Quarterback discourse is a minefield in the NFL. The position has such an outsized impact on the sport that entire careers are built around evaluating their play. Analysts and fans build their perspectives at different stages. Some, follow players through college and predict who will succeed in the NFL. Others, watch a single game of a rookie QB and offer a verdict. These opinions are easy to form, and hard to shift. Seahawks fans know this more than most. Russell Wilson was too short, and many outside Seattle continued to find reasons to doubt him in the NFL no matter how much success he had on the field. Geno Smith was a bust who became a Pro Bowler. Sam Darnold was a bust who became a Super Bowl winner. There is an interesting story developing within Seattle that is challenging closely held beliefs of fans. How the team handles it may well decide whether the playoffs are fantasy or fiction.
Drew Lock played a mostly error-free game against a Cardinals defense that will not scare many opponents. His lack of mistakes were a large part of why the game ended with a comfortable 14 point margin. In fact, Seattle has only won three games by more than one score, and two of them have been Lock starts against the Cardinals.
Some were quick to dismiss Lock’s performance because of the defense he faced. Arizona came into the game ranked last in points allowed. They are not a good defense. It is worth noting Seattle has seen other poor defenses this season.
| Success rate allowed | EPA per play allowed | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Rate | NFL rank | EPA | NFL rank |
 Chicago | 39.5% | 3rd | -0.061 | 10th |
 Kansas City | 40.0% | 5th | -0.072 | 9th |
 Denver | 41.0% | 10th | -0.010 | 13th |
 Arizona | 43.0% | 13th | +0.075 | 27th |
 San Francisco | 43.5% | 15th | -0.075 | 6th |
 New England | 43.8% | 18th | +0.045 | 22nd |
 Chargers | 44.0% | 20th | +0.003 | 16th |
 Washington | 45.9% | 25th | +0.024 | 19th |
Data: nflverse.
The Cardinals are not a good defense or a good team, no matter how you slice it. Lock having faced them in two of his three games makes the evaluation more challenging, but does not render his performances meaningless. Take a look at how both players have done compared to what the defenses they faced usually allows. Darnold has the best game of the season when adjusting for opponent. He also owns every one of the negative games. Lock has been consistently positive or neutral.
Data: Sumer Sports.
All defenses make positive and negative plays. All defenses blitz and play coverage. All defenses stop run plays and allow positive runs. Good defenses just do the good stuff more often and against higher quality opponents. This game was no different.
Lock was under pressure on 44% of his dropbacks in the first 15 plays of this game, including two of his first three dropbacks. The Cardinals did not produce much pressure in this game, but that was not because Lock was getting great protection. Arizona had one of the fastest time-to-pressure rates of the season for a Seattle opponent (2.3s). Lock was just making quick decisions that eliminated most of the pressure opportunities.
Wk 1LockWk 2LockWk 3DarnoldWk 4DarnoldWk 5DarnoldWk 6DarnoldWk 7DarnoldWk 8DarnoldWk 9LockData: Sumer Sports.
Every quarterback performs worse when the defense is able to create pressure. A key separator among QBs is who is able to have a higher floor in those situations. When pressure comes, can you avoid making a critical error? Can you turn a bad play into a good one? Darnold did far better than his reputation suggested in those areas in 2025. Lock has outperformed him in all aspects this season on that front.
Lock |
Darnold |
NFL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressures that became sacks | 6.1% 2 of 33 | 16.8% 17 of 101 | 16.4% |
| Interceptions per dropback | 0.0% 0 in 80 | 3.8% 9 in 235 | 1.9% |
| Big plays under pressure | 12.1% 4 of 33 | 7.9% 8 of 101 | 9.1% |
| Dropbacks that lost expected points | 50.0% 40 of 80 | 56.2% 132 of 235 | 54.7% |
Data: Sumer Sports (pressure, EPA), nflverse (turnovers).
The turnovers rightly get most of the attention. Darnold has had a turnover in seven of the twelve halves of football he has played this season. Lock has none. The pressure those turnovers have put on the defense and the team has been enormous. The lack of turnovers for Lock has been just as big, and he deserves credit for playing clean football. Turning the ball over has been his major issue as a quarterback. The three straight games and 80 dropbacks without an interception is the second-longest of his career.
What is discussed less than the turnover disparity between Lock and Darnold is the sack avoidance. Darnold’s pressure-to-sack rate is astronomically higher than Lock’s so far this season.
