AJ Barner has a TD catch and runs for a score in Seahawks' 17-3 win over Cardinals

SEATTLE (AP) — AJ Barner's breakout came just when the Seahawks needed it.

Barner caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and Seattle beat the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 on Sunday without starting quarterback Sam Darnold.

Backup Drew Lock completed 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks (5-4), who rebounded from a 34-17 loss at home on Monday night to Chicago.

Barner's two touchdowns were the tight end's first this season.

“We understand what kind of player he is. So we can kind of feel the frustration with him of like what he expects from himself,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “But just no flinch, just keep attacking it, you know. And he’s a leader on our offense, and he provides so much great energy.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught seven passes for 51 yards in just his second game this season with fewer than 100 yards. He now has 1.036 yards on the season, becoming the third player in franchise history — along with Hall of Famer Steve Largent and Tyler Lockett — with three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Smith-Njigba is the first NFL receiver to reach 1,000 yards this year.

Gardner Minshew, known to fans in the Pacific Northwest because of his stellar 2018 season at Washington State, took over as the Cardinals' starting quarterback this week after leading Arizona to a come-from-behind overtime victory over Dallas. He unseated Jacoby Brissett, who was then traded to Baltimore.

There was no Minshew Magic in Seattle, however. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 166 yards as the Cardinals (3-6) dropped their 11th straight game to the Seahawks.

“We were a little bit off one way or another on a lot of our plays, and against a good team like that, you’re not going to have that many chances,” Minshew said.

Darnold was ruled out because of a quad injury he sustained on the final series of the loss to the Bears. Macdonald said Darnold also cracked a rib early in the game.

Darnold also missed Seattle’s Week 2 victory over the Cardinals because of a glute injury. He did not miss a game last season while leading the Seahawks to the Super Bowl title.

Macdonald said after the game that Lock, who also led the team to a win at Arizona earlier this season, suffered an oblique injury during the game and his status going forward was uncertain. Lock characterized the injury as “not too bad.”

Lock had also been limited in practice this week because of tendinitis in his elbow. He was inactive for the previous two games.

“I’d say I felt pretty good going into it. The arm felt fresh; it felt good to start the game. And that’s kind of all the confidence I needed to be able to go out and not think about it and just play football,” Lock said.

Minshew led the Cardinals deep into Seahawks territory on the first series, helped by an unnecessary roughness penalty. The drive ended with Chad Ryland's 28-yard field goal to put Arizona up 3-0.

Barner dived for a 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. It was his third career rushing TD.

Seattle was helped by a pass interference penalty and Smith-Njigba's 18-yard reception on its final series before halftime. Barner went on to score on a 7-yard catch that was upheld by a replay review, and he saw no need to question the officials' ruling that he controlled the ball.

“They called it a catch on the field. They reviewed them. They called it a catch. So it’ll live on as a catch forever,” said Barner, who finished with two catches for 7 yards and had three carries for 3 yards.

The Seahawks extended the lead to 17-3 in the third quarter on Jason Myers' 45-yard field goal. Lock showed signs of the oblique injury on that drive, moving gingerly after grabbing his side on a throw. He went into the sideline medical tent but never left the game. Jalen Milroe was his backup.

Seattle made a key stop in the fourth quarter, successfully defending Minshew's pass attempt to Trey McBride on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

“I don’t care about the score. I just I just want us to go let it loose and go be us and feel like us,” Macdonald said. “And a lot of times we felt that way, and so that’s a that’s a that’s a positive step for us.”

Arizona DL Roy Lopez injured a toe early in the second quarter and did not return.

The Seahawks were already hit with a few notable injuries before the game. In addition to Darnold, DT Leonard Williams (stinger), WR Rashid Shaheed (knee) and LB Uchenna Nwoso (ankle) were ruled out.

The Cardinals host the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.

The Seahawks visit the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during an NFL football game in Seattle, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) makes a touchdown catch against Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) as Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (1) looks on during an NFL football game in Seattle, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson (14) is unable to make a catch as Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori defends during an NFL football game in Seattle, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Kevin Ng)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew II, center, gets hit as he throws by Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) as Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) looks on during an NFL football game in Seattle, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Kevin Ng)

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) celebrates his touchdown catch against the Arizona Cardinals with Seahawks guard Josh Jones (74), guard Anthony Bradford (75) and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) during an NFL football game in Seattle, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted incoming missiles targeting the kingdom's capital and other regions on Sunday, with falling debris damaging a building belonging to the state-owned oil giant Aramco in Riyadh’s financial district.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said it rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the Sea of Oman, as risks to commercial shipping in the region remain high. And in Israel, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot formally got the first chance to form a new government.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Sunday. Read our full coverage here.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House on Monday, according to his official schedule.

