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# Jacoby Brissett-Led Cardinals Offer Different Challenges For Seahawks’ Defense in Rematch
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-defense-jacoby-brissett-different-challenges-rematch/
- Published: 2025-11-07T21:47:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:17:24.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Mike Macdonald, Demarcus Lawrence, Aden Durde

RENTON, Wash. - Less than two months removed from their first matchup in the desert, the Seattle Seahawks will see plenty of familiar faces when they greet the Arizona Cardinals to Lumen Field for a Week 10 rematch.

But in comparison to most NFC West replays in the same season, the Cardinals will look significantly different from the squad the Seahawks beat 23-20 in Glendale on Thursday Night Football in late September. Riding a bit of a wave of momentum coming off a Monday night win against the Cowboys, coach Jonathan Gannon’s team has been playing better football as of late behind a stingy defense benefiting from a youth movement led by rookie defensive tackle Walter Nolen and cornerback Will Johnson.

Most importantly, the uptick in play has been spurned in large part by a change at quarterback following an injury to Kyler Murray that thrust seasoned veteran Jacoby Brissett into the lineup last month, a switch that seems to have galvanized the entire team.

Though Arizona sits in the division cellar at 3-5 and lost Brissett’s first two starts in close defeats to the Packers and Colts, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has taken notice of an improving football team that seems to have rallied around the new commander under center over the past several weeks, which adds an interesting wrinkle to Sunday’s second bout between rivals.

“Even before the \[Week 9\] bye, I thought they were moving the ball well,” Macdonald told reporters on Wednesday. “They're putting up points, they're playing efficiently, they're taking care of the ball, they're doing a lot of really good things, that's what they're doing. They were doing that before, but how they got it done was a little different with Jacoby \[Brissett\] a little more under center. They've eliminated some of the quarterback driven run game that Kyler \[Murray\] brings. There's some differences in how they're operating, but I'd say it's been effective. I thought they really dictated terms in the game on Monday night.”

Starting off 2-3, including losing a tight one to Seattle in primetime, Arizona lost Murray to a foot injury after a gut-wrenching defeat to Tennessee in early October. At the time, it wasn’t expected to be a long-term issue, as the Cardinals chose not to put the mobile quarterback on injured reserve with hopes he would only miss a game or two while Brissett manned the ship.

With Murray on the shelf, Brissett has brought much-needed life to Arizona’s scuffling offense. In three starts, he has led the Cardinals to 25.6 points per game, five points more on average than Murray-led offenses produced in the first five weeks. During that span, while the playbook remains the same, the veteran backup has bolstered the passing attack by more effectively pushing the ball downfield, particularly in the middle of the field between the hashes, averaging 7.7 yards per attempt in comparison to Murray’s 5.9 yards per attempt, which ranked dead-last among qualified quarterbacks at the time of his injury.

As the main beneficiaries of Brissett’s aggressiveness and decisiveness throwing from the pocket, receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. recorded a season-high seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown against Dallas, continuing to trend upward with the quarterback change. Star tight end Trey McBride has also been fully unlocked, snagging four touchdowns in the past three games after scoring three times in his previous 21 games combined, suddenly becoming a dynamic target in the red zone.

“Lately, Jacoby's been doing a great job of seeing what he's getting and making quick, decisive decisions and getting the ball out,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde stated.

Since Brissett took the reigns, the Cardinals have been the NFL’s best offense at extending drives on third downs, converting an impressive 56.1% of their opportunities for a new set of downs. Coupling that remarkable efficiency on money downs with a stellar 6:1 touchdown to interception ratio, a passer rating north of 100, and better production from Harrison and McBride catching passes from the savvy vet, and it should come as no surprise that there’s been no shortage of chatter from analysts and fans alike about the possibility of him keeping the job even when Murray gets healthy. 

Fortunately for Gannon and his coaching staff, Arizona has been afforded the opportunity to keep the hot hand in Brissett in the lineup without drumming up a quarterback controversy or upsetting their former No. 1 overall pick for the time being. With Murray still healing after being limited in practice leading up to the Cowboys game before being deactivated hours prior to kickoff, the team placed on him on injured reserve earlier this week, ensuring he would miss Sunday’s game and at least three additional weeks.

Down the line, once Murray becomes eligible for activation, the Cardinals could have a potentially franchise-altering decision on their hands similar to the one the Broncos made with Russell Wilson in 2023 and the Raiders made with Derek Carr in 2022 where they have to chose whether or not to bench the long-time starter permanently. If that does happen, such a move will undoubtedly have ripple effects on the division beyond 2025.

But the Seahawks won’t be troubling themselves with that impending situation this week, as Durde and the rest of the staff will be focused on building a game plan catered to defending offensive coordinator Drew Petzing’s familiar scheme while also accounting for Brissett’s different strengths and how his presence impacts the rest of the skill positions, including the ever-so-dangerous McBride and Harrison.

“They've definitely changed a little bit after the bye week,” Durde said. “I feel like this team plays good football, good sound football. They got themselves in that position last week, and they got the win. They're in it every week. You have to look at this team as they play sound football, they play hard, and they play the right way. There are a few things that are different, but ultimately they still have the same identity.”

Echoing Durde’s words, all while keeping his mouth zipped to an extent for gamesmanship purposes and maintaining respect for the opponent, Seahawks defensive end Demarcus Lawrence isn’t overreaching when it comes to differences between the current Cardinals and the team they faced six weeks ago. At the end of the day, while Brissett isn’t Murray and has a much different skill set that will influence how Petzing calls plays, it’s still the same scheme with the same formations and the same players around the quarterback.

Albeit without having to worry about the designed quarterback runs and improvised theatrics outside of the pocket that make Murray special, the goal will remain the same for Lawrence and his line mates: find a way to get to the quarterback early and often as a means to take away the downfield passing game. If there’s been one issue for Brissett throughout his career, his propensity for holding onto the ball too long has led to a lot of sacks, including taking 11 of them over Arizona’s past two games, as well as 36 career fumbles.

Last September, after weathering an early storm where Brissett and tight end Hunter Henry did substantial damage in the first half, Seattle found success harassing the quarterback as a starter for New England, sacking him three times while limiting him to under 150 passing yards and a 55% completion rate in a 23-20 overtime road win. Keeping that in mind, this won’t be Macdonald or Durde’s first rodeo matching up against Brissett either.

Boasting one of the league’s most formidable defensive fronts that ranks among the best at generating pressures without blitzing, Lawrence and the Seahawks will hope to take advantage of that flaw behind an inconsistent offensive line on Sunday, in turn mitigating some of the strengths that have helped Brissett awaken the Cardinals as of late and potentially creating a turnover or two in the process to get the home town crowd rocking. If they can’t do that, the task of pulling off a sweep in the season series will become that much tougher.

“It’s more of the scheme and the quarterback. Other than that, things don't change. It's still the same guys that were out there with Kyler Murray. I don't want to give you too much, but it's really the same thing. Football is football, it's only certain personnels and certain formations, and you can only put five receivers on the field, so can only have 11 guys on the field. So, I mean, it's just football.”