The word of the day for all Seattle Seahawks’ fans is TRAP. As in trap game. As in, this Thursday night in Arizona has all the markings of a classic trap game.
Both teams come in at 2-1, part of a massive logjam in the NFC West. San Francisco, which just suffered another debilitating injury to defensive stud Nick Bosa, leads the division at 3-0. Everyone else is 2-1. So it’s safe to say that the NFC West is very good this year and that it is likely to be competitive right up until the end.
Seattle has already dropped a divisional game – at home no less – to the 49ers. Getting back to even with a win on the road against the Cardinals would be huge. Losing and falling to 0-2 in the division would be equally devastating.
Seahawks' Mike Macdonald needs to continue his mastery of the Arizona Cardinals
Under normal circumstances, the team traveling to a Thursday night game is at a significant disadvantage. Home teams are 3-0 on Thursdays so far in 2025. But the Seahawks have a couple of things going for them.
First and foremost, Mike Macdonald is riding a three-game winning streak against the Cardinals, dating back to 2023, when he was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. His defenses have limited Kyler Murray and company to an average of 321 yards and 16 points per game over those three contests.
That yardage total is slightly below the average for all NFL offenses, but the point total in almost a full touchdown underwater. That is crucial against Arizona because under Jonathan Gannon, they tend to play close games in which they score very efficiently. All three of their games this season have been decided by a touchdown or less.
The Cardinals are coming off a very tough loss against San Francisco while Seattle annihilated New Orleans last Sunday. That in and of itself wouldn’t necessarily breed overconfidence, but the relative ease with which Seattle handled Arizona in both games last year might have that effect.
This is where Mike Macdonald must earn his money. He is still a very young coach, but it is clear by now that Macdonald has genuine skills. He has a 12-8 career record and proved last year that he could remain collected when things began to go bad.
But now he needs to prove that he can get his team to go out and control a team they have not lost to since November 2021. That is the next challenge for Macdonald.
Last year, Seattle’s secondary was very good against Murray and his two primary targets, Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison, Jr. The one player they had real trouble with was running back James Conner, who carried 18 times for 90 yards and caught passes for 32 plus one touchdown in the second game last season.
Conner was ruled out for the season with an ankle injury suffered in last week’s loss to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, there is a chance Seattle could be getting a few of its stars back by Thursday. Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, and Zach Charbonnet all missed the Saints game. It’s doubtful they will all be ready for Thursday, but just getting one or two back would be a real shot in the arm.
Gannon’s defense will be tough. It usually is. Last year, when he played against Sam Darnold and the Vikings, the Cards seriously slowed Minnesota’s vaunted offense and had it won until Darnold’s late-game heroics.
Macdonald would no doubt settle for a similar tight win this time around, but he would prefer to see his defense pick up where they left off last week and take control of the game. Even without Conner, Murray is a dangerous playmaker under center, and the McBride/Harrison seemed poised to really break out soon.
It’s a big step up from New Orleans’ Spencer Rattler to Kyler Murray, but Mike Macdonald and his defensive unit need to make sure that any coming-out party for the Cardinals' offense is delayed by at least one week. If they are not ready, I’ll remind you of how we began: trap game.