Make no mistake about it, beating a talented Atlanta Falcons team on the road, 34-14, is a quality win for Mike Macdonald’s young Seattle Seahawks team. This felt like a true complete game where the offense and the defense complimented with each other well, and special teams had a day, too.

In fact, this is the type of win I have been envisioning this team to collect a lot of ever since they hired Macdonald away from Baltimore, and paired him with former UW standout offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. They were physical, they were explosive, and they played connected.

This was also the type of win they really needed to get back on track after a rough three game losing streak inside an absurdly short duration of time (eleven days). I don’t want to place too many expectations on these guys right now, but this feels like the type of quality win that a young team finding themselves with new coaches needs to have as they build forward towards what they strive to become.

I think what we are learning as fans is that it is going to be a process. Injuries on the offensive line has hindered the offense’s ability to play consistently. Injuries on defense, and the newness of this particular complex scheme has made it a trial on the other side of the ball, as well.

As it stands, this team is now 4-3, and they are in sole first place inside their division. They won four games by playing good connected enough ball, and they lost three games by playing mistake prone, and at times, disconnected.

You can call me a homer, and come up with all the reasons why the Falcons are more pretenders than contenders, but this was the first game of this season where Seattle played mistake free ball, and that matters. They committed no turnovers on offense, and they created three turnovers on defense. They did this by holding down an explosive Atlanta offense that has scored 100 points inside their last three games, and they did it to them on their home turf. Let’s allow that to sink in, and appreciate it.

Here are some further free flowing thoughts I have about this thoroughly enjoyable beat down in A Town for the Hawks. I got a lot of good ones.

Offensively, I thought this was an ideal attack. Seattle threw the ball 29 times, and they ran it 26 times. That stats weren’t gaudy, but they were efficient. Offensive efficiency matters in this league, if you can generate positive defensive results with it, and Seattle did just that.

Geno Smith had his most efficient game of the season, where he threw for a high completion percent, and it was his first game of the season where he threw multiple touchdowns without an interception. He was especially effective with the play action that was available because Ken Walker was having production on the ground.

Ken Walker was probably the offensive player of the game for me, and it wasn’t just for his production on the ground, or his next level elite touchdown grab, but more so, it was the fact that he did all of this while battling the flu. I can’t imagine what it is like running into 250 pound linebackers and feeling like you have to puke. K9 was The Man in this one.

The real, real star of this game, however, was the entire defense. This defense had to face an explosive Atlanta offense on the road with a quality veteran quarterback who has been playing with a hot hand. They had to do this without their starting safety, and two of their top cornerbacks. They had to rely on a rookie fifth round corner, and a practice squad corner playing throughout the day.

All week, I had been starring at these tea leaves, and had been anticipating Seattle being forced to win another shootout on the road a la Detroit game. Instead, this patched together defense held Kirk Cousins and crew down to 14 points, and more than helped pitched a blowout. This defensive unit did much of the heavy lifting.

First off, I want to say that Macdonald’s defense has a much different feel when it has a healthy Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams playing in the front four. The disruption that Big Cat and Murphy are both able to create as defensive tackles together feels like A Lister material in this league around the corner. Players like Boye Mafe, Dre’Mont Jones, and Derick Hall are able to feed off of that.

The last time the Seattle Seahawks had a defensive tackle tandem like these two, it was in the late 1990’s with Cortez Kennedy, and Sam Adams playing together. Their physical abilities to disrupt inside opened up opportunities for edge players such as Michael Sinclair, Phillip Daniels and Michael McCrary to put up gaudy sack totals. Interestingly enough, one of the architects of that late nineties defense was defensive guru Jim Johnson who Mike Macdonald mentions as an inspiration to his own defensive scheme.

Fast forward back to this present day game, and this Seattle defensive line that now has it’s full compliment of players that went against a very good Atlanta offensive line, and they had their way against them in pass rush situations, and at times, against the run. People can say that Cousins was off, but I think he was flustered by feeling the inside pressures Seattle was getting with their heavily invested in DTs.

I also think the new addition of Roy Roberston Harris gives them even a further disruptor up front, and I am excited to see where this goes. Listed as a DT, RRH got quality snaps at end, and you could feel how well he was able to hold a strong edge against the run, and disrupt as a pass rusher in limited spots.

I messaged friends this morning that I just wanted to see really good defensive line play from Seattle, and did I ever get what I hoped for. This unit wasn’t perfect, but they were so much better than they have been in recent weeks. In this game, you could feel Murphy’s first round draft status, Big Cat and Jarran Reed’s big man power, and Boye Mafe’s speed off the edge.

I want to offer a very special tip of the cap to Dre’Mont Jones. He has been much maligned by fans and media in recent weeks, but I thought he played his ass off against the Falcons, getting pressures, a sack, and effecting plays. When Seattle traded for Robertson Harris, I thought that might be a catalyst to lighting a fire under Jones.

