The Seattle Seahawks are a good football team this year. Sitting at 8-3, we should all know this by now. They have beaten every team on their schedule that they clearly should have handled, they beat a couple good teams on the road (Jacksonville and Pittsburgh), and they lost three games to clubs that we knew were going to be tougher matchups. They have done this minus numerous key starters to their defense, at times, and that speaks to their depth on their roster, and coaches on their staff. So, we should know by now that this is a very good football team.

Yet, I sense that there is an anxiety out there amongst