Seahawks slip to No. 9 in ESPN's Week 10 rankings as Lock prepares to start at Las Vegas

The Seattle Seahawks won in Week 9 and still lost ground. ESPN's Week 10 power rankings moved the 5-4 Seahawks down one spot to ninth after their 17-3 win over Arizona. ESPN also picked the most important second-half game for every team, and for Seattle it is the Week 12 trip to San Francisco, not this Sunday's game in Las Vegas.

Seattle beat Arizona without six starters. Brady Henderson's ESPN entry names quarterback Sam Darnold, left tackle Charles Cross, left guard Quenton Nelson, receiver Rashid Shaheed, defensive tackle Leonard Williams and edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, and says all of them could be back when Seattle comes out of its bye to play the 49ers. That game carries weight because of the standings. The 49ers are 7-1 and rank second in ESPN's list. They already beat Seattle 32-29 in October and lead the NFC West by two and a half games. A second loss would hand San Francisco the head-to-head tiebreaker. In ESPN's 49ers entry, Nick Wagoner says a win would make it hard for the defending champions to catch up.

The Raiders game comes first, and Darnold will miss it. CBS Sports reports that Darnold is still out with a quad injury and a broken rib. Drew Lock is expected to start despite an oblique problem that sent him into the medical tent against Arizona. Coach Mike Macdonald said on his Monday radio show that the team would go in with a "similar plan" to last week, according to CBS Sports.

What it means for Sunday at Las Vegas

Seattle's season has gone back and forth. The Seahawks have alternated losses and wins over their last six games. Three of their four losses came by three points or fewer: 33-31 at Washington, 32-29 to San Francisco and 17-14 at Denver. Seattle has outscored opponents 202-162, an average of about 22 points scored and 18 allowed per game. The defense has been strongest lately. It gave up 3 points to Kansas City and 3 to Arizona, with a 34-17 loss to Chicago in between.

Las Vegas is 4-5 and fell one spot to 21st in ESPN's rankings after a 38-17 loss to the 49ers. ESPN's Ryan McFadden writes that the Raiders' Week 12 game at Cleveland could decide whether Kirk Cousins keeps the starting job or No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza gets the last five games.

Seattle is favored on all 12 venues on this site's board for the game. Novig has the Seahawks at -178 to win outright and the Raiders at +174. The best price on Seattle is -172 at FanDuel, so the venues are only a few cents apart on the moneyline. Sportsbook hold on that market runs from 3.0% to 4.7%.

On the spread, Novig lists Seattle -3.5 at -102. Hard Rock Bet offers -3 at -120, which means paying more to get the extra half point. Novig has the total at 43.5, with the over at -104 and the under at -111. BetRivers has 43 with the over at -109.

A Seattle win would put the Seahawks at 6-4 going into the bye, with the 49ers game next. It would also show whether the defense can win a game with Lock and a short-handed lineup. Records, results and the full schedule are on the Seahawks team page.