Given the fact that this offensive line has not been performing as well as last season, these measures matter even more. Getting rid of the ball quickly, reducing negative results when pressure happens, and increasing positive results in those moments, is an important aspect of evaluating these players independent of opponent. Lock has been clearly better on all fronts.
He also has done better the old-fashioned way. He is now 3-0 when getting the bulk of snaps. The team is 2-4 in Darnold starts. Conventional stats favor him as well. It should be noted that one of his games he came in as a backup without taking starter reps that week, and a second game he played with elbow tendonitis and an oblique injury. It is not like he has been handed these results on a silver platter.
What my eyes notice are the details that numbers have trouble capturing. His poise in the pocket has been better than the sometimes frantic Darnold feet and eyes. His passes have been properly placed in spots only his receiver can make the play. His ability to escape the pocket when needed has been better, and his decisions in those moments have been better. He is not just playing it safe. There were a series of high-level throws in all his games this season, including this one. He distributed the ball nicely in this game, with Cooper Kupp, Tory Horton, A.J. Barner and Jadarian Price all making key contributions as receivers, beyond just Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Dismissing Lock’s advantages over Darnold this season as simply the opponent each player has faced feels more driven by prior loyalty or evaluation than an honest look at how each player has performed this season. None of this means Lock is going to continue this stretch of good play, or that he can help this team win meaningful games against quality opponents. It simply means Lock has played winning football, and Darnold often has not.
There is a reason the team did not lose after Week 11 last season when Darnold’s flashy stats dropped but his turnover rate improved. This defense allows this team to win a lot of games when the offense does not shoot the team in the foot. They needed elite QB play to reach the Super Bowl. They did not need it to win most of the 10 straight games they won during that stretch.
Lock |
Darnold | |
|---|---|---|
| Completions / attempts | 54/76 | 127/211 |
| Completion rate | 71.1% | 60.2% |
| Passing yards | 597 | 1,478 |
| Yards per attempt | 7.9 | 7.0 |
| Touchdowns / interceptions | 5/0 | 10/9 |
| Touchdown rate | 6.6% | 4.7% |
| Interception rate | 0.0% | 4.3% |
| Sacks | 2 | 17 |
| Sack rate | 2.6% | 7.5% |
| Passer rating | 116.0 | 79.5 |
| EPA per dropback | +0.40 1st of 37 | -0.04 28th of 37 |
| Success rate | 51% | 43% |
| Dropbacks | 80 | 235 |
Data: nflverse.
One of the least controversial aspects of this win over Arizona was the play of the Seattle backfield. Price and Zach Charbonnet were fantastic in this one. Price did most of his damage through the air. Fans finally got a glimpse of the receiving skills he flashed throughout training camp when he made a gorgeous grab of a well-placed sideline pass from Lock early in the game.
Charbonnet had one of his more impressive games as a Seahawk. His ability to break and avoid tackles was elite in this one. One of his best plays was called back for a ridiculous call by a ridiculous crew of referees. Even without that play, his game ranked with some of the best in the NFL this season.
Data: Sumer Sports.
The personal foul on Jalen Sundell came at the end of a miraculous series of broken and avoided tackles on a pass Charbonnet caught. It should not have been called a penalty in the first place, and the rule that had the offsides on the Cardinals negated is bizarre. Wipe that penalty away, and Charbonnet had the 2nd-best tackle avoidance day of any back in the NFL this season.
Data: Sumer Sports.
That play was one of the most memorable, but what stood out to me was the way he helped close out the game and the hidden yards throughout the game. He, like Lock, does such a good job of avoiding negative plays and helping out his offensive line.
The fact that he did all of this in his second game back after an ACL repair is incredible. It also helps to validate some of the confidence the organization has in him. The decision about how to handle his upcoming free agency will be one to watch if he keeps this up. Some might point to the way the team let Kenneth Walker leave as evidence they will let Charbonnet walk as well. The team sees those players differently, and their price tags will be very different as well.
