It has been a long while since the Seattle Seahawks have faced an inferior opponent at home, and have handily taken care of business in a big, thorough ass kicking sorta way. In recent years, they would face a bad team like the New York Giants, or the Carolina Panthers at home, and they would lose in a very sloppy lack luster way. They did this numerous times in the last few years of Pete Carroll, and they did this very thing last year under Mike Macdonald.

The big residual effect of these type of home losses, over time, is that Lumen Field has no longer been the house of horrors for visiting teams that it has long been known to be, and now visiting opponent fanbases have felt more eager to make the long trip up to Seattle. The Seattle Seahawks needed to start putting a stop to this, and a very solid 13-44 ass kicking of the New Orleans Saints is a solid way to begin this very process. Bravo.

As I sat in my seat provided to me by my very special Seahawk Santa Buddy that is not too far away from the Seahawk benches, I soaked in all the vibes of the day. The crowd was full and very engaged, the Seahawk sideline was joyful, and together, and the level of team play on all three phases of the game was fantastically electric.

This felt like an important building block home win that Mike Macdonald and crew have been waiting for. If Seattle manages to be a playoff team this year, this might be the game we circle back towards and say “it started right here.”

If Seattle can manage to beat the Cardinals in Arizona on Thursday Night Football, they will have a mini bye week before they face a quality Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, and if they manage to beat the Bucs at Lumen Field, traveling fan bases might begin to think twice about pouring into this town. I know this sounds like a lot of putting a lot of the cart before the horse with this young season, and but it’s a fun thing to think about as a Seahawk fan who wants nothing more than to really see Lumen Field return to being a proper home field advantage again.

I’m not in the mood to nitpick a big time beatdown of the Saints, so folks can talk about the whacked out time of possession, and a lack of a run game if they wish, but I’m not so much into it. Instead, allow me to offer my thoughts about some of the big time contributors out of this win, and why their contributions potentially loom big moving forward.

Sam Darnold is proving to be a solid fit in this Klint Kubiak offense

Make no mistake about it, this was one very solid outting from Sam Darnold. No, he didn’t throw for gaudy yardage, or a ridiculous amount of touchdowns, but he didn’t need to do that, either. Instead, he needed to be the model of efficiency, poise, and timely playmaking-ness, easily guiding Seattle’s offense to 37 points against a defense that was selling out to stop the run, and forcing him to pass.

As I watched from my seat, I thought his effort against the Saints defense was very reminiscent of the game Jared Goff had against the Seahawks in Detroit last year on MNF. In that game, Goff was a perfect 18 of 18 passes for 292 and 2 TDs, and he pretty much did whatever he wanted to against the Seattle defense that was down a few starters. In this game yesterday, Darnold was 14 of 18 passes for 218 yards and 2 TDs, earning a near perfect 154.2 QB rating while completing 77.7 percent of his passes. He was very good.

The narrative that Sam Darnold is a pressure sensitive quarterback is starting to look more like a massive pile of horseshit that’s been heaped on him by lazy narrators. Over the past two weeks, against good defensive fronts, he has made big time throws under pressure, and Pro Football Focus had him rated as the second best quarterback throwing against pressure in the league last year.

I get it that this is only three games now, but it my eyes, Darnold feels like a very solid fit for the Klint Kubiak offense, and he feels like a guy who could continue to be a good fit here for a number of years, playing well into a second contract. He’s big enough to see the entirety of field, easily targeting all areas. He’s plenty mobile, and throws well on the run. He’s accurate downfield, and he gets the ball out quickly.

He could be for Seattle everything that Goff has become for Detroit. I believe that, and I would gladly take that.

I think this game was an important one for him to show everyone at home “hey, I got this.” Let’s keep it going.

Tory Horton is going to be a big factor for Seattle’s passing and return games.

Sunday morning, I texted various friends that I felt this game against the Saints would be Horton’s coming out party. I wasn’t wrong.