Not like he needs extra motivation as a player, but RRH is a good football player, and Jones had been struggling a bit with other players on the defense, as well. It wouldn’t be so much of a big deal if it were not for the high price Seattle paid him last year as a free agent, but big contracts come with big expectations.

Jones needed a game like this one, and moving forward, Seattle needs Jones to play more like this. Be strong against the run, and play on fire as a pass rusher. If he can build off of this, I really like the edge rusher rotation of him, and Boye Mafe, and Derick Hall, the two young drafted players who’s future appear bright in Seattle for many years.

It is just a game, and they will have a very tough test coming up against the Bills coming to Seattle, but I need to see more of this version of Macdonald’s defense moving forward this year. I need it above anything Geno Smith, K9, and DK Metcalf can be in Ryan Grubb’s offense.

Mike Macdonald’s stated goal for his version of the Seattle Seahawks is for them to be a physical, and explosive team. It is hard to feel the full vision of that with the state of their offensive line (although I thought rookie right tackle Mike Jerrell played promisingly, making his first start in this one), but I think a reasonable expectation for fans this year is to feel it more on the defensive side moving forward as they continue to gel together with healthy pieces again up front, assuming they stay healthy enough together.

I think we can also say that this was perhaps a pivotal game this year where John Schneider’s 2024 draft class showed up when it mattered, and they stepped up. Byron Murphy showed again what a disruptive force at DT he can be. Mike Jerrell stepped in at right tackle and immediately looked better than Stone Forsythe. Nehemiah Pritchett held his own starting at corner in place of Riq Woolen. These guys are the future of this team, and they showed in this one. That might honestly be the biggest positive coming out of this game, along with many of Seattle’s best veteran players playing their best ball.

Fingers crossed that DK Metcalf’s knee situation isn’t serious. Macdonald sounded like the team didn’t think it was, and he had a situation similar to this one against the Chargers a couple years ago when he went off the field on a cart, and was fine the following week.

If the issue is bigger than they anticipate with DK, though, I think that might necessitate a trade, if this team wants to really go after the division title this year with San Francisco now on the ropes a bit. In fact, I want to say that they will almost certainly have to do that.

Folks need to be real about the value of DK in this offense right now. He honestly might be the most valuable non quarterback piece to this machine given the way Ryan Grubb loves to use deep shots to set up the run and underneath patterns. There is no other player in this Seattle offense who can stretch the field like DK can. Tyler is really good, but he can’t do that. JSN is more of an underneath possession YAC guy who benefits playing with a DK.

If DK is out an extended period of time, that could force Grubb into calling games with a short deck to work with. His offensive line isn’t blowing up big holes for K9 and Zach Charbonnett to run through. Can he rely on an older Tyler Lockett to threaten to take the top of the defense off? I have my doubts on that.

This is where the dark side of myself almost wishes it to happen just so the Trade DK side of the Seahawk fanbase can see what this offense looks like without him. Hopefully, they don’t have to witness that reality, but if they do, my inner darkness that enjoys watching people suffer in their own short-sided-ness will fee unbridled “I told you fuckers so’s” in a very satisfactory way.

You know that you’re an asshole when you relish in being right at the expense of things you hold dear, like Seahawk victories. So, in that sense, I hope DK’s knee doesn’t force me into becoming an asshole around the corner. I hope he’s able to play next week.

Anyhow, yeah.

Good get back on track game for Seattle against a quality team. I think a lot of good things came out of this one. I am sure that there’s things I am leaving out, like Noah Fant’s very solid game as a high priced tight end, and Coby Bryant’s great game at safety in place of Rayshawn Jenkins, and Julian Love’s solid game at the other safety spot. I thought practice squad corner Josh Jobe played really well, too.

Who am I leaving out?

Oh, yes, Matt. Tyler Lockett played well, too. Let’s not forget about Tyler!

Does this cover it?

Are you happy a Seattle Seahawk fan?

Or are you still some sort of ogre fair-weathered troll who misses Russell Wilson and wishes the team would have drafted Michael Penix Junior?

Still gotta wait and see with this new crew?

I get it if you do, but I gotta tell you. When this team wins, I really, really like what I see. It’s not all perfect, but there’s a lot of interesting things to like that give me hope for the future.

If they would have continued on with Pete Carroll after last season, I don’t know if I would be feeling this degree of hope. There is a newness to things on both sides of the ball that, while the product doesn’t feel necessarily totally complete, the vision feels there, and I think this team can grow into a very physical and explosive team together with that vision, ultimately. All I need is for this young collection of sorts to continue building together towards that, win or lose.

I’m here for it. I hope you are, too.

Go Hawks.