Seahawks vs. Cardinals, Week 9: Drew Lock starts as Seattle tries to get back to .500 on Fox

The Seattle Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 8. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. PT (4:25 p.m. ET) on Fox. Seattle comes in at 4-4 and won't have its starting quarterback. Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma will call the game, with Megan Olivi on the sideline, according to Field Gulls on SB Nation. Streaming options include NFL+, Fox One, Fubo, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. Steve Raible and Dave Wyman have the radio call on 710 ESPN Seattle and 97.3 KIRO FM.

The bigger change is under center. Covers reports that Sam Darnold is out with a quad injury he suffered late in Monday night's loss to Chicago. Coach Mike Macdonald named Drew Lock the starter. Lock has been inactive for the past two weeks with a sore elbow. Macdonald said Darnold could probably have played through a rib injury, "but right now, it's the quad that's holding him out," according to Covers. Arizona is also using a backup and will start Gardner Minshew II. Covers also reports that left tackle Charles Cross (ankle), receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) and defensive tackles Brandon Pili and Leonard Williams missed practice this week.

Field Gulls framed the stakes plainly. A loss would drop Seattle below .500, and the Seahawks could fall to last in the NFC West. Sports Illustrated notes that Seattle is going for its 11th straight win over Arizona, a streak that dates to the 2021 season.

What it means for Sunday

The defending champions haven't been able to string wins together. Seattle has lost three of its last four, and the one win in that stretch was a 20-3 home result against Kansas City. The other three were a 32-29 loss to San Francisco, a 17-14 overtime loss at Denver and Monday's 34-17 home loss to the Bears. With four losses, Seattle has already matched its loss total from all of last season. The schedule doesn't ease up after this week. The Seahawks play at Las Vegas next and then have a bye before a trip to San Francisco.

Arizona arrives at 3-5 and is 3-2 on the road. Seattle is 3-2 at home. The first meeting was one of the Seahawks' most complete games of the year, a 31-7 win in Glendale in Week 2. Seattle needs that kind of game again with a backup quarterback and a banged-up offensive line.

The market still has Seattle as a clear favorite. Across the 12 venues on our board, the Seahawks are favored by 8.5 points. Novig, one of those venues, prices Seattle at -376 to win outright, which returns $26.60 on $100. Arizona is +365 there. Novig's spread is close to even, at -102 for Seattle -8.5 and -100 for Arizona +8.5. The total sits at 39.5, a low number that fits two backup quarterbacks, with the over at -104 and the under at +102. The venues don't differ much. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.4% to 5.0% on the spread and from 3.1% to 5.3% on the moneyline.

An 8.5-point line and a 10-game winning streak in the series both point toward Seattle. Still, the last month shows how quickly a Seahawks game can turn into a one-score finish. More on the season is on our Seahawks page.