Tory Horton is a playmaker. After this game, his high level instincts as a returner are now known to casual fans who didn’t follow him at small college Colorado State. Fans are also becoming increasingly aware of his keen abilities as a receiver, as this game has proven, again, how adept he is at catching touchdown passes, and passes across the middle of the field.

He is showcasing here what he showed through college; good hands, dependable route running, speed, and natural athleticism, and a run after catch ability that is vital to a timing based passing offense.

In his podcast last night, Richard Sherman described Horton as the steal of the entire NFL draft, and I don’t think that’s hyperbole. I think Sherm is just excited about the reality that he sees.

Had Tory Horton not injured his knee during the season last year, and tested fully healthy during the scouting combine, I think Horton probably would have been a high second round pick, possibly a fringe first rounder. His talent and production in college would have warranted that. Instead, teams got nervous about his knee and also probably the fact that he played at a small level college, and he slid to Seattle’s pick in round five. He could be this year’s Puka Nucua, though, and it is interesting that, like Nucua, he has the very sage Cooper Kupp here as a mentor working with him.

While I wouldn’t mind seeing Seattle be a bit aggressive going after another established receiver through a trade over the next few weeks, I also have a sneaking suspicion that Horton’s role in this offense will only increase more as the season unfolds, and he gets more and more comfortable in this scheme. He has a look and feel of a classic Sean McVay style receiver who can stretch a defense as well as run every pattern with precision underneath.

I am very excited about this guy.

Jaxon Smith Njigba is officially the Rising Superstar of this Team

In terms of Seattle baseball, it can easily be said that this is The Year Of Cal Raleigh. The Mariners are red hot at the time when it matters most to be red hot as the playoffs approach, and nobody in Seattle sports is hotter than Cal Raleigh is right now. This has been a historic year for him in terms of home runs, and it feels like a historically special year for this much maligned baseball franchise that people love dearly up here.

It is, again, very early on the Seattle Seahawks football season with just three games played, but Jaxon Smith Njigba is on pace for about 1700 receiving yards this year, which would make for an incredible season. He registered 124 yards against the Niners, 103 yards against the Steelers, and on a day when he was battling the flu, he caught 5 passes for 96 yards, and a touchdown against the Saints, and he was pulled by the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand. So, it stands to reason that his production could have been much more, and if he sustains this level of production, it could easily be said that this is the Year Of JSN, as well.

I don’t know why more Seahawk fans are not more over the moon excited about JSN, thus far. Maybe it is the years of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf playing in tandem here following the many Doug Baldwin years, but for my money, JSN looks like a guy who has everything a receiver needs to be a top end, annual pro bowler in this league for a very long time. He’s a superb route runner with great hands and enough speed to do every route asked out of a playbook.

Perhaps it is because he is so natural and fluid as a receiver, and catches so many routine passes over the middle that fans are a bit lulled by his steadiness. Maybe not being paired with a playmaking height disadvantaged quarterback like Russell Wilson, we haven’t seen the circus toe tapping sideline catches out of him yet like Baldwin and Lockett became famous for because Russ couldn’t see and did not target much the mid areas of the field. At any rate, I think the dude is fucking awesome.

Like Sam Darnold, he feels like a perfect fit for this Kubiak style west coast offense that values precision over top end physical traits. I’ve written this before, but I think if you look at the history of top shelf receivers that have come out of west coast offenses over the decades, for the most part, they share a lot of commonality with JSN in terms of physical stature, pass catching abilities, and abilities after the catch.

So, I am just going to say that I think it is now okay to put your DK or Tyler Lockett jersey in cotton balls for now, maybe save them for your kids when they grow older, and go get yourself that number 11 Seattle Seahawk jersey. If kick ass receivers is your football jam, I think you should.

The Offensive Line played better than your eyes told you they were in this game and that’s sweet

Ken Walker had a struggle of a day running the football. I won’t sugar coat it. He didn’t have many creases to hit it up inside, and every time he tried to stretch it to the outside, every Saints defender seemed very ready for it.

