What losing streak? Cardinals not letting past issues vs. Seahawks dictate the present

TEMPE — There are not many teams that have had the Arizona Cardinals’ number quite like the Seattle Seahawks in recent memory.

Since 2021, the Cardinals are 1-9 against the NFC West foe. That includes a nine-game losing streak that has spanned two coaching regimes.

Only two Cardinals players are still with the franchise from the last time they got the better of the Seahawks in Budda Baker and James Conner.

Trey McBride is 0-8. Michael Wilson is 0-6. Marvin Harrison Jr. is 0-4. You get the point.

Head coach Mike LaFleur, however, is 0-0 against Seattle as Arizona’s head coach. And that’s the energy he’s bringing this week amid all the losing-streak talk.

“It’d be another win. We’d be 2-0 and we’d be moving on to the next week,” LaFleur said when asked what breaking the streak would mean to the team and its fans. “I didn’t even know the history of it. So, that’s news to me. History’s a big part of this game, but it can’t be in your locker, and it’s just got to be week to week.

“If we win, then I guess we’d be 2-0. If they win, they’ll be 2-0 and the sun will come up Monday and we’re right back to work.”

Cardinals players not looking (too much) into the past

It’s easy for LaFleur to come into the week with the clean-slate mindset as one of the newest Cardinals on the team.

He also found success against Seattle during his time as the Rams offensive coordinator, with Los Angeles going 4-2 against the Seahawks in the regular season from 2023-25. Sure, there’s last year’s NFC Championship loss that stands out.

That’s not quite like the domination Seattle has had over Arizona the past five years.

But while players know the recent history of the matchup, they’re not letting that impact their process this week.

“It’s another game in the season,” Harrison said Wednesday. “They are Super Bowl champs, but it’s a new year. We were talking earlier. I think Mike’s 0-6, Trey’s 0-8, and I’m 0-4. We need a win here sooner than later for sure.”

Harrison added the losing streak hasn’t been a point of emphasis within the locker room.

For McBride, he’s taking the good from the prior matchups and meshing it with the potential of this new era of Cardinals football.

“I know how close we’ve been and I just feel like we’ve been right there every year,” McBride said. “It’s just one thing here, one thing there and I just feel like this is the year we’re going to put it all together and make it happen.

“They’re a good team. There’s no question about that. They’re coached well. They have a lot of really good players on that defense, but we got a lot of really good players on our team, too. So, I’m excited for the matchup and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

How close have the Cardinals been to beating the Seahawks since the losing streak began?

McBride’s not wrong when talking about coming up just short against the Seahawks.

Arizona got walloped in their series finale with Seattle last year, 44-22, but since the losing streak started in 2021, the Cardinals have kept it within 10 points seven out of nine times.

That includes last year’s three-point loss in Week 4.

Capitalizing in the red zone, limiting the penalties and keeping the ball out of harm’s way is going to be key if Arizona wants to get the sea monkey off its back.

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