Seahawks Beat Cardinals 17-3 Off AJ Barner's 2 TDs

The Seattle Seahawks got two touchdowns out of tight end AJ Barner - one rushing and one receiving - to supply enough offense for its dominant defense to complete a 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field.

Arizona, playing without starting running back Jeremiyah Love and with new starter Gardner Minshew at quarterback, converted a field goal on its first drive, but would punt on the next six drives. Their final possession ended in a turnover on downs from the Seahawks' 2-yard line.

Drew Lock battled an elbow injury to fill in for injured starter Sam Darnold (quad, ribs), throwing for 175 yards on 19-of-28 with no turnovers.

Running back Zach Charbonnet got back to form after his return from injured reserve with 77 yards on 16 carries.

Minshew was sacked three times and completed 21-of-30 passes for 166 yards.

Seattle improves to 5-4 in the competitive NFC West. Next week's matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders preludes a date with the conference-leading San Francisco 49ers, who beat the Raiders 38-17 in Week 9.

Arizona falls to 3-6 and faces the Los Angeles Rams at home next week.

The Cardinals forced a three-and-out and took their first possession 10 plays and 89 yards. Ultimately Arizona settled for a short field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.

Seattle moved the chains once on its next series, but Michael Dickson sent away his second punt in as many possessions. On the drive, Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 8-yard reception put him over 1,000 receiving yards on the season.

The reigning Offensive Player of the Year is the third Seahawk ever to reach 1,000 receiving yards in three straight seasons (Tyler Lockett and Steve Largent).

Smith-Njigba, however, finished the game with just 51 yards receiving on seven catches. This is just the second game this season in which JSN did not reach 100 yards receiving.

Seattle carried its next possession into the second quarter to establish a 7-3 lead. The 11-play series ended with tight end Barner's 1-yard tush-push touchdown run.

Lock had a look of frustration as he missed Cooper Kupp downfield on a 3rd-down throw that would have extended the Seahawks' drive after another Cardinals punt.

Smith-Njigba was the target on a deep pass interference that picked up 29 yards and a completion for 18 more. Seattle turned the big gains into points as Barner caught a touchdown for his second score of the game.

Arizona narrowly avoided a sluggish quarter turning into a disaster. With seconds remaining until halftime, Minshew fumbled, and his tight end, Trey McBride, recovered deep in Cardinals territory.

Seattle led 14-3 at the break.

The Seahawks' defense continued to control the game by sacking Minshew on Arizona's first drive of the second half, ending in another punt.

Jason Myers connected on his first field goal attempt of the game, a 45-yarder that extended the lead to 17-3 after a drive that took up more than half the quarter.

After the series, Lock went inside the blue medical tent, presumably for the elbow injury that had landed him on the injury report over the past week. He would stay in the game.

Arizona finally ended its streak of punts by getting down near the Seattle goal line. But the long drive couldn't end in points. Minshew's offense had two short runs and two incompletions with goal to go.

Charbonnet helped seal the win with 33 yards rushing on the final drive. Barner added his third 1-yard rush to pick up a first down at the 2-minute warning.