Arizona Cardinals v Dallas Cowboys
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The Arizona Cardinals will face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in a Battle of the Backups. This one comes with a strange twist.
Gardner Minshew was Arizona’s backup quarterback before his Week 8 heroics. The seven days since have seen Arizona send Jacoby Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens, with Minshew stepping in as the starter.
Ironically, Drew Lock already faced the Cardinals once. He started in place of the injured Sam Darnold and torched Arizona in Week 2, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He will face the Cardinals again on Sunday.
Now that Minshew has taken the reins in Arizona, Sunday’s matchup will feature two quarterbacks who entered Week 8 figuring to sit out in Week 9. That is one ironic twist.
Minshew Will Face Another Tall Task Against Seattle
Minshew faced a seemingly insurmountable task in Week 8 when he helped the Cardinals claw their way back into the game and stun the Dallas Cowboys. In Week 9, he will face a team the Cardinals have lost 10 straight games to.
Arizona’s most recent loss to Seattle was one of the most debilitating in that streak. While the Cardinals kept the game close for a while, tying it 7-7 early in the second quarter, Seattle responded with 24 unanswered points.
The Cardinals netted 81 passing yards. It was writing on the wall for Brissett, who enjoyed very few decent performances following that contest. Fast-forward to Week 9, and Minshew is coming off one of the better games of his career, despite only playing for little more than a quarter.
He threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns, which should build momentum for Sunday’s upcoming contest. Still, it is worth wondering what the Cardinals’ mentality is heading into their clash with the Seahawks.
It is easy for a losing streak against a division rival to get into players’ heads. But it is also easy for multiple two-score deficits to do the same thing. Minshew and the Cardinals showed they could overcome one obstacle. Now, they need to do the same against Seattle.
More Irony Involving Gardner Minshew And Drew Lock
Minshew and Lock were both drafted in 2019, and for a minute, both looked like future franchise quarterbacks. Minshew went 6-6 in 12 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars in his rookie season, but he went just 1-7 the next year. By 2021, he was with the Philadelphia Eagles and had since become a journeyman.
Lock started his career with the Denver Broncos and went 4-1 in his rookie campaign. He started 13 games in 2020, but went 4-9. Denver gave up on Lock and traded him to the Seahawks as part of the Russell Wilson trade two years later. Lock had been in Seattle every season since, except in 2024, when he spent time with the New York Giants.
On Sunday, both teams will look to keep pace in the NFC West with quarterbacks who spent most of the 2026 season as backups. Still, Minshew and Lock each showed they are capable of leading efficient offenses in their respective chances.
For Arizona, the stakes have grown since they started the season a paltry 1-4. A win on Sunday will put them at 4-5. Mathematically, it would also mean they are very much alive in the 2026 playoff hunt.
Todd Matthews Todd Matthews is a veteran sportswriter with years of experience covering the NHL, NFL, and other major sports. His background includes team-specific coverage, breaking news, analysis, roster developments, player trends, and league-wide storylines. He joined Heavy in 2026 and previously wrote for FanSided. More about Todd Matthews