Seahawks at Cardinals Final Score: Seattle Wins by 24 on the Road

Seattle won 31-7 in Arizona. We laid the 4 with the Seahawks and they covered it by 20.

Arizona managed 151 yards. That is the number to keep: 47 plays, 3.2 a play, and 23:27 with the ball. Seattle held it for 36:33 and never had to chase the game after the first quarter.

The score was 7-7 at the half, which flattered Arizona. Seattle scored 10 in the third and 14 in the fourth, and the Cardinals did not answer either time.

The case for laying the points was that Seattle won eight of its nine road games last season. That held up here, and it held up in the way you want: they were better for four quarters rather than lucky in one.

The number

Arizona closed at +4 and Seattle covered by 20. The total closed at 41 and 38 points were scored, so the under cashed by three.

What we said before kickoff

The prediction below is unchanged, so you can see what was argued and judge it.

Seattle won eight of its nine road games last season. I want the Seahawks, laying 4.

Watch Arizona’s defence. In eight home games last season it allowed at least 22 points every time, and I think that habit decides this game.

Where the price has gone

Seattle is a 4-point favourite in Glendale at seven of the eleven books quoting this game, read on 17 September 2026. Three books have Seattle at -3.5 and one has -4.5. The same market had Seattle at -10 on 10 September and at -6.5 on 14 September.

Source: US sportsbooks via Nucleus, read 2026-09-17 05:24 UTC. Each point is the newest time any book quoted that line (times UTC).

That is a six-point move toward Arizona, and each team has played one game. This page took Arizona and 3.5 points on 16 September. I’ve changed my mind. When I put the whole of 2025 beside that move, I end up on the other side of it, and I would rather say so plainly than defend a call I no longer believe.

What Week 1 showed

Arizona won 26-14 at the Los Angeles Chargers as a 9-point underdog, so it beat the closing spread by 21 points. It led 13-7 at half-time and 16-14 after three quarters, then scored the only 10 points of the fourth.

Seattle beat New England 13-10 at home. It closed as a 3-point favourite, so the bet was a push. The Seahawks were shut out in the first half and trailed 7-0 at the break, then scored 13 after it and allowed 3.

Source: ESPN scoreboard, read 16 September 2026; the period scores add up to both finals.

That is the best case for Arizona, and I take it seriously. But it is one game each, played by two teams that finished 2025 eleven wins apart. Last season gave us seventeen games for each, and they tell a different story.

What last season says

Seattle finished 2025 at 14-3 and outscored its opponents by 191 points. Then it won three playoff games, the last of them 29-13 over New England in the Super Bowl. Arizona finished 3-14 and was outscored by 133.

Source: NFL 2025 results via Nucleus, checked game by game against ESPN.

Arizona’s year got worse as it went. It lost each of its last nine games, six of them by 17 points or more.

Close games did not rescue it either. In games decided by eight points or fewer, Arizona went 2-8 and Seattle went 6-3.

Arizona at home, Seattle on the road

This is the split I keep coming back to. Arizona was 1-7 at home in 2025, scoring 21.6 points a game and allowing 29.1. Seattle was 8-1 on the road, scoring 26.4 and allowing 14.4.

Source: NFL 2025 results via Nucleus, checked game by game against ESPN. Neutral-site games are left out of both.

Here is the tell. Arizona could score at home: it reached 20 points in six of its eight home games, and won one of those six. What it could not do was get stops. It allowed at least 22 points in all eight, and 41 or more twice.

Seattle scored 23 or more in six of its nine road games. So if Arizona’s defence plays at home the way it did last season, I don’t think 20 points is enough for the Cardinals, and I can’t see Seattle stuck on 13 again.

The risk sits inside the same numbers. Seattle held six of its nine road opponents under 20 and won all six by 8 points or more. The three that reached 20 made it close: Seattle won by 3 at Arizona, lost by 2 at the Los Angeles Rams and won by 6 at Tennessee. If Arizona gets to 20 and gets stops as well, this is a game.

The two meetings, and the division

Seattle won both meetings in 2025. The first was 23-20 at Arizona on 25 September. The second was 44-22 at Seattle on 9 November.

Three is the most common winning margin in the NFL, and the meeting at Arizona landed on it. At 4, that result loses the bet. It bothers me, and it is the reason I am not laying more than 4.

This is an NFC West game, and both teams are 1-0 without having played a division game yet. Seattle went 4-2 in the division last season. Arizona went 0-6, losing by 1, 3, 17, 19, 22 and 28 points.

What the moneyline says

Seattle is -204 and Arizona +170, the median of eleven books. Take the bookmaker’s margin out and that prices Seattle to win this game 64.4% of the time.

Source: US sportsbooks via Nucleus, read 2026-09-17 05:24 UTC.

I think that is close for the win. The points are where I think the price is short, because Seattle won by more than 4 in seven of its nine road games last season.

The call

I want Seattle at -4. Seven books have it, at prices from -103 to -110. At -103 the bet needs to win 50.7% of the time to break even, and at -110 it needs 52.4%.

Three books have Seattle at -3.5, at -115 and -120. That half point only matters if Seattle wins by exactly 4, and Seattle did not win a regular-season game by 4 in 2025. At -120 the bet needs 54.5%, so I would shop for the 4 instead. One book has -4.5 at -102, which needs 50.5%.

The other side is priced at the same seven books: Arizona +4 runs from -108 to -114, which needs 51.9% to 53.3%. One book has Arizona +3.5 at even money, which needs 50%. Neither price moves me. Arizona would have covered 4 in four of its eight home games last season, with a fifth landing on exactly 4, while Seattle covered 4 in seven of its nine road games.

The total

The total is 41 at nine books and 41.5 at two. At 41 the over costs -110 to -115 and the under -104 to -110. It was 44.5 on 10 September and 43 on 14 September.

Source: US sportsbooks via Nucleus, read 2026-09-17 05:24 UTC. Each point is the newest time any book quoted that line (times UTC).

Last season points one way. All eight of Arizona’s home games went over 41, and 14 of its 17 games did. Seattle’s went over 10 times in 17. The two meetings produced 43 and 66 points.

Source: NFL 2025 results via Nucleus, checked game by game against ESPN. The line: median of the books quoting the game.

Week 1 pointed the other way. Seattle’s game produced 23 points against a closing total of 44.5, and Arizona’s produced 40 against 47. I lean over, because Arizona allowed 29.1 a game at home. A lean is not a bet, and I am leaving the total alone.

What changes it

The line going back to Seattle -6.5, where it was on 14 September. At that number Seattle’s 6-point road win at Tennessee last season becomes a loss, and I would pass.

Arizona’s scoreboard. If the Cardinals reach 20 before the fourth quarter and the Seahawks are not clear of them, the tell has gone against me.

And read both injury reports before you bet. Nothing in this piece says who is available on Sunday 20 September.

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, Sunday 20 September 2026, 4:25 PM ET. Prices: US sportsbooks via Nucleus, read 17 September 2026, 05:24 UTC. 2025 results: Nucleus, checked game by game against ESPN. Week 1 period scores: ESPN. Every Week 2 game: NFL Week 2 odds and predictions.