Seahawks back above .500 but still outside NFC's final Wild Card spot after Week 9
Seattle beat Arizona 17-3 to get to 5-4 but sits eighth in the NFC, a game behind Green Bay for the last Wild Card spot, with QB questions before Las Vegas.
The Seattle Seahawks beat Arizona 17-3 on Sunday to get back above .500, but the win didn't move them into the playoff field. Seattle is 5-4 and sits eighth in the NFC, one game behind the 6-3 Green Bay Packers for the seventh and final Wild Card spot, according to the standings update from SB Nation's Field Gulls.
The teams ahead of Seattle are the problem. Chicago (7-2) and Detroit (6-2) hold the fifth and sixth seeds, and Green Bay holds seventh, so three NFC North clubs are filling the Wild Card spots. San Francisco leads the NFC West at 7-1. That leaves the Seahawks 2.5 games back in the division, and Field Gulls wrote that a Week 12 loss to the 49ers would all but end the division race. Behind Seattle, the Rams are also 5-4 after three straight wins. Seattle is ahead of them for now because of a better division record, 2-1 to Los Angeles' 0-2. Chicago's 34-17 win in Seattle also gives the Bears the head-to-head tiebreaker if the two teams finish tied. Field Gulls suggested that even 10 wins might not be enough for a Wild Card spot this year.
Seattle won Sunday's game without Sam Darnold. Per ESPN's game summary, tight end AJ Barner ran for one touchdown and caught a 7-yard pass from Drew Lock for another, both in the second quarter. The defense held Arizona to a first-quarter field goal. It was Seattle's second win over the Cardinals this season, after a 31-7 victory in Arizona.
The quarterback situation is now the main concern. Bleacher Report reported before kickoff that Darnold could also miss the Week 10 game. CBS Sports reported that Lock, who was already playing through an elbow problem, hurt his oblique against Arizona. His status for next week is uncertain, and rookie Jalen Milroe could start.
What it means for Las Vegas
Seattle plays at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, November 15 (CBS). Results have gone back and forth for this team. Seattle has alternated wins and losses over its last four games: a 20-3 win over Kansas City, a 34-17 home loss to Chicago and now the win over Arizona. The defense gave up three points in each of the two wins. Seattle has played only two road games since the season opener, losing 33-31 at Washington and 17-14 at Denver. Both were close losses.
The quarterback injuries haven't moved the market much yet. Seattle is favored across the 10 venues on this site's board. Novig has the Seahawks at -170 on the moneyline and Las Vegas at +156. The best price on Seattle is -155 at theScore Bet, 15 cents shorter than Novig's. Novig lists Seattle at -3.5 (-102), and theScore Bet has the Seahawks at -3 (-110). Novig's total is 43.5. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline ranges from 3.3% to 6.4%, so the gap between venues is wider on the moneyline than on the spread or total.
The Raiders game is one of the softer spots on the schedule before the Week 12 game with San Francisco. A win would keep Seattle within a game of the Wild Card spots. A loss with a backup quarterback would put the Seahawks further behind the NFC North teams.