Witnesses in Riyadh said they heard a loud explosion Sunday morning and described damage at an Aramco building in the King Abdullah Financial District. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said there were no casualties at the Aramco facility.

The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions early Sunday, accusing the Iran-backed Houthis of launching the weapons.

The Houthis' military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed in a statement Sunday that they had hit Riyadh’s financial district and other targets in response to attacks in recent days on a village and a market in Yemen, which he said left dozens dead or wounded and blamed on Saudi Arabia.

— By Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut

The death toll from airstrikes that hit homes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa climbed to 44 people, mostly women and children, Houthi health authorities said Sunday.

The strikes Saturday in the village of al-Shariya, east of Sanaa, wounded 40 others including eight children and nine women, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman of the Houthi-run Health Ministry.

Among the dead were 21 children and 10 women, he said, making the strikes as one of the deadliest attacks in the latest bout of violence in Yemen’s year-along civil war.

Rescue teams were still searching the area for missing people, suggesting that the death toll could increase, Al-Asbahi said.

He blamed Saudi Arabia for the strike, which came during a major escalation in fighting between the Iranian-backed rebels and the kingdom and has killed hundreds of people in Yemen and dozens in Saudi Arabia.

The UAE National Guard said the crew members — all of Arab nationalities — were in stable condition following a rescue when their cargo ship caught fire in the Sea of Oman. The National Guard did not identify the vessel or specify the cause of the fire.

The British military organization that monitors maritime security incidents said Sunday that a tanker caught fire on Saturday northwest of Khasab, Oman, prompting the evacuation of its crew. It was unclear whether it was the same incident.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday evening formally gave opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form the next government.

While complex coalition negotiations still lie ahead, this is a significant step in the former military chief’s effort to oust Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after elections held in a deeply divided country scarred by the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the multifront wars they triggered.

A large sandstone slab collapsed onto makeshift tents housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Sunday evening, killing at least four people, including three children, according to health officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Nasser hospitals.

Civil defense workers and residents in the city of Deir al-Balah searched through the rubble largely using their bare hands. Gaza has been battered by torrential rains over the past few days, which is believed to have contributed to the collapse.

Most of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians are still displaced or live in tent camps, where they grapple with poor conditions and overcrowding.

The president told CNN in a phone interview on Sunday that as long as the U.S. continues to see progress in negotiations with Tehran and they sign a “strong agreement,” it’s “highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary” to resume strikes.

The president said, however, that the U.S. had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.

The region has been on edge over the possibility of a renewed all-out war.

The strategic Khor Mor gas field in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdish region was targeted by a drone attack late Sunday, officials said.

No casualties were reported and it was not immediately clear how much damage was caused, but the attack took the facility offline, causing widespread power outages.

Khor Mor is one of northern Iraq’s most productive natural gas fields, and its output is used to fuel power plants. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Residents on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz reported hearing several explosions late Sunday evening, Iranian state media reported.

Similar reports have been made in previous days, with no official confirmation or claims as to what might have caused them.

Asked about the reports before heading to a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t directly confirm new strikes but said the U.S. will make defensive actions.

“If there’s a clear and present threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves,” Rubio told reporters in Florida.

Iran hanged three men Sunday in Karaj who were convicted of armed riot, damage to public properties and cooperation with Israel and the United States during nationwide anti-government protests in January, state TV reported.

Iran has hanged more than two dozen people on similar charges in various cities. International rights groups say political prisoners in Iran are tried in secretive courts without due process.

The protests, some of the largest ever held against the Islamic Republic's government, were largely stamped out when the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.

An Israeli strike on Sunday killed two Palestinians, a man and woman, in Muwasi, a tent camp area on Gaza’s coast, said health officials at Nasser hospital.

Israel’s military said it had struck a “Hamas terrorist” in the area.

Sunday’s strikes came more than a year after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas, yet Israel still launches near-daily strikes on the enclave.

The State Department said Sunday that it had declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, “persona non grata” after reviewing posts from up to five years ago celebrating the 1983 Hezbollah attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. The posts were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

“Anyone in the United States who celebrates or justifies terrorist attacks has no place in our country,” the department said.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, right, tasks Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar ("Straight") Party, with forming a government at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinian children repair tents damaged by heavy rain in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar ("Straight") party, waves an Israeli flag onstage following the release of the first exit poll results in Israel's general election in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

This image taken from video released by Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, shows a man watching smoke rise following what the channel described as an airstrike by Saudi-backed government forces on a town near Sanaa, Yemen. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)