Cardinals vs Seahawks Starting Lineup and Team Comparisons: A Pre-Game Menu Deluxe




by Walter Mitchell

Welcome everyone to the Cardinals' Thursday Night Football contest which for the first time with feature the Cardinals' new Rivalries uniforms and end zones painted in the spirit of the Arizona state flag. Here is your pre-game menu. Hope you find it appetizing.


Defense:

* LDE-AZ  - Calais Campbell - 83.2

* LDE-SEA - Jarran Reed - 64.6


* NT-AZ - Dalvin Tomlinson - 59.0

* NT-SEA - Byron Murphy II - 70.1


* RDE-AZ - Darius Robinson - 35.0

* RDE-SEA - Leonard Williams - 76.3


* LOLB-AZ - Baron Browning - 59.2

* LOLB-SEA - Demarcus Lawrence - 67.8


* LILB-AZ - Mack Wilson Jr. - 61.6

* LILB-SEA - Ernest Jones - 66.7


* RILB-AZ - Akeem Davis-Gaither - 68.8

* RILB-SEA - Tyrice Knight - 62.7


* ROLB-AZ - Josh Sweat - 79.6

* ROLB-SEA - Uchenna Nwosu - 66.6


* LCB-AZ - Max Melton - 53.5

* LCB-SEA - Devon Witherspoon - 66.0


* SS-AZ - Budda Baker - 61.0

* SS-SEA - Coby Bryant - 59.0


* FS-AZ - Dadrion Taylor-Demerson - 75.7

* FS-SEA - Julian Love - 58.5


* RCB-AZ - Kei'Trel Clark - 71.6

* RCB-SEA - Riq Woolen - 41.4


*NB-AZ - Jalen Thompson - 58.2

* NB-SEA - Josh Jobe - 67.0


Special Teams: (2024 stats)


* LS-AZ - Aaron Brewer - 59.7

* LS-SEA - Chris Stoll - 65.5


* P-AZ - Blake Gillikin - 62.5

* P-SEA - Michael Dickson - 78.6



* K-AZ - Chad Ryland - 65.7

* K-SEA - Jason Myers - 72.7


* PR-AZ - Greg Dortch - 77.2

* PR-SEA - Tory Horton - 81.9


* KR-AZ - Emari Demercado - 59.9

* KR-SEA - George Holani - 58.8


Offense:


* QB-AZ - Kyler Murray - 75.8

* QB-SEA - Sam Darnold - 91.9


* RB-AZ --- Trey Benson - 60.4

* RB-SEA - Kenneth Walker III - 84.2


* TE1-AZ --- Trey McBride - 75.5

* TE1-SEA - AJ Barner - 72.1


* TE2-AZ - Elijah Higgins - 81.2

* TE2-SEA -Elijah Arroyo - 54.6


* WR1-AZ - Marvin Harrison Jr. - 61.6

* WR1-SEA - Jaxson Smith-Njigba - 89.2


* WR2-AZ - Michael Wilson - 61.6

* WR2-SEA - Cooper Kupp - 67.5


* LT-AZ - Kelvin Beachum - 47.6

* LT-SEA - Charles Cross - 81.1


* LG-AZ - Evan Brown - 55.3

* LG-SEA - Grey Zabel - 59.8


* C-AZ - Hjalte Froholdt - 73.9

* C-SEA - Jalen Sundell - 58.0


* RG-AZ - Isaiah Adams - 44.0

* RG-SEA - Anthony Bradford - 47.6


* RT-AZ - Jonah Williams - 57.6

* RT-SEA - Abraham Lucas - 59.5


Team Grades:

OVER: ARI-71.9 --- SEA-84.2

OFF: ARI-67.0 --- SEA-79.7

PASS: ARI-78.8 -- SEA-90.4

PBLK: ARI-70.1 --- SEA-59.3

RECV: ARI: 65.3 --- SEA-78.3

RUN: ARI-69.5 --- SEA-73.7

RBLK: ARI-49.4 --- SEA-60.4

DEF: ARI-68.3 --- SEA-71.3

RDEF: ARI-63.1 --- SEA: 78.2

TACK: ARI-52.9 --- SEA-44.3

PRSH: ARI-67.9 --- SEA-72.6

COV: ARI-68.2--- SEA-60.9

SPEC: ARI-81.8 --- SEA-83.8


* Team Grade Rankings: ARI-#14 --- SEA-#2

* Offense Rankings: ARI-#14 --- SEA-#5

* Defense Rankings: ARI-#11 --- SEA-#7

* Special Teams rankings: ARI-#6 --- SEA-#5


Pre-Game Six-Pack:

1. On paper, the Seahawks, with top 10 rankings overall (#2) and on offense (#5), defense (#7) and special teams (#5) should be the prohibitive favorite. 

