Predictions Summary Projections by Position Projection Team Boxes

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Prediction: SEA 17, ARI 3 (Line: SEA by 9)

This is a replay of week 12 when the Seahawks won 19-3 when the Cardinals visited. The 11-3 Cardinals are 7-0 at home despite recent players lost to injury and the 10-4 Seahawks are only 4-3 on the road. This is a huge game because if the Cardinals can win, they could end up as the #1 seed in the NFC and the Seahawks merely become one of the wild card contender. But if the Seahawks win, they’ll take the NFC West again and contend for a first round bye. The Cardinals at home are always tough and they surprised last week beating the Rams in St. Louis. But missing their starting quarterback and running back is going to really be an issue this time.

The Seahawks are on a four game winning streak stretching back to the first meeting with the Cardinals in Seattle. The defense has been outstanding for the last month including holding the Cards to only three points. This game should favor the Seahawks but the Cardinals can always surprise and the Seahawks are not nearly as productive when they leave home.

QUARTERBACK : Russell Wilson was held to 211 pass yards and one score in the first meeting and that’s been about his norm. Safely assuming that this will not be a shootout this week, Wilson will be more about ball control and minimizing errors.

RUNNING BACK : Marshawn Lynch had his worst game of the year in week 12 when the Cardinals held him to only 39 yards on 15 carries. He added 43 yards on three receptions. Lynch has been good for 100+ total yards in almost every game though all his rushing touchdowns were entirely in home games. Conversely, three of his four receiving touchdowns were in road games.

WIDE RECEIVER : The wideouts are always one of the least productive and going against the Cardinals even more so. In the previous matchup, Doug Baldwin only managed two catches for six yards thanks to Patrick Peterson and no other wideout had more than one catch. On the road that is not likely to improve much and again – this is not going to be a shootout anyway.

TIGHT END : The tight ends are rarely productive. But in week 12, all three would catch a pass. Tony Moeaki (4-34), Luke Wilson (1-21) and Cooper Helfet (2-27, TD) had bigger games than normal. Basically there is fantasy value here and you could never, ever guess when or with whom.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: This is harder to match up given that the Cardinals offense may – or may not – be a big issue and change the game situation. Everyone throws for one score in Arizona but rarely more and Wilson is unlikely to throw any more than he absolutely must. Russell did run for 73 yards in that first meeting and he’s sure to run again in this one. There is never a reason to consider the wideouts and less so this time but Wilson used tight ends in the first win and will likely lean on them again. Lynch has not run well against the Cards and now is on their turf. He’s hard to ever sit but is likely to have a less productive game here.

The Cardinals defense is carrying the team and playing so well that they have been able to weather the loss of critical offensive players. It may be largely devoid of fantasy value but a win is a win. But the Seahawks are peaking now while these Cards are trying to keep up plugging holes as they happen. The final week in San Francisco can likely be won by a big defensive effort but that’s probably not going to be enough here. If the Cards can pull this one off, it will be one of their more memorable games.

QUARTERBACK : Carson Palmer is gone and now Drew Stanton has ACL and MCL’s and is likely to miss four weeks. That means that Ryan Lindley will be the starter for now but HC Bruce Arians says he will also work in rookie Logan Thomas. On the plus side, hard to prepare to defend this. On the negative, maybe don’t need a lot of preparation. Stanton was held to 149 pass yards and one interception in Seattle.

RUNNING BACK : Back in Seattle, Andre Ellington only gained 24 yards on ten runs but caught five passes for 39 yards. Now that he is on injured reserve, Kerwynn Williams has been the lead runner with 15 carries for 75 yards last week. Stepfan Taylor was not far behind with 14 carries for 61 yards in St. Louis. This will be a split backfield again this week.

WIDE RECEIVER : Larry Fitzgerald did not play in the first matchup with the Seahawks but Michael Floyd did. At least he dressed but he had no catches on two targets with Richard Sherman on him. John Brown (3-61) and Jaron Brown (3-24) were the only wideouts with receptions that week. What will happen at home with Ryan Lindley under center is almost impossible to forecast other than it is probably not going to be any more productive than the last time.

TIGHT END : John Carlson only caught three passes for 25 yards in Seattle but that is about his normal game. All combined the Cardinals tight ends have only scored once this year.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: Third-string quarterback and previous practice squad guy as the primary back. There is little to go on here with the change in quarterback and likely struggle running the ball other than the only entity worth fantasy consideration is the Cardinals defense and even that may not pay off.

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