TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Trey McBride is in his fifth season with the Arizona Cardinals and has never been part of a win over the Seattle Seahawks, an NFC West rival and the defending Super Bowl champions.
Eight games. Eight losses.
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe, top right, celebrates after intercepting a pass in the end zoe with teammates including safety Julian Love, bottom right, during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, greets Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur after an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) celebrates after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
But the All-Pro tight end is feeling pretty good these days, particularly after the Cardinals looked much better than expected in a 26-14 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers that was one of the NFL's biggest Week 1 surprises.
“You want to play against the best, you want to go against the best,” McBride said. “What a better challenge than this week? Why not do it against the best? Let's see what we've got.”
The Cardinals (1-0) host the Seahawks (1-0) on Sunday in a litmus test for the new-look franchise. First-year coach Mike LaFleur became the first non-interim coach to win his first game as coach of the Cardinals since Don Coryell did it in 1973.
LaFleur was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams — who are also in the NFC West — the past three seasons and is well aware of what he's going to encounter this weekend, particularly when it comes to the Seahawks' defense.
Seattle had another brilliant defensive performance in a 13-10 win over New England in Week 1.
“There’s no weakness, whatsoever,” LaFleur said. “It’s a player-driven league, but you’d be messed up not to say how well they are coached, too. It’s 11 guys working in unison that just understand what’s going on. They have great players (and) they’ve got great coaches. They’re fundamentally sound. They’re violent. The tape speaks for itself.”
The Seahawks will start backup quarterback Drew Lock on Sunday after starter Sam Darnold was ruled out because of an injury he suffered against the Patriots. Lock played most of the game against the Patriots after Darnold was injured on the opening series, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
The 29-year-old Lock has a 10-18 record as a starter.
“He’s a great guy, he’s got his own personality, which we love,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said. "He’s got his style of playing quarterback, which is what we want here. We want to be within the scheme and how we’re training our guys, but you have to be yourself, too.
"Drew is that and we’re looking forward to it.”
Seattle (1-0) at Arizona (1-0).
When/where to watch: Sunday, 4:25 EDT, Fox
Latest odds: Seahawks by 4.
Against the spread: Seahawks 0-0-1; Cardinals 1-0.
Last week: Seahawks beat Patriots 13-10; Cardinals beat the Chargers 26-14.
Last meeting: Seahawks beat Cardinals 44-22 on Nov. 9, 2025, in Seattle. It was the Seahawks' ninth straight win in the series.
Series record: Seahawks lead 31-22-1.
Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs. the Cardinals' secondary. Smith-Njigba was a force in the Seahawks' season-opening win, with 122 yards receiving and a touchdown on eight catches. The reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year picked up right where he left off after having an NFL-high 1,793 yards receiving last season. Now he'll go against a Cardinals secondary that was stingy in Week 1 against Chargers QB Justin Herbert, holding him to 209 yards passing. Veteran safety Budda Baker leads a young group.
— Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett has thrown for at least 200 yards and a touchdown in 13 straight games, which is the longest current streak in the NFL. No other QB has a current streak longer than five games.
— Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love has scored a rushing TD in 12 straight games, including his first with the Cardinals last week and the last 11 games during his college career at Notre Dame.
— WR Kendrick Bourne had eight catches for 85 yards in his Cardinals debut last week. Only DeAndre Hopkins (14 catches in 2020) and Anquan Boldin (10 in 2003) had more receptions in their franchise debut.
— The Seahawks have won 11 straight games, including the playoffs, dating to last season. That's tied for the longest streak in franchise history, which was set in 2005.
— Seattle has won 13 of 16 in the series against the Cardinals dating to 2018.
— Seattle's defense has held its opponent to less than 20 points in eight of its last 11 games, including the playoffs.
AP Sports Writer Anne Peterson contributed to this story.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe, top right, celebrates after intercepting a pass in the end zoe with teammates including safety Julian Love, bottom right, during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, greets Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur after an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) celebrates after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as President Donald Trump has threatened.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said his ruling would “avoid any confusion on that score given more recent events,” including the building’s sudden closure to the public on Wednesday.
Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director and chief operating officer, said he closed the iconic performing arts center temporarily due to “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration” of the aging building. The building will be closed for at least seven days to “assess existing safety risks in those portions of the main building exhibiting severe structural deterioration,” Floca said.
The temporary closure, which occurred without notice, is separate from a vote Tuesday by the Kennedy Center’s board to close the center indefinitely for repairs, Floca and other officials said. The closure was based on an inspection of the roof terrace canopy and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month, Floca said. The closure may be extended after evaluation next week, he added.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, said Wednesday that his efforts to restore the aging building deserve recognition, “because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape.”
The announcement of the closure came in response to a court case filed by a Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee and sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the building’s “unlawful closing.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has led efforts to block Trump’s name from being added to the building. Beatty had a verbal confrontation with the Republican president Tuesday during a virtual board meeting.
Beatty's lawyers said in a court filing Thursday that the board members' “rationale that they are only temporarily closing the Kennedy Center is a plain pretext to justify shutting down the Center permanently. The facts before the Court are deeply concerning.”
Cooper denied a request by Beatty's legal team to hold a hearing to clarify the board's actions and intent. But he agreed to their request “to make crystal clear” that his order prohibits demolition of the building without 30 days’ notice.
The Trump-aligned board, chaired by the president, voted to close the center after Cooper blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
Congress has allocated $257 million to cover the repairs, but Trump said they only would happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
On Thursday, Barbra Streisand, a Kennedy Center honoree in 2008, questioned the closing of the center for repairs and called the controversy surrounding its operation “galling and painful to witness.”
Of Trump’s attempts to add his name to the center, she said in a statement to The Associated Press: “You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
The Kennedy Center board voted in August to inscribe Trump's name on the Kennedy Center’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also have been renamed in Trump’s honor.
All of those proposals were shot down Tuesday by Cooper, who ruled that nothing could happen “without Congress’s blessing.”
Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building, ordering it removed. The institution’s leaders complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding in place where Trump’s name was once displayed.
Streisand told AP she was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees, adding, “for me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers from both parties called the dispute an unnecessary distraction and said they hope the building will not be torn down.
“I’d be very, very surprised if that actually happened,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S. D.
Asked if Congress would try to stop it, Thune said, “I hope we won’t get to that point.”
Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said Trump was “being selfish and is mad that they’re not putting his name on it.”
Trump does not seem to realize “how many people love and value both the memories of the Kennedy family as well as obviously of what the Kennedy Center means to this country,'' Gallego said. He predicted a “massive backlash” if Trump tries to demolish the building, as he did with the White House East Wing.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, called the dispute a “false crisis” and said, “worrying about what (the building) is named is kind of silly.”
Associated Press writers Glenn Gamboa in Cleveland and Mary Clare Jalonick and Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed to this report.
The Kennedy Center, which has been fenced off and closed to the public, is seen through a hole in a covered fence, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A sign directs people away from behind the Kennedy Center, which has been fenced off and closed to the public, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Fencing is installed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Laura Bligh of Vienna, Va., holds a protest sign outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and board member of the Kennedy Center, attends an event with fellow Democrats to denounce the economic policies of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Barricades are installed in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
