The Cardinals are heading into Week 9 with a different quarterback situation to deal with than the one they expected.
Seattle is ruling Sam Darnold out for Sunday’s matchup at Lumen Field because of a quad injury, with Drew Lock set to start in his place. It’s a notable shift for Arizona, which already saw Lock once this season in the Cardinals’ Week 2 loss at State Farm Stadium.
That game was a rough one for Arizona. Seattle rolled up 381 total yards and scored more than 30 points in a 31-7 win over the Cardinals.
Before that meeting, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur had plenty of praise for Darnold.
"Sam's a great quarterback. Obviously, I'd say I know Sam a little bit better than Drew because I did have, I guess you could say, a month or so with him even though he wasn't in the building in New York.
I've always really respected him dating back to USC. Understanding that he was a young quarterback going through it," said LaFleur back ahead of Week 2.
"Every situation's different by the quarterback and by the club, and he got himself in a very stable situation. I think starting in San Francisco, Minnesota, and then obviously in Seattle.
It's not shocking that they got the result they did last year. They are, in my opinion, the best coached team in football.
I think they have the best defense in football. In my opinion, they have a really, really good quarterback with it.
Yeah, he's down this week, but again, like I just said with Drew, the moment's not too big for him. I think he's a good quarterback who's played a lot of good football."
Now it’s Lock’s turn again, and this will be his third start of the season.
Seattle comes in at 4-4 and has dropped three of its last four games. The Seahawks are also on a short week after appearing on Monday Night Football.
Lock was sharp the last time he got the nod against Arizona, completing 19 of 26 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked just once by the Cardinals’ defense in that outing.
Darnold has struggled in 2026, so the change may not be a setback for Seattle’s offense. That’s especially true against an Arizona defense that has given up five 30-plus-point performances in its last six games.
The Cardinals are coming off a Week 8 upset over the Dallas Cowboys and are trying to win back-to-back regular-season games for the first time all year.
ESPN’s football power index gives Arizona a 17.9% chance to beat Seattle.
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