Instant Reaction: Short-handed Seahawks bounce back for win

After a rough loss in the national spotlight last week, the short-handed Seattle Seahawks bounced back for a 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Lumen Field.

Seattle Seahawks 17, Arizona Cardinals 3: Box Score

AJ Barner scored a pair of touchdowns – one rushing and one receiving –and the Seahawks’ running backs were heavily involved as backup quarterback Drew Lock led a Seattle team that had seven players out with injuries to a win.

Seattle improved to 5-3 with the victory while Arizona dropped to 3-5.

Below is the instant reaction to the game from the voice of Seattle Sports.

Mike Salk – Brock and Salk (6-10 a.m. weekdays)

The Seahawks are imperfect. They are injured. And they still have a few issues that need to be fixed. But in order to give themselves time to sort all of that out, they needed to just beat the Cardinals.

They did.

It wasn’t always pretty. Between the penalties and the struggles to move the ball consistently, the offense still has a long way to go. But was it better with Drew Lock than it has been with Sam Darnold? The easy answer to that is a resounding “yes.” And it sure helped to have both running backs moving at full speed.

Meanwhile, it was the defense that was most responsible for this win. Playing without two of their most important players, they reminded everyone just how large the gap is between them and a mediocre offense like Arizona’s. Holding a team to three points for the second time in three weeks shows you just how dominant this group is (and why the Chicago mishap was more of an anomaly than a cause for concern). Now it’s up to the offense to make sure they don’t let that go to waste!

SACKED BY D-LAW 😤 -6! @TankLawrence

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/d6U4zc1iEL

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 8, 2026

Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob (2-7 p.m. weekdays)

It wasn’t the most electric performance of the season, but it was a win and that is all that matters – especially on the heels of last week’s domination by Chicago.

Maybe most importantly, we saw this defense bounce back to hold the Cardinals to just three points. That is much more like the defense we’ve come to know and love.

Offensively, it was a decent day overall. They put up 17 points on a team that allows more points per game (29.8) than any other in the league.

Zach Charbonnet looked very quick and decisive. He shows absolutely no hesitation at all out there, which is great see coming off of a serious knee injury.

Jadarian Price had a big day as a receiver with four catches on four targets and led the team with 54 receiving yards. This was the first game since November of 2025 vs the Vikings that Jaxon Smith-Njigba was not the Hawks’ leading receiver.

Drew Lock looked to be playing through not only an elbow issue, but an issue with his side later in the game. After being taken to the blue tent for an exam, he was back in the game and made the plays he needed to to secure the win.

Bottom line, the Hawks really needed this win to wash away the performance from last week and to remain above .500 at 5-4.

AJ BARNER FOR SIX. AGAIN. @_ajbarner_

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/50FRoWmr6N

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 8, 2026

Mike Lefko – Wyman and Bob

With the injury attrition on both sides of the ball, this was a game you simply needed to find a way to win, and the Seahawks did just that.

Drew Lock’s elbow was clearly bothering him, and the Seahawks’ offense did a good job of not putting him in situations where he had to force the ball downfield. It might have felt too conservative at times, but against this opponent all you had to do was not turn the ball over and let your defense do the rest.

It was encouraging to see Jadarian Price emerge as a nice receiving option in the constant quest for the Seahawks to diversify their passing attack outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

You could tell the defense took it personally after allowing 89 yards on the opening drive. They flew around with suffocating intent the rest of the game. Without two key pieces on the D-line, Demarcus Lawrence had one of his best games of the year and it never felt like the Cardinals were close to mounting any kind of offensive threat.

Replicate this next week, get healthy after the bye, and the Seahawks will be in fine shape for the closing stretch.

Seattle Seahawks news and more

• Seahawks Injury Updates: Drew Lock ‘up in the air’ for next week
• Seattle Seahawks LG Quenton Nelson to undergo “minor” knee procedure

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