The Saints defensive front felt sold out to stop him, forcing Sam Darnold to beat them through the air. The mindset of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley seemed to be “if we take the run game away, I don’t believe Seattle’s QB and receivers will beat us.”

Seattle’s quarterback and receivers torched the Saints defense, and Seattle’s offensive line very much played its part in that process. Against yet another good defensive front, they passed blocked well again. This is the proper lens you need to look at this game with.

Now, perhaps as the season wears on, defenses will be leery to commit extra players in the box knowing that Seattle does, in fact, have a quality veteran quarterback helming the offense, after all, and Seattle’s run game with open up more. Until then, however, let’s applaud this young line for hanging in there to help out the passing offense.

Darnold looked quite comfortable dropping back, and firing the ball out quickly against a defense that was trying its best to send extra his way. That is a testament to him, for certain, but that is also a testament to a young offensive line that appears to be quickly developing a nice pass blocking chemistry with each other, which is not something I was expecting right out of the gates in this young season.

I think they are finally getting proper NFL coaching with this new staff. In fact, I think it is looking more and more like the talent was there for a decent offensive line to emerge, but the coaching simply was where it needed to be to make it happen for them.

Through three games, against three good defensive fronts, Anthony Bradford has looked really good in pass protection. He has been the exact opposite of that in previous years. This new staff appears to be reaching him where previous staffs have failed. If you can turn Bradford into a respectable pass blocking right guard, you know a thing or two about coaching and developing offensive linemen.

Seattle’s offensive tackles, again, looked like a competent tandem this Sunday, and against yet another quality defensive line. When was the last time you have seen this in Seattle? 2013, maybe?

Yeah, don’t underestimate how valuable it is for Seattle to have their O line looking this un-bad this early in the season with all the offseason changes that took place between the coaches and players. This is positive stuff that we should now start feeling good about.

As the season wears on, I think we will see better consistency out of the run game. It was a tough one against the Saints, and it might be a tough one on TNF against a good Cardinals defense, as well, but I am encouraged by a lot of what I see, so far. Each game is an opportunity to build cohesion, and if that has to be against tough defensive fronts, so be it.

The Mike Macdonald Defense Is Becoming The Badass Motherf#ckers We Need

Admit it. When you saw the free safety Julian Love wasn’t going to be playing in this game, you got nervous about that, didn’t you?

Already down Devon Witherspoon, and Nick Emmawori, you got uncomfortable thinking about how Spencer Rattler and Chris Olave could potentially come into Lumen Field and spoil your afternoon, especially with the history that Alvin Kamara has against Seattle defenses.

No, Devon Witherspoon? Well, let me introduce you to Derion Kendrick who through two games, has filled in and looked outstanding at nickel cornerback. Let me also introduce you further to Josh Jobe, who has been playing boundary corner like a solid pro bowler.

No, Julian Love? Well, here’s this Ty Okada cat who laid heavy hits against Saint receivers, and was second on the team in tackles and gathered a half of a sack.

To Rattler’s credit, I thought he played admirably in a tough situation, down big on the road, but Seattle allowed shallow underneath stuff while generally stopping up the run pretty well, and forcing him into bad throws on third downs. In many ways, this defense looked very vintage Legion Of Boom in this game, allowing some yards and time of possession, but not allowing many points, and at times, looking like an overwhelming swarm of bad intentioned orcs being shot out of cannons into the fray of bloody combat.

Through two games, Seattle has been without their best cornerback on the field, and a rookie defender who they view as their special weapon against the run and pass. Against the Saints, they were without their top safety.

They held the Saints and Steelers offenses to a grand total of 30 points in these two games (a 15 point scoring average). This is a level of defense that you can win a championship with, and soon enough they will have Spoon, Love, and Emmanwori all back in it together.

Mike Macdonald knows how to coach a motherf#cking defense. He does this by having his hoard of talented defensive tackles in proper positions that allow linebackers and defensive backs to make plays. He does it by having his defensive backfield properly knowing assignments and diagnosing plays. He does it with badass alpha dogs like Ernest Jones and Leonard Williams wrecking the afternoons of running backs. He does it by hurrying quarterbacks into desperate heaves of the football.

