Sunday's Seattle Seahawks-Arizona Cardinals game is quietly one of the more compelling matchups of the day. Both teams finished last season strong and could challenge the San Francisco 49ers for NFC West supremacy.
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We picked the Seahawks to win the division. To pull that off, they will need to win some tough road games like this.
It looks like the team will have one of their biggest offensive weapons available. ESPN and ProFootballTalk both report that running back Marshawn Lynch is expected to play despite his back injury.
This isn't a surprise after he participated in practice late in the week, although he was listed as questionable on the injury report.
However, the Seahawks do have enough backfield depth to be careful with Lynch. Rookie Robert Turbin was a revelation in the preseason, bouncing off tacklers in a hard-charging style reminiscent of Lynch. The Cardinals have an underrated defense, so we expect a low-scoring game Sunday.
UPDATE: The Seahawks later announced Lynch would be active against the Cardinals. **
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.