The vision of this Price and Charbonnet backfield came into focus for the first time in this game. You could feel the difference in what both players bring to the offense. Price has been one of the best players in the NFL in forcing missed tackles so far. His vision and lateral agility is well above average. There were a series of cuts where he seemed to cover 2-3 gaps laterally on cuts. Now we need to see both players stay on the field and protect the football (in Price’s case).
| Player | Carries | Missed tackles forced per 10 carries | Yards after contact per carry |
|---|---|---|---|
 Emanuel Wilson | 111 | 1.6 21st of 54 | 2.73 38th of 54 |
 Jadarian Price | 47 | 2.6 3rd of 54 | 2.89 28th of 54 |
 George Holani | 37 | 2.2 under 40 carries | 2.70 under 40 carries |
| Zach Charbonnet | 22 | 2.3 under 40 carries | 3.45 under 40 carries |
| NFL running backs | 6,043 | 1.6 | 2.99 |
Data: Sumer Sports.
Brian Fleury made a decent-sized shift in this game to the kind of run plays he preferred. They have been massively reliant on outside zone to this point. They largely avoided that in this game, and shifted primarily to inside zone. Good thing they did. They had a 0% success rate on outside zone runs versus Arizona, and 40% on inside zone.
| Share of runs | Success rate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concept | Weeks 1-8 | Week 9 | Weeks 1-8 | Week 9 |
| Inside zone | 17% (35) | 34% (10) | 29% | 40% |
| Outside zone | 44% (92) | 17% (5) | 36% | 0% |
| Man/duo | 14% (29) | 14% (4) | 41% | 2 of 4 |
| Power | 12% (25) | 10% (3) | 40% | 0 of 3 |
| Pull lead | 5% (11) | 10% (3) | 45% | 1 of 3 |
| Sneak or direct snap | 2% (4) | 14% (4) | 3 of 4 | 3 of 4 |
| Other (counter, draw, trick) | 7% (15) | 0% (0) | 13% | none |
| All designed runs | 211 runs | 29 runs | 36% | 34% |
Data: Sumer Sports (concepts), nflverse (success).
That helped pave the way to 120 yards on the ground, and grind over seven minutes off the clock after halftime and move off their goal line to a kneel down to close the game. They will need that aspect of this offense to continue to grow to reduce the reliance on high-level quarterback play and high-level pass protection.
In addition to the developing question at quarterback, the team will need to decide what to do when Quenton Nelson returns from injury. Expectation is that Grey Zabel will return to right guard, but it may not be a coincidence that the team is undefeated in Anthony Bradford starts, including two clean wins over the past three weeks, sandwiched around a stinker against the Bears when he did not play.
The expectation is Zabel will move back to right guard. He will have more time to prepare this time, including a bye week. He is clearly part of the future, where Bradford is a free agent after this season. That is tomorrow’s problem.
Finding a way to build on the run game with this backfield and this offensive line that could get Charles Cross back is arguably the most important area of focus for this team. It is highly unlikely they will be able to compete with teams like the 49ers and Rams if they do not have a strong run game. They need to go from what has been a terrible run game to a very good run game in a short amount of time. This was a big step in that direction.
One other callout was Abe Lucas had a fantastic game. He has had a challenging season. This game was a great getback performance.
| Game | Opponent | Pass-block snapsSnaps | PressuresPress. | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026, Wk 9 | Arizona | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| 2026, Wk 4 | Chargers | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 playoffs, Wk 4 | New England | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025, Wk 15 |  Indianapolis | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025, Wk 12 |  Tennessee | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025, Wk 9 | Washington | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025, Wk 5 |  Tampa Bay | 34 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022, Wk 18 |  Rams | 38 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022, Wk 9 | Arizona | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022, Wk 8 |  Giants | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022, Wk 7 | Chargers | 30 | 0 | 0 |
Data: Sumer Sports.
Defensively, the Seahawks were fantastic despite missing guys like Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu. Josh Jobe had a great game, and was robbed of an interception. DeMarcus Lawrence was fantastic as well. He had a key TFL in the red zone at the end that helped keep Arizona out of the end zone. Seattle had given up a touchdown on nine straight red zone possessions. This was the first game all season where a they did not give up a red zone touchdown versus a team that had at least one red zone possession.
The game the Seahawks played on Sunday was good enough to beat mediocre-to-bad teams in the NFL. They eliminated mistakes, and let their defense choke the life out of the opponent. It was not good enough to beat most good teams. Seattle plays the Raiders in Vegas next week before a much-needed bye. They will then travel to Levi’s Stadium to face the 49ers. They will need to be a far better team than they are right now to win that game. Who lines up behind center is a major factor. Lock has not proven he is capable of the heights of Darnold. Darnold has not proven he is capable of eliminating the lows that have sunk his team. Two more weeks will determine who gets the snaps in the biggest game of the season.