Seahawks smother Cardinals 17-3, but Drew Lock's oblique clouds the Raiders trip
Seattle's defense held Arizona to a field goal in a 17-3 win, but Drew Lock hurt his oblique and Sam Darnold's status for Las Vegas is unclear.
The Seattle Seahawks were missing six starters on Sunday and beat the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 anyway. The win puts them back above .500 at 5-4, but they now have a fresh worry at quarterback. Drew Lock started in place of the injured Sam Darnold and played through an oblique injury he suffered early in the third quarter. Coach Mike Macdonald said afterward that neither quarterback's availability for Sunday's game in Las Vegas is settled.
ESPN reported that Lock hurt the oblique on a roll-out throw, went to the medical tent after the drive and did not miss a snap. He was already managing an elbow injury that kept him to one throwing day in practice. He finished 19 of 28 for 175 yards and a touchdown. Seattle is 3-0 in the games he has started or finished for Darnold this season, and he has not turned the ball over in any of them. Darnold sat out with a quad injury from the Monday night loss to Chicago. Macdonald told Seahawks.com the picture is "kind of up in the air right now," though Lock said he expects to be able to play.
The defense decided the game. Arizona's only points came on a first-quarter field goal. That drive ended a run of nine straight red-zone trips in which Seattle had allowed a touchdown. SB Nation counted six Cardinals punts in their seven possessions after that score. The paper also noted a late goal-line stand inside the 5, and Seattle won without Leonard Williams or Uchenna Nwosu in uniform. AJ Barner scored both Seattle touchdowns, one on a short run and one on a catch just before halftime. Zach Charbonnet ran 16 times for 77 yards, and the offense ran 36 times against 28 passes. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held to seven catches for 51 yards. Seattle has now beaten Arizona 11 straight times, the longest streak over any opponent in franchise history.
What it means for Las Vegas
Seattle's season has swung from week to week. Over its last five games the team is 2-3, but both wins in that run were 3-point defensive performances: 20-3 over Kansas City and now 17-3 over Arizona. For the season the Seahawks have scored 202 points and allowed 162. They are 4-2 at Lumen Field but just 1-2 on the road, and both road losses (at Washington and Denver) came by three points or fewer. The game against the Raiders on CBS is the last one before the bye. After that, Seattle visits San Francisco, which ESPN lists at 7-1 and leading the NFC West.
The board for Seahawks at Raiders has Seattle favored even with the quarterback question open. Novig has the Seahawks at -170 on the moneyline, and theScore Bet has the best Seattle price at -155, a 15-cent gap across the 10 venues. Las Vegas is +156 on Novig. On the spread, Novig lists Seattle -3.5 at -102, while theScore Bet holds the Seahawks at -3 for -110. The total sits at 43.5 on Novig and 43 at BetMGM. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 3.3% to 6.4%. Watch the number this week, because the market has not yet seen whether Lock, Darnold or third-stringer Jalen Milroe will take the snaps.