The Cardinals keep cashing as a big underdog, and that’s where the Week 9 H-bomb lands again.
Arizona has now covered in four straight games when the spread qualified, and three of those four turned into outright wins against the Chargers, Rams and Cowboys. I’ve had a seat on that carpet each time, including, of course, the erasure of a 14-point lead in Arlington, Tex., and an overtime win. Every one of those H-bomb-eligible games has come on the road.
Jess Root matched that pace in Week 8 when the Dolphins, getting 7 points, covered against the Patriots. The H-bomb-eligible teams went 3-2 overall, with the Titans (+10.5) beating the Bengals as the other winner. The two losers were the Colts (+10) against the Jaguars and the Chargers (+6.5) against the Rams.
Week 9 brings five eligible games, and one already went down Thursday night when the Ravens (+9.5) lost big to the Jaguars. That leaves four more on the board: the Lions (-7) on the road against the Dolphins, the Chiefs (-10) at home against the Jets, the 49ers (-10) at home against the Raiders and the Seahawks (-8.5) at home against the Cardinals.
The pick is no mystery. The Cardinals are the H-bomb again, even with the issues they’re carrying at running back and wide receiver. Seattle has its own mess to sort through, with quarterback Sam Darnold out, backup Drew Lock dealing with a right-elbow problem, plus other injuries along the offensive line and at defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
Seattle lost only three of 20 games in 2025 on the way to a Super Bowl triumph and has already lost four this season. A Cardinals win would pull them even with the Seahawks at 4-5, which is hard to picture but very much in play here.
Jess is also going with an NFC West team, taking the 49ers as they come off their bye to face the Raiders.
In Other News...
Cardinals Offense Faces Immediate Heat After First Post-Brissett Letdown
The first game after the Jacoby Brissett trade brought a quick reality check for the Cardinals offense, which managed only a field goal in a 17-3 loss to Seattle. Gardner Minshew was steady enough in spots, completing 21 of 30 passes for 166 yards, but the unit never found a rhythm against a Seahawks defense that kept Arizona out of the end zone and put pressure on the pocket throughout the afternoon.
Afterward, head coach Mike LaFleur pointed to the offenses underperformance as the issue that stood out most, especially in a difficult road setting. For a Cardinals team trying to move forward without Brissett, the bigger concern is not just the score line but how quickly the group can settle in and avoid letting one flat outing turn into a longer stretch of missed chances. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Sweat Just Put Arizonas Trade Deadline Focus On One Decision
Josh Sweat has become one of the more interesting names attached to Arizonas trade deadline conversation, and not just because the Cardinals are still sorting out where they stand as the deadline approaches. After a recent game, Sweat brushed off the speculation and said he is focused on playing, even as the talk around him has only grown louder. For a team trying to balance present needs with long-term planning, that puts one of its more important edge players squarely in the middle of the discussion.
The reason the chatter has legs is that this is not just idle rumor season noise. Sweat is playing on a four-year deal with no guaranteed money left beyond the current season, which naturally makes him a name rival teams would monitor if Arizona becomes willing to listen. The Cardinals now have a decision to make about whether to keep him in the fold and push ahead, or treat the deadline as a chance to reshape the edge rush room while the market is still active. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Loss Exposed A Problem This Offense Keeps Making Worse
The Cardinals Week 9 loss to the Seahawks offered a familiar and frustrating snapshot of where this offense stands right now. With Gardner Minshew making the start at quarterback, Arizona ran into pass protection problems early and often, and the offense never found a steady rhythm to match a defense that did enough to keep the game within reach. The result was another setback in a season that has slipped to 3-6, with the kind of offensive issues that tend to compound when a team is already fighting uphill.
Arizonas defense held up well enough to give the offense chances, but penalties and breakdowns on the other side kept undercutting any momentum the Cardinals tried to build. For a team trying to stay afloat in the NFC, the concern is no longer just one bad afternoon, but a pattern of offensive mistakes that keeps showing up in the same spots and making every comeback attempt harder than the last. [Read more 🡒]