yarder in the third to tie the record set by Andersen for Atlanta against New Orleans on Dec. 10, 1995.

In fact, all four field goals in the game were from beyond 50; Josh Brown kicked one from 54 yards for Seattle’s only points in the first half.