When Seattle made the hire of Macdonald, I was good with it, but this is the defensive effort that I needed to see come to life out of the hire. Right now, it feels like a brilliant move from John Schneider bringing this bright young coach to Seattle.

If you can consistently play defense like this, Seattle will be winning more games at home again, and Lumen Field will feel like a nightmare for visiting fans. Yesterday, Lumen was the loudest that I have heard it in a while, and the Saints felt genuinely overwhelmed with it all. It is right in the world that this level of defense should be the ring leader of it all.

Seattle’s Special Teams is special!

Seahawk fans can stop stressing out about Jay Harbaugh, and start celebrating the young coach. He has Seattle’s special teams looking badass-tical.

From Tory Horton’s franchise record breaking-ly long punt return for a touchdown, to D’Anthony Bell’s blocked punt, to Chazz Suratt’s heady punt return blocking and coverage tackling, to Jason Meyer’s dependable field goal kicking, Harbaugh is shaping Seattle’s special teams into a top shelf unit in this league, thus far.

It has been a long time since I have sat in a seat at Lumen Field, and felt this out of mind excited about what I was witnessing out of the Seattle Seahawks special teams in this level to totality. As if the strong defensive effort wasn’t enough, or the complete efficiency that Sam Darnold played with, Seattle’s special teams could easily be considered the star of the day.

Through three games, Seattle has had really grand special teams play. This is as good of a recipe as any to winning football moving forward. Let’s keep this going.

Fans need to let go, and let Jay Harbaugh into their hearts. He’s a good coach. He’s got this area of the team going in ways the further make football a fun watch. Embrace it.

Final thoughts

Vitally important win against these Saints. It is vital to get winning ways back to Lumen Field again, especially after a bad home record last year, despite going 10-7 on the year. Now, let’s start stacking up home wins while winning on the road.

As this season progresses, Seattle’s already strong defense should only get better with getting key players healthy again. Their defensive line rotation is deep, and their secondary and linebackers are well coached. Your eyes should be able to tell you this by now, and you don’t need to hear it from me.

Seattle has played against three pretty good defensive fronts, and their offensive line has held up against them, for the most part, pretty well. That should breed confidence in them as they will have more good defensive fronts in coming games.

Sam Darnold, and these receivers, and tight ends are showing signs of clicking together nicely. The more success they have the less likely defensive coordinators will feel an impulse to crowd the box to stop the run. This is something to keep in mind as we get further into the season.

K9 didn’t have a great day running, and really neither did George Holani, but rookie Jacardia Wright got action late that was interestingly productive when the Saints knew Seattle would run the ball to kill clock and yet he still broke off nice gains. This poses an interesting thought in my mind, as well.

I think this was a game where Seattle could have used Zach Charbonnet maybe more than K9 who was looking to hit it outside more instead of cutting back inside. I know K9 had the big game against the Steelers last week that we all marveled about, but part of me continues to wonder if this zone blocking thing is for him. It is hard to tell because of how dedicated NOLA was at stopping him, and how that opened up opportunities with play action from Darnold downfield, but it bears some consideration.

Seeing the way Wright ran late made me wonder what a healthy Zach Charbonnet would have brought to the game. Hopefully we get him back for the Cardinals on Thursday.

It also made me wonder if Wright is someone who warrants more consideration as a runner in this offense moving forward. I thought he looked awesome in the preseason. He did nothing against a strong Saints run defense late in this game to make me think his preseason success was any aberration.

But that is neither here nor there. This game, yesterday afternoon, was the thorough kick ass win against New Orleans we needed to see as fans, and the team needed to feel at home. It felt like a building block win, in fact. So, let’s build off of that.

Now let’s go get it done against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. Let’s host the Bucs and make that game a nightmare for Baker Mayfield.

Let’s make Lumen Field a house of horrors again for the opposition. This is what Seattle Seahawk football at home is meant to be about.

Go Hawks!