Seahawks @ Cardinals
Final Score: Seahawks 23 – Cardinals 20
Writer: Geoff Ulrich (@thefantasygrind on X/Twitter)
This was a game that the Seahawks dominated for the most part, but their inability to create explosive plays and a missed field goal late in the 4th quarter made it much closer than it actually was. The Seahawks defense did give up a late TD, but did an excellent job of completely stifling the Cardinals for three quarters, and Sam Darnold was surgical most of the game. Drops, miscues, and poor play really plagued the Cardinals’ offense the entire game.
You can give the Cardinals some credit for sticking with things and making it close in the end, but that’s two division losses in a row, and one that came against a backup QB. It feels like the Seahawks are the team headed in the right direction now, while the Cardinals could be on the verge of some bigger changes. We’ll break down individual player performances and what they mean below.
Three Up
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba— Absolutely surgical and showed up exactly when Seattle needed him.
- Sam Darnold — Poised and controlled all game.
- Kenneth Walker — Some big plays and ran well again. Looked like the more explosive back over Zach Charbonnet.
Two Down
- Kyler Murray — Saved his fantasy day with 41 yards rushing and the late TD, but had some really poor throws.
- Trey Benson – Just no room to run this week, no help from the O-Line.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterback
Sam Darnold: 18/26, 242 yards, TD, 1 carry, 24 yards
Darnold has looked progressively better as the season has gone on, and this was his best game of the year. Even when there was pressure, he was poised, stood tall in the pocket, and was delivering accurate rockets across the middle all game long.
I criticized the Seahawks in past weeks for not getting much done downfield, but Darnold delivered some big-time throws in this game, including a couple of deeper passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba when he needed them.
The Seahawks defense is quite good, so Darnold won’t be airing it out that often, but with other weapons like AJ Barner and Tory Horton starting to make some noise, there is enough here to make Darnold a streaming consideration every week.
Running Back
Kenneth Walker III: 19 carries, 81 yards | 1 targets, 1 reception, 29 yards
There was some good and some bad in this game for Walker. The good was that he again looked very fit and explosive. He did get bottled up a bit more by a solid Cardinals defensive front, but still managed to break some bigger plays, including a nice 29-yard catch and run. The Hawks definitely use Walker in the middle of the field, where they can get him out in open space, and he led the touch battle 21-14 with Charbonnet.
The bad news is that Walker lost most of the inside the 10-yard line carries. Whenever the Hawks got down close, it was an immediate switch from Walker to Zach Charbonnet. They must have made this rotation about 5-7 times in the game, and it became painfully obvious that the game plan is quite clear for Seattle: Walker out in space as much as possible, Charbonnet when you need to grind 2-5 yards.
Walker is going to be good going forward, but don’t expect him to get many short/easy TDs this season. They look like they’re all going to Charbonnet.
Zach Charbonnet: 12 carries, 39 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 rec, 5 yards
Charbonnet was coming in off an injury, but still got 14 touches. He didn’t quite look 100% as a runner, but still managed to get some tough yards for Seattle in this game and did bang in a short TD early and had a second TD called back on a penalty.
He’s not likely going to get 12 carries every week, but those carries may be very valuable, especially against weaker opponents, as it’s quite clear he’s Seattle’s preferred goal-line back. For fantasy, he has some pretty solid value in standard leagues without PPR points, but is going to be a week-to-week roller coaster in any leagues that involve reception points.
The Cardinals also have a tougher rush defense, so that’s something to keep in mind. He was bottled up here for the most part, but you will take a guy who gets 8-12 carries every game and goal line work. Both Seahawks RBs have value, although Charbonnet is definitely the riskier FLEX play variety for now.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 79 yards | 3 carries, 11 yards
“Superb, amazing, without peer. Seriously, Jaxon Smith-Njigba just looks so good this season.”
That’s what I wrote about JSN and his game last week, and everything about that sentence holds true this week as well. Ignore the 5 targets or the fact that he didn’t have a target in the first half. The Seahawks’ passing game was working so well by using TEs and misdirection early on, they legit didn’t need JSN to move the ball.
However, when things tightened up and the Cardinals started taking away those early plays, Darnold went right to him, and he delivered. His best play was the 36-yard catch in the 4th quarter to set up a missed field goal, where he did a beautiful stop-and-go on the Cardinal defender and got a step on him, then hauled in the perfectly thrown pass on the sideline. It was likely watching poetry.
The Seahawks were up most of the game, and that’s part of the reason why he ended up with a few carries, but if you’re worried about the drop in targets, don’t be. There was a game plan by Seattle to attack with their TEs early, and it worked. When they needed JSN, they went right back to him and will again next week as well.
Cooper Kupp: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards
On a night when Seattle wasn’t using JSN as heavily as normal, it was a little concerning not to see Kupp get more involved. He just doesn’t have much juice after the catch anymore, but still made a couple of key receptions and is a decent enough possession receiver. For fantasy purposes, he’s very droppable, though.
Tory Horton: 2 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards
Started with a couple of targets and a reception early, and then became a ghost. Still a very tertiary player and not someone I would be out stashing or getting for fantasy purposes. There is no clear-cut number two WR for Seattle, just a group of guys working behind JSN, and Horton happens to be one of them.
Elijah Arroyo: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 44 yards
The Hawks again got Arroyo involved early on a nicely designed semicross-screen play, which again worked very well and showcased his after-the-catch ability.
I would say the bigger news for Arroyo is that he also ended the day with two end zone targets, which was a great development and a move forward in usage for him. He’s still splitting reps with AJ Barner, who also had a strong game, but with no real number 2 WR, he’s got a shot to develop as the season goes on.