2. The three areas that the Cardinals are grading better than the Seahawks are in pass blocking, tackling and pass coverage. What this strongly suggests is that the Cardinals should want to pass the ball far more often and creatively than usual. 

3. The Seahawks are hard to budge up front in the running game, and their DI pass rush pressure is #1 in the NFL. Again, the Cardinals need to generate a strong passing game in order to exploit the Seahawks' weaknesses in pass coverage. But in order to do so, the Cardinals are going to have to find ways to move the pocket because of how good the Seahawks are at pressuring the QB up the middle. Well-timed and executed bootlegs and waggles could make a huge impact. 

4. Cardinals' key on offense: Kyler Murray needs to play with poise under pressure. And this week, to back off the Seahawks' front line, it would be great if Kyler escapes a couple of times through the middle. Designing a successful first play pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. could set the tone for the game.

5. Cardinals' key on defense: they need to be the better tackling team this week and they need to put pressure on Sam Darold for 4 quarters to get back to getting their hands on the football. In the Cardinals two wins, their PCB (total interceptions + pass breakups) were 10 and 11 (3rd best in the NFL after 2 games), but the Pass Coverage Barometer in the loss last week dropped to 5. That was one of the main reasons why the soft zone coverage that Mac Jones exploited on the game winning drive was so successful. On all of Jones' passes not a single Cardinals' defender was even remotely close to making a play on the ball. Conversely, it was Upton Stout's jarring pass breakup on Zay Jones that saved the day for the 49ers.

6. Cardinals' key on special teams: win the battle of field position given how great a punter Michael Dickson is --- Jeff Rodgers may want to try to block a punt, and Greg Dortch needs to outplay star rookie punt returner Tory Holt. Plus, Blake Gillikin needs to pin the Seahawks on a couple of islands during t-hour tour (you see what I did there, right, Thurstons?).

Comments

  1. Since 61September 25, 2025 at 7:07 AM

    My outlook for tonight's game-Gulp
    Just might be the beginning of another regime change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TMAttySeptember 25, 2025 at 7:53 AM

      Any time the Cardinals play a Thursday night game at State Farm I can’t help but think of the Green Bay game that we never recovered from in many ways.

      Delete
  2. RedrunSeptember 25, 2025 at 7:14 AM

    Pre-season - I thought Cardinals would be better than Seahawks at this juncture of season.
    3-games into season - I know believe Seahawks are the better team. Better coaching, Better Defense, and Better Offense, Special Teams are even. Cardinals lose at home to Seahawks (20-23).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walter MitchellSeptember 25, 2025 at 9:56 AM

      It is hugely frustrating to see Sam Darnold clicking with his receivers having only been with the team since March.

      Delete
    2. UnfortunateFanSeptember 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM

      What this reinforces is how impactful the coaching staff/organizational philosophy is on the output of most players. Darnold and Geno Smith before him came from a long line of QBs that couldn't get it done at QB for the Jets. They go to teams that have been making QBs look good for a while and suddenly they look good.

      Or how this team was a good run blocking team but questionable at pass blocking with Klayton Adams as OL coach. With Justin Frye they are suddenly as good pass blocking team but poor at run blocking even though it is the same players out there.

      Delete
  3. BurberrySeptember 25, 2025 at 8:44 AM

    If I had some faith in Murray, I’d give us a solid chance. I really don’t and lots of other weaknesses for Seattle to exploit which I expect they will. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst sort of thing.

    Our best players right now on offense and defense are Fro and Calais. Calais plays 25 snaps per game and Fro is the C, not really the two guys you want, almost inarguably, being the top performers on your team.

    ReplyDelete

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