Seattle, WA
Week 10 Results Showing How Far Seahawks Have to Go to Contend in NFC West
Coming off their fifth loss in six games after a 26-20 overtime defeat to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks found themselves licking their wounds during their bye week, searching for answers to address everything that has plagued them amid a 4-5 start.
Rather than dwell on Seattle’s continued self-inflicted mistakes, including a pair of red zone interceptions thrown by Geno Smith in the latest loss at Lumen Field, coach Mike Macdonald maintained a sense of optimism heading into the bye on Monday, demonstrating a glass half full mindset with the belief his team can turn things around in quick order after a week-long reset.
“We have to clean those things up, but we have an opportunity here this week to attack the heck out of this bye week,” Macdonald said. “Our players get a chance to really recover and take care of their bodies and coaches-wise, we got some work on our hands to go attack this thing and really continue to streamline what we’re doing, how we’re coaching it. We’re trying to get done and have a great plan for next week so we can really hit the ground running on Monday and ramp into the second half of the season, which is critical for us. We have to start producing better results.”
Unfortunately, while time will tell whether or not Macdonald and his staff found the answers they sought during a much-needed week off to help get the Seahawks rolling out of the break, results from the rest of the NFC West this weekend have made their task of climbing back into the division race as well as the playoff hunt look all the more daunting.
With the Seahawks being idle on Sunday, the first place Cardinals stayed hot and looked the part of a formidable NFC contender at home on Sunday, beating down on the hapless Jets in a 31-6 blowout victory. Quarterback Kyler Murray played nearly flawless football, completing 22 out of 24 pass attempts for 266 yards and a touchdown, while the run game contributed 147 yards on the ground in a balanced all-around offensive effort.
An improving Arizona defense also shut down Aaron Rodgers and company, holding New York to 207 net yards and under four yards per play. The Jets managed to advance into the red zone three times, but only turned those opportunities into a pair of field goals, while the Cardinals scored four touchdowns on five trips inside the opposing 20-yard line to snatch their fourth consecutive victory and maintain sole possession atop the division standings.
On the other side of the country, though they had to eek out the win, the 49ers found a way to overcome three missed field goals earlier in the game to edge the Buccaneers 23-20 at Raymond James Stadium, jumping back over the .500 mark and keeping pace with the Cardinals. Returning from an Achilles injury, Christian McCaffrey only rushed for 39 yards, but he caught six passes for 68 yards to pace the offense and rookie Ricky Pearsall scored his first NFL touchdown in the win.
San Francisco still hasn’t quite hit its stride either, in part due to a plethora of injuries on both sides of the ball, but Brock Purdy and company continue to find ways to win games. Even if they haven’t been as dominant as prior years, the defense held Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay to five third down conversions on 14 attempts and 215 net yards, which proved to be just good enough in a tight road win that pushed them a full game ahead of Seattle.
Comparatively, the Seahawks are the only team in the NFC West that isn’t trending upward at the midway point of the season. While Macdonald’s squad has floundered since the start of October and completely wasted a 3-0 start, the Cardinals have won five out of six games, the 49ers have won three out of four, and the Rams have a chance to push their win streak to four games when they host the 2-6 Dolphins on Monday Night Football.
Making matters worse, with Arizona and San Francisco beating conference foes on Sunday, both teams improved to 3-3 against the rest of the NFC. Los Angeles would improve to 4-4 if it wins over Miami on Monday night, while Seattle has a dismal 1-4 mark against intraconference opponents. If Macdonald’s team can climb back up the standings in the second half, tiebreakers currently are not working in their favor at all.
As Macdonald rightfully pointed out, there’s still a lot of football left for the Seahawks to play, including two games against the division-leading Cardinals and a rematch with the 49ers in the next month. Winning two of those games or all three would work wonders towards improving their standing not only in the division, but against other playoff hopefuls vying for a wild card, and the morale within the organization could be transformed in no time.
At the same time, however, the next three weeks could derail Seattle’s season completely with at least two losses in that span, dropping them to seven losses on the season with just five games left to play on the schedule. With Arizona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all surging over the past month, Macdonald’s team has minimal margin for error left and if the ship is going to be righted, it absolutely must start with a road trip to Santa Clara next weekend and a home date with Arizona the week after.
Based on how their rivals played this weekend, already challenging divisional matchups will be even trickier for the Seahawks to come out victorious in, and missing those opportunities would all but unofficially knock them out of playoff consideration before the calendar even flips to December. That’s the reality Macdonald and his staff will have to sell to players upon their return with hopes of bringing out their best play in the second half to salvage a once-promising season.
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I caught this neighbor red-handed cleaning up the beach at Lincoln Park after last night’s … festivities…
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SEATTLE, WA – JULY 4: Dominique Malonga #14 of the Seattle Storm drives to the basket during the game against the Portland Fire on July 4, 2026 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. (David Ryder / NBAE / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Carla Leite scored 20 points to lead the Portland Fire to a 77-72 victory over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night.
Leite made 4 of 8 shots and all 12 of her free throws, adding four assists for Portland (9-12). Bridget Carleton totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, while Megan Gustafson added 10 points and nine boards.
Dominique Malonga had 22 points to pace Seattle (5-17) and Natisha Hiedeman scored 15. Awa Fam had 12 points, while fellow rookie Flau’jae Johnson was held to a season-low one point.
