The Seahawks head into Week 10 with a lot still hanging in the balance, and the quarterback situation is right at the center of it.
Seattle is 5-4 after a 17-3 home win over the Arizona Cardinals, but the reigning Super Bowl champions are still chasing the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. They’ve already dropped a home game to Kyle Shanahan’s team, so the margin for error is getting thin if they want to repeat as division champs.
The biggest question this week is who takes the snap for Seattle on Sunday. Sam Darnold is out, and Drew Lock is dealing with an oblique issue of his own. That leaves open the possibility that second-year pro Jalen Milroe could make his first NFL start.
Las Vegas, meanwhile, has no such uncertainty at quarterback. On Tuesday, the Raiders sent veteran Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round pick in 2027, clearing the way for 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza has appeared in only one game this season, and only in reserve duty.
Klint Kubiak, who served as Seattle’s offensive coordinator this past season, now has the Raiders at 4-5, one more win than the club had in 2025. An upset here would say plenty about a Las Vegas team that has taken steps forward, especially on offense.
These teams have crossed paths only six times since realignment in 2002, and they’ve split those meetings right down the middle. The most recent matchup came in 2022 at Lumen Field, where the Raiders pulled out a 40-34 overtime win.
The last time Las Vegas hosted Seattle in this series was in 2018, when Pete Carroll’s Seahawks beat the Raiders 27-3 in London. This will be Seattle’s first regular-season game in Las Vegas, though the Seahawks did lose a preseason game at Allegiant Stadium in 2021.
There’s also a clear blueprint for Seattle if it can establish the run. In its five wins, Mike Macdonald’s team has piled up 169 rushing attempts for 670 yards, with at least 30 carries in four of those victories.
In the four losses, that number drops to 89 attempts for 327 yards. The Raiders enter Week 10 allowing an NFL-worst 151.2 rushing yards per game.
Defensively, Seattle has been stingy all season. The Seahawks came into Week 10 ranked first in the league in both total yards allowed and passing yards allowed per game. Up front, third-year pro Byron Murphy II has been a real factor, posting a 75.5 pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus, tied for 13th among interior defenders, and leading the team with four sacks.
The Raiders’ offense does have one player producing at a high level in Tre Tucker. The wideout is in his fourth NFL season and has become a key piece of the passing game, ranking fourth on the team with 33 catches while sitting second in receiving yards with 529 and second in touchdown receptions with four. In 2025, Tucker started all 17 games and finished with 57 catches for 696 yards and five touchdowns.
In Other News...
Seahawks Finally Got An Injury Sign Fans Needed To See
The latest injury report offered the kind of small but meaningful progress Seahawks fans have been waiting for, with Charles Cross back on the field in a limited capacity after missing time because of an ankle injury. It does not mean a return is imminent, but it does suggest the left tackle is moving in the right direction as Seattle comes out of the bye week and starts sorting out who will be available for the next stretch.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba also returned as a full participant after resting previously, and A.J. Barner was cleared off the report altogether, giving the Seahawks a cleaner look on offense than they had recently. There are still several names on the list in limited or non-participating status for injury or personal reasons, so the picture is far from complete, but the encouraging sign around Cross is the one that matters most for a team that has been waiting on stability up front. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Offense Is Pushing Mike Macdonald Toward A Tough Decision
Seattles offense has hit a rough patch at exactly the wrong time, with the scoring average sliding over recent games as injuries and general dysfunction have taken a toll. For a team still trying to position itself for a playoff run, the issues are piling up in familiar places: quarterback health, an offensive line that has struggled to stay cohesive, and a play-calling operation that has not found enough rhythm to steady things.
Mike Macdonald now has to weigh whether a change under center could help spark the unit, even as the broader problems around it remain very real. The Seahawks do not need a cosmetic fix so much as a workable answer, and the next stretch will say plenty about whether the staff can settle on one before the seasons margin for error gets any thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Finally Addressed Their Biggest Problem But A New Concern Emerged
Seattle finally made the move that had been hanging over its season, landing offensive lineman Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts in a deal that sent a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick the other way before the NFL trade deadline. The addition was meant to give the Seahawks the kind of interior help they had been searching for, and the team wasted little time adjusting by moving Grey Zabel to right guard so Nelson could settle in at left guard.
Nelson made his debut in Week 8, but the early returns have been interrupted by a knee injury that is expected to keep him out for at least two games. So while the Seahawks still view the trade as an upgrade up front, the bigger question now is how long they will have to wait to see the line they envisioned when they made the deal. [Read more 🡒]