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The NFC West is looking like the NFL's top division this season, at least early on. The 49ers are 3-0 despite dealing with a ton of big injuries, including Brock Purdy and George Kittle being out since Week 1 and now Nick Bosa out for the season. The Rams, who won the division in 2024, also look like a strong contender in the NFC so long as Matthew Stafford is healthy and throwing balls to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

The division's other two teams are hardly slouches, either, with the Seahawks and Cardinals each 2-1. Seattle had one of the more impressive Week 3 showings with a dominant win over the Saints that was nothing short of impressive, with the Seahawks jumping out to an early 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looking back. That kind of win likely has played a role in the significant line movement for Seattle vs. Arizona on Thursday Night Football (this is why you should read my Bet It Now column, as you'd have a full three points of glorious CLV in your pocket already).  

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With both teams entering the Week at 2-1, this is a pretty big game, especially this early in the season. The Seahawks and Cardinals both know winning these kind of games go a long way towards winning a division crown and making the postseason in general. 

If you're new to NFL betting or need a refresher, make sure to check out our NFL betting guide with the season underway. Also make sure to check out the SportsLine Projection Model's forecast for the entire Seahawks-Cardinals game.

Top straight bet (spread, money line or total)

Seahawks money line

Note: This line was Seattle -115 when this article was first published early Thursday morning.

There's certainly something a little fishy with backing the short road favorite on a short week in a divisional matchup, but I can't get past the combination of Seattle having the best unit -- by far -- in this game with its defense and the injury report simply trending massively in the Seahawks' favor. 

The Seahawks could get running back Zach Charbonnet back for this matchup as he's questionable after sitting out last week. Additionally, the secondary is primed to get reinforcements with Devon Witherspoon off the injury report and Julian Love questionable. 

The Cardinals, on the other hand, have a slew of offensive linemen whose statuses are up in the air, including starting tackle Paris Johnson. Plus, the team just lost starting running back James Conner for the year. Arizona's secondary is pretty banged up as well, which should allow Sam Darnold to fire off some passes downfield.

You can bet the Seahawks ML -130at BetMGM, where new users get up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if their first bet doesn't win:

Seahawks vs. Cardinals player props

Kyler Murray Over 5.5 total carries

The Seahawks are sporting one of the best defenses in football, so any Overs for the Cardinals is a little scary -- and glance around at the market, they're pretty submerged, which is telling for the game as a whole. 

I'm definitely tempted to take the Over on Murray's rush yards total, but the carries is even more enticing: Murray behind a less-than-healthy offensive line should equate to some scrambles from the pocket, it's very possible Arizona dials up some designed runs for their speedy quarterback, and we also have the backdoor option here of Arizona winning a close game and Murray taking some knees at the end of the game to clear this total. 

Despite a "meh" rushing season so far, Murray has cleared this number in all three of Arizona's games so far this year. 

Trey McBride longest catch Under 20.5

McBride's gone Over this number twice this season, but a closer look at his Next Gen Stats profile shows a guy who isn't running many -- if any -- deep routes. His 31-yard catch against the Panthers was largely YAC, and the only other catch that he went Over 20 yards on this season was a seam route against the Saints in Week 1. 

Seattle gave up two scores to tight ends in Week 1, but no long catches. The Seahawks also kept Pat Friermuth and Jonnu Smith Under this number in Week 2 and gave up just one long catch to Juwan Johnson late in the fourth quarter in Week 3 when the game was well out of hand and the defense was composed largely of backups. 

With Marvin Harrison, Jr. struggling to generate much production in Year 2 and Arizona on a backup running back, I firmly expect the Seahawks' primary focus on Thursday will be taking away McBride.

Tory Horton Over 23.5 receiving yards

Note: Horton's total receiving yards prop at BetMGM was 22.5 when this article was first published.

The Seahawks might be making a subtle change in their wide receiver rotation early in the season as it appears Tory Horton could be seeing as many routes and/or snaps as Cooper Kupp -- or at the very least, they really like and trust the fifth-round rookie out of Colorado State and are giving him ample opportunity to step up early in the 2025 season. 

This is a low number against a secondary that is potentially down some starters and Horton potentially serving as a secondary or tertiary focus for the Seahawks on offense. 

Trey Benson Over 21.5 receiving yards

Note: Benson's total receiving yards prop at BetMGM was 20.5 when this article was first published.

Another short recieving yards prop, although this one is going to a running back instead of a wide receiver. Benson's the unquestioned starter now with Conner's season unfortunately done. That should mean plenty of carries, but I'm more interested in his receiving props: Conner and Benson totaled 20 targets from Murray in three games combined, and I'm allocating a significant portion of that to Benson versus a 50-50 split elsewhere. 

Benson is much more capable of a big play than Conner when catching the ball, and if the Cardinals find themselves trailing, he should clear this easily via game script. 

TNF anytime touchdown scorer props

Jaxson Smith-Njigba +155

This line keeps bee-bopping and skatting back and forth around the +150 range and has settled at +155 at DraftKings as of Thursday afternoon. I think anything north of +150 is good value, as it could easily be +135 at a fair price. Even though the total in this game isn't massive and JSN isn't a red-zone target monster, he is an overall target hog, getting a ridiculous 29 looks from Darnold through three games, including "only" six targets last week in Seattle's blowout win over the Saints where the Seahawks weren't even throwing for essentially three quarters. 

Against a Cardinals secondary that's depleted, there's a real good chance Seattle's No. 1 option finds paydirt at some point on Thursday. 

Kyler Murray +280

Note: Murray's anytime touchdown scorer odds at DraftKings was +300 when this article was first published.

This is a little bit of a longer shot here on a guy who isn't built like someone who's going to carry the ball a ton near the goal line, but Murray does have two carries (for just one yard) inside the 10 this year, and it wouldn't shock me in a game of this importance -- at least early in the season -- for offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to scheme up either some kind of read option or a designed run for Murray when the Cardinals get down towards the goal line, particularly if they're not able to move the ball effectively in the physical ground game.