Leite had two three-point plays to start the third quarter and Frieda Buhner came off the bench to score all nine of her points over a six-minute span as Portland turned a 32-30 halftime lead into a 54-47 advantage. Gustafson sank a 3-pointer for a 41-38 lead and the Fire never trailed again.
Emily Engstler had all nine of her points and six of her eight rebounds by halftime, helping Portland outscore Seattle 22-10 in the second period for a two-point lead at the break.
Hiedeman had nine points in the first quarter and Seattle used a 13-2 run over the final 5:27 to take a 20-10 lead before falling to 0-12 against Western Conference opponents this season.
Portland went 1-3 on a four-game trip.
Up next
Seattle: At Los Angeles Sparks on Monday.
Portland: Hosts Las Vegas Aces on Thursday.
The Source: Information in this story came from The Associated Press.
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An exciting cross-conference WNBA matchup takes center stage on Independence Day as the Portland Fire travel north to the Emerald City to clash with the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 6:00 PM PT.
The home-standing Storm look to assert their dominance behind a balanced offensive attack led by dynamic playmaker Dominique Malonga and veteran guard Naty Hiedeman. The visiting Fire will try to play the ultimate holiday spoiler, counting on a heavy scoring punch from Carla Leite to disrupt Seattle’s defensive rhythm. To help you locate the sharpest analytical angles before tip-off, we cross-referenced our advanced game simulations with live, crowd-sourced contract data from Polymarket, the world’s largest decentralized prediction platform.
Fire vs. Storm: Matchup Overview
- Teams: Portland Fire vs. Seattle Storm
- Date: Saturday, July 4, 2026
- Time: 6:00 PM PT
- Venue: Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, WA)
Current Betting Odds
- Spread: Storm -4.5 (+100), Fire +4.5 (-106)
- Total (Over/Under): 171.5 Points
- Moneyline: Fire +170, Storm -174
The odds and lines featured in this article are the best available from selected sports betting sites like Novig and BetMGM at the time of publication and are subject to change.
Polymarket Prediction Market Insights:
Polymarket’s liquid wagering pools offer real-time tracking of public and sharp sentiment, where contract share prices adjust fluidly to represent precise market-implied probabilities:
- Seattle Storm Moneyline (To Win): 63¢ (63% implied probability)
- Portland Fire Moneyline (To Win): 38¢ (38% implied probability)
- Storm Spread (-4.5): 50¢ (50% implied probability)
- Fire Spread (+4.5): 52¢ (52% implied probability)
- Total Points Over 171.5: 51¢ (51% implied probability)
- Total Points Under 171.5: 50¢ (50% implied probability)
(Note: Prediction market participants on Polymarket are trading the game notably closer than standard sportsbooks, pricing Seattle as a more modest 63% moneyline favorite).
Deep Betting Market Analysis & Projections
By routing raw roster efficiency matrices, player matchup data, and home-court advantages through 10,000 algorithmic simulations, our predictive engine has mapped out the highest-probability vectors for Saturday’s showdown:
1. Outright Moneyline: Seattle Storm (73.7% Win Probability)
- The Data: Our machine-learning model gives Seattle a commanding 73.7% probability to win straight up.
- The Angle: This represents a massive value gap on the prediction exchanges. While sportsbooks have priced the Storm heavily at -174, Polymarket traders are valuing Seattle shares at just 63¢. Backing the Storm moneyline contract on Polymarket provides exceptional statistical leverage over standard bookmaker juice.
2. The Point Spread: Storm -4.5 (+100)
- The Data: Simulations indicate a strong 58.0% probability that Seattle covers the -4.5 spread.
- The Angle: Our model projects a final score of Storm 88, Fire 81, indicating a seven-point victory for the hosts. Laying the 4.5 points with Seattle at even money (+100) on Novig represents an analytical edge over public sentiment.
3. Game Total: Under 171.5 Points (+106)
- The Data: The simulation baseline shows a clear 58.6% lean toward the Under.
- The Angle: Our projected combined score sits at 169 points. With Novig offering a plus-money premium of +106 on the Under, fading a high-scoring track meet provides a very comfortable mathematical cushion compared to public expectations.
WNBA Player Props: Projected Box Scores
To evaluate how the individual stars will impact the floor at Climate Pledge Arena, here is the statistical breakdown from our game simulations:
Seattle Storm Projection
- Dominique Malonga: 18 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST
- Naty Hiedeman: 14 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST
- Awak Kuier Fam: 13 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST
- Flau’jae Johnson: 12 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
- Jordan Horston: 6 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST
Portland Fire Projection
- Carla Leite: 15 PTS, 3 REB, 5 AST
- Brack Carleton: 10 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
- Megan Gustafson: 9 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST
- Luisa Geiselsoder: 9 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST
- Emily Engstler: 8 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST
Fire vs. Storm Summary:
The data signals a celebratory night for Seattle fans, as the Storm are structurally positioned to handle their Pacific Northwest rivals. While backing Seattle on the flat moneyline via Polymarket yields the highest pure value, locking in Under 171.5 points (+106) provides an excellent statistical fallback play.
Remember to bet responsibly and within your financial limits. For additional resources and advice on responsible gambling, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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