Cardinals vs Seahawks: 3 Bold Predictions + Final Score for Week 2

The Arizona Cardinals are 1-0 after a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Next up? Arizona's home opener, against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks for an early-season NFC West division showdown in Week 2.

Do the Cardinals have some magic in them to pull off the upset?

Three bold predictions — plus a final score:

Jeremiyah Love finds the end zone again

Cardinals fans were pleased to see Love find the end zone in his first NFL game, with a win being the cherry on top. His day was overall average, totaling 50 scrimmage yards on 13 touches. Sure, it could've been a bigger performance for fantasy football owners, but it was a nice preview of Love's potential on limited touches.

The Seahawks have a much better defense than the Chargers, and they're beefy up front with Leonard Williams and company. Seattle will likely dominate the line of scrimmage and make life difficult for the Cardinals' offense, yet I'm predicting Love to score his second touchdown in as many weeks.

Arizona will need its offensive stars to shine if it wants to pull off the upset, and I'm saying that Love holds up his end of the bargain.

Cardinals defense forces two turnovers

Drew Lock is making his first start since 2024 as a member of the New York Giants. In relief for an injured Sam Darnold, Lock was able to complete nearly 73% of his passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. That will get the job done more often than not when you've got a defense backing you up as strong as Seattle's is.

However, the story of Lock's career has been a propensity for turnovers, with 28 interceptions in 42 games and 28 starts. Lock will need to play near-flawless football for the Seahawks to win games comfortably and not put too much on the defense, but I don't think two years of rust will do him many favors.

The Cardinals' defense has work to do, but I think Nick Rallis can dial up a game plan to generate a couple of turnovers off a quarterback with a notable history of doing so.

Special teams plays define this game

I'm unsure if the Seahawks are capable of blowing out teams with the injuries they're dealing with, especially at quarterback. This could lead to major slugfests and low-scoring games with an emphasis on doing everything right in all three phases of the game.

Seattle gets the edge on defense and the benefit of the doubt on offense, which leads me to believe that special teams could be the X-factor of this game.

Jason Myers has been an outstanding kicker for nearly a decade for the Seahawks, while the Cardinals get more good than bad from Chad Ryland. Field position will matter a lot for these division rivals, and getting within Myers and Ryland's respective ranges just might matter on every drive.

The team that executes better on special teams, which includes punting and returning, will likely walk away with a win even if it gets outperformed in the box score.

I think the Cardinals have a puncher's chance in this game, and I won't count them out after a battle with a playoff-caliber Chargers team. The reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks weren't unbeatable in Week 1, and Arizona may be able to sneak up on them and get an early-season win.

Unfortunately, I'm not there yet. Although I'm not counting the Cardinals out, I don't have them winning this game.

FINAL SCORE:
AZ: 17
SEA: 27

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