Arroyo is someone to think about stashing, although he has more Dynasty/2026 value than redraft/2025 value.
AJ Barner: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards, TD
Barner showcased some solid receiving skills early on, getting good separation on the Cardinals’ safety and beating him to the back of the endzone for a 15+ yard TD. Barner was part of the Seahawks’ early plan to take advantage of their weaker cover unit (especially vs TEs), and Barner worked it to perfection.
I wouldn’t personally take this as a reason to go out and grab Barner, or think you’ll get good production from him every week, but certainly, he can pop like this against the right opponent now and then. Seattle has a strong 1-2 at RB and TE with Barner and Orroyo, but the timeshares make life hard for fantasy purposes.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: 27/41, 200 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs | 5 carries, 41 yards
Kyler Murray had an awful game and got pretty exposed by Seattle. He was up against a tough defense that sacked him several times, and they did make some nice plays on his passes, but he played his part in the offensive debacle. His first INT was a poorly thrown ball on a route that Marvin Harrison Jr. stopped on. It was a bizarre play, as Murray threw the ball way too high, but Harrison also stopped on his route. The Seahawks then fumbled the ball on the INT, and Arizona got it back but couldn’t score. On his second INT, Harrison completely misplayed it and had it bounce off his finger and into Seattle’s hands.
To be honest, Arizona did almost nothing through the first three quarters. They did try to attack Seattle through the air here as Murray threw the ball 41 times, but his options downfield are very limited, and quite frankly, he’s not an accurate downfield passer at all. He did connect with MHJ in the second half on a TD, after the two had a terrible first half… although the TD catch Harrison made was more of him outmaneuvering his corner and winning a jump ball. He underthrew Michael Wilson early on a deep pass and then got lucky later on when Wilson drew a PI call on another poorly thrown ball.
Murray only looks good throwing to Trey McBride, and that’s the only name I trust with Murray week-to-week. The two just missed on a couple of deeper passes, but did connect for 7 receptions, the most of any Cardinals.
Murray still came out OK for fantasy purposes as he scored 16.1 FP if INTs cost you -2.0 points and 18.1 if they cost you -1.0 points. It’s not great, but also won’t kill you at all, and it’s a perfect example of why a mediocre rushing QB can often have so much fantasy value; his floor is still really high, even when he’s playing poorly.
Running Back
Trey Benson: 8 carries, 35 yards | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 19 yards
I didn’t think Benson looked great in this game. He’s big and imposing, but looks slow to hit holes and gets brought down semi-easily for a person his size. Part of it may have been that he was playing Seattle, one of the toughest run defenses in the league, but you have to think that if he doesn’t show a little better next week, the Cardinals will insert one of their backups into a bigger role.
Either way, Benson didn’t do a lot here and didn’t even really have a signature moment or play. Most of his touches were non-descript runs or catches with little explosion or burst shown.
The good news for Benson owners is that until the last 2-3 minutes of the game, when Arizona went into mega-hurry mode and used Emari Demercado, Benson rarely came off the field. He also converted on all five of his targets. If that usage continues, he’ll be an RB2 on volume alone every week.
Emari Demercado: 2 carries, 8 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards, TD
I thought we would see a more even split between Benson and Demercado than we actually did, but the Cardinals chose to go heavy on Benson almost all game. Demercado came on late, however, and played the entire last two drives, eventually catching a short TD pass to tie the game.
To be honest, he looked like he had better burst when he got in the open field than Benson did, especially on the final drive when he cut off an 8-yard catch-and-run and the winning TD. Not a bad name to stash in full PPR leagues.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 10 targets, 6 receptions, 66 yards, TD
Another odd game by Marvin Harrison Jr., who got completely shut down and looked very disinterested in the first quarter or two, and was also the cause of multiple INTs. He stopped running on multiple routes and looked like he had never played with Kyler Murray before on multiple occasions.
The second INT was a complete disaster as it was an incredibly simple catch for an NFL WR and a perfectly thrown ball by Murray, but it jumped off his hands and right to the other team. He then turned things around and caught a couple of nice sideline passes in the second half, including an end zone target for a TD that saved his fantasy day.
As a receiver, I’m not very high on Harrison. He’s nowhere near the tactician or route runner JSN is, but for fantasy purposes, Harrison has value. The Cardinals just have no one else to turn to, except McBride, who teams like Seattle will give up short passes to, but generally shell well up the middle to limit his yardage and TDs. Teams would much rather Kyler force throws to Harrison, and given the result tonight (two INTs caused by Harrison), I don’t see that changing anytime soon. At the very least, I expect Harrison’s targets will stay steady.
Trey McBride: 11 targets, 7 receptions, 52 yards
Another solid game by Trey McBride, who put up 12.2 points in full PPR leagues. Through four weeks, he’s the only TE to put up 12 or more PPR points every game. Still, the lack of big plays just missed by McBride and Murray vs Seattle was annoying. While they connected well on the short underneath throws, all of the long sideline throws were near misses, including one late in the game where Murray overthrew him.
This could have easily been a 9-80-1 line for McBride, but you’ll have to settle for just another solid day.
Michael Wilson: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 16 yards
Drew a big PI call at one point and did get some deep field targets. Murray also underthrew him badly early on, or he could have gone for 30+ yards.
Greg Dortch: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 35 yards
Greg Dortch seems to be getting worked into Arizona’s game plan. He makes sense as a slot receiver or line of scrimmage guy to use with Kyler, given his lack of height and inability to throw deep consistently. Dortch also got some usage near the goal line and nearly took a short pass in early for a score, which is something to keep note of. He could eventually be a decent bye-week filler, but would need an injury to McBride or Harrison to have real fantasy value.
Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)