Short-handed Seahawks get back on track by shutting down Cardinals

Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times on Nov 8, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks entered Sunday’s game with a lot of ills — six starters sitting out because of injury including starting quarterback Sam Darnold and having lost four of their last six games.

But the Arizona Cardinals have long been the cure for whatever may be ailing the Seahawks. And Sunday, Arizona again proved to be the tonic for Seattle.

The Seahawks came into the day riding a 10-game winning streak against Arizona and increased it to 11 with a workmanlike 17-3 win at Lumen Field.

Drew Lock, filling in for the injured Darnold, hit 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards as he got his second win of the season as the Seahawks’ starter, both against Arizona.

Lock did so despite playing with a sore right elbow that hasn’t allowed him a full practice since Oct. 9 and taking a few hard hits that had him briefly examined in the blue medical tent.

But Lock stayed in to finish out the game

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had seven catches for 51 yards and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the third straight season, tying a team record he shares with Steve Largent and Tyler Lockett.

First-round pick Jadarian Price had his best game as a Seahawk with team-high 54 yards receiving on four catches, while Zach Charbonnet began to look like himself in his second game back from an ACL injury with 77 yards on 16 carries. That included a 17-yard run that allowed the Seahawks to run out the clock on its final possession.

And after the defense allowed a 74-yard drive for a field goal the first time Arizona had the ball, the Seahawks forced punts on six of the Cardinals’ next seven drives — the other a one-play possession at the end of the half that ended in a sack and a fumble and a 10-yard loss for the Cardinals.

That allowed Lock and the offense to do just enough to get the Seahawks comfortably ahead into the fourth quarter and hang on.

The Cardinals made one last-gasp attempt to get back into the game, driving to the Seattle 2 with 4:43 left. But Cardinals QB Gardner Minshew, the former Cougar, threw incomplete on third and fourth downs, giving the ball back to the Seahawks.

On fourth down, Arizona got star tight end Trey McBride lined up wide in man coverage on the Seahawks’ second-year safety Nick Emmanwori. But Emmanwori didn’t give an inch in coverage and reached in to knock the ball away and keep Seattle ahead by two touchdowns with 4:35 remaining.

The Seahawks are 5-4 and didn’t lose ground in the NFC West to the 49ers, who improved to 7-1 with a 38-17 win over the Raiders, Seattle’s opponent next Sunday in Las Vegas.

After playing three consecutive at home for the first time since 2015 — and six of their first nine at Lumen Field — the Seahawks play only three more home games the rest of the season, finishing with five out of eight on the road.

After a sluggish start that included the Seahawks punting after their first series and letting Arizona drive 89 yards for a field goal the first time it had the ball, Seattle gradually took command.

The Seahawks forced Arizona to punt on its final four series of the first half, while their offense scored TDs on two of its final four series.

The first score came after a 58-yard, 11-play drive keyed by a 15-yard Lock pass to Price on a third-and-eight. Tight end AJ Barner capped the series with a one-yard Barn-yard play, which came after he had picked up a yard on the same play on the snap before to get up a first-and-goal at the 1.

The Seahawks appeared to be calling the game conservatively early on, likely as a concession to Lock’s elbow issues and that he has had little practice time.

But the Seahawks got a bit more aggressive when they took over at their own 19 with 1:45 left in the half especially after getting a first down out to their 33.

Lock completed a pass of 13 yards to Smith-Njigba, threw it deep to Smith-Njigba that resulted in a 29-yard pass interference penalty and hit him again for 18, taking it to the Cardinals 7.

From there, Lock hit Barner for a 7-yard TD with 15 seconds left in the half to put the Seahawks ahead 14-3.

Lock seemed to need a few series to get comfortable with not only playing again but also dealing with the elbow as he was just 5 of 9 for 39 yards in the first quarter. But Lock went 9 of 11 for 71 in the second quarter.

After getting a defensive stop to start the third quarter, the Seahawks used an 11-play, 58-yard drive that took up 7:35 and resulted in a 45-yard field goal that put the Seahawks ahead 17-3.

As Myers hit his field goal, Lock headed into the medical tent on the Seahawks sideline. But after being examined for a few minutes he left the tent, began throwing some passes on the sideline and stayed in.

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