The reigning Super Bowl champions will play a crucial NFC game without their starting quarterback. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald announced Wednesday that Sam Darnold is out for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals with a quad injury, and Drew Lock will start in his place.
The Sam Darnold injury changes your week if you have Seattle in a fantasy lineup or on a bet slip. Here is what we know, and what we don’t.
How the Sam Darnold Injury Happened
The damage came in two stages. Darnold cracked a rib on the second play of Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN. Cornerback Kyler Gordon hit him on a blitz as he threw. He kept playing.
Then he hurt the quad on the final drive of a 34-17 loss that dropped Seattle to 4-4. He finished 17-of-34 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked three times and took six official quarterback hits, which is a lot of punishment for one night at the office.
“Sam injured his quad at the end of the game, so Sam’s going to be out this week,” Macdonald said, per NFL.com.
Macdonald added that Darnold is week-to-week and will not go on injured reserve. He also said Darnold could likely have played through the rib injury if not for the quad.
Drew Lock Gets the Call, With a Catch
The good news for Seattle is that Lock has done this before. When Darnold left the Week 1 game against New England with a glute injury, Lock started Week 2 in Arizona and won 31-7. He went 19-of-26 for 235 yards and three touchdowns in that game, per NFL.com.
Over two appearances this season, Lock has 422 passing yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 127.3 passer rating, according to Fox Sports. In other words, the backup has already beaten this exact opponent.
Now the catch. Lock is dealing with his own elbow injury, and he was Seattle’s emergency third quarterback against Chicago. Macdonald’s description of his health was brief: “He’s able to throw.”
Is that the same as fully healthy? Not confirmed, and the team has not issued an official game-day status. Watch Friday’s injury report.
Seahawks Quarterback Injury Fallout for Sunday
Jalen Milroe will back up Lock. Macdonald said the team may add another quarterback this week, and KOMO reports that could be an emergency third quarterback from the practice squad.
Here’s the thing: if money is riding on this game, the number you see today may not be the one you see Sunday. Seattle is still the betting favorite, but Sports Illustrated reports the line dropped notably after the news. Check your sportsbook for the current number, because it will keep moving until kickoff. Odds can mislead, too, as our look at how betting markets can steer you wrong explains.
Arizona has won two of its last three games and will start Gardner Minshew. Kickoff is Sunday, Nov. 8, at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX, in Seattle.
One more thing: this is a championship team that has lost three of its last four, per Fox Sports, and sits at .500. A home game against a divisional rival is the kind you win if you plan on a playoff run. Seattle also brought a long prime-time streak into Denver earlier this season, as our Week 6 picks recap noted, but that streak means little now.
What Happens Next After Darnold Is Ruled Out
The real question is bigger than Sunday. Macdonald said Darnold has a chance to play in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but “week-to-week” is a phrase with a lot of elbow room.
Sports Illustrated speculates that ruling him out this early could signal more than a one-week absence. That is SI’s inference, not a team statement.
The signal to watch is whether Darnold practices next week. If he does, Week 10 is realistic. If he doesn’t, Lock’s audition just got a lot longer.
And Lock does not have much of a leash to worry about. CBS Sports analyst Ben DiNucci suggested Lock might even give Seattle a better chance to win right now, since CBS notes Darnold has not looked the same since last season’s Super Bowl run. That is one analyst’s opinion, but it is a conversation Seattle would rather not be having at 4-4.
Meanwhile, the race for the top seed keeps moving, so the margin for error is shrinking. Sunday is a bad day to find out how much of it Seattle has left.
