THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Bobo aside, Seahawks sort of like the girl with the curl

Thank heaven for Jake Bobo.

The undrafted rookie from UCLA made an all-world touchdown catch Sunday.

If he hadn’t, or if the endless replays convinced those officials-in-the-sky that he hadn’t, none of us could have survived the Seahawks’ dreary 20-10 survival against Arizona without falling asleep.

This game, boys and girls, will not be crated and shipped to the Hall of Fame in Canton.

Arizona is 1-6 for a reason, and the Cardinals proved those credentials are accurate.

The Cards missed a field goal, failed on a fake punt, and were basically toothless all afternoon — except for a 25-yard TD run by quarterback Joshua Dobbs, on which at least three Seahawks missed tackles.

And.

Yet.

Seattle didn’t put this thing away until Jason Myers hit a 48-yard field goal with just over two minutes left to play.

You ask: How can that be?

Well, Geno Smith threw a ghastly interception, lost a fumble, and nearly tossed the game away when he heaved a pass directly at Arizona linebacker Tyziak White — who had nothing ahead of him but grass.

Happily for the stunned crowd at Lumen Field, and surely for Smith, White obliged by dropping the ball.

Appropriate for the day.

DID WE mention that Seattle punt returner DeeJay Dallas lost a fumble, too?

“It’s hard to win when you’re minus-three (turnovers),” said a relieved Pete Carroll, who not only stole a win that pushed the Hawks to 4-2 — but didn’t have to pay for admission.

Not that Pete could have enjoyed many of the proceedings.

Like most of America, he might have preferred to switch over and watch megastar Taylor Swift dancing with Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany, as they cheered on the Chiefs in an exciting victory over the Chargers.

Swift had a good reason to be bouncing around in Kansas City (boyfriend Travis Kelce), but if she were just learning about the NFL with a visit to this Seahawks game, she’d probably fall for ice hockey.

Meanwhile, back at Lumen Field, Smith continued a pattern that is getting just a tad nervy.

Do you perhaps know Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s nursery rhyme about the girl with the curl?

“There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good She was very, very good, And when she was bad, she was horrid.”

If Longfellow had lived to see the NFL, he might have subbed out his little girl for Geno Smith.

His interception came with the Seahawks threatening, when Geno tried throwing back across his body.

The Cards’ Garrett Williams grabbed that floater at the goal line.

Speaking of the red zone, the Hawks failed again — from much closer range.

With first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Kenneth Walker (who had a decent day with 111 tough yards) got stuffed twice, and then Smith threw a useless completion short of the end zone.

Carroll was succinct about that turn of events, especially since he takes pride in a physical running game and surely hated settling for a field goal.

“Can’t happen,” he said. “We’ve got to get that in the end zone.”

AH, BUT at least there was Jake Bobo.

To be fair, Jake wasn’t the only rookie receiver to give the crowd a little something for their time.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught four passes for 63 yards and a 28-yard touchdown.

The two kids’ contributions were appreciated, especially since DK Metcalf was sitting out with rib and hip injuries.

That brings us to the play that saved the afternoon, and perhaps made it to as many network postgame shows as Taylor Swift.

With the ball on the Arizona 18 and the Hawks down 10-7 in the second quarter, Smith dropped deep and lofted a throw high into the right corner of the end zone.

Bobo had cornerback Starling Thomas draped all over him, but he somehow caught the ball over his shoulder.

In real time, it looked like Bobo had been out of bounds, and that’s how the play was called.

HOWEVER, Carroll immediately heard a couple of his assistants screaming in his headset to challenge the call.

“I couldn’t tell,” Carroll said. “We saw it on the sidelines, saw what they showed on the board.

“I was just trying to evaluate whether or not they’d give us a shot to really look at that thing. They gave it great consideration. 
“It’s an eyelash between him (getting both toes inbounds) and not making it.

“But it looked like the right call. That’s why we challenged it. We went for it.”

After a seemingly endless wait, the call was overturned, and Bobo got his second NFL score.

It turned out the Seahawks eventually needed Jake’s ballerina act, too.

Desperately.

And Bobo?

The degree of difficulty?

“A frickin’ circus grab,” Carroll said.

Amen.

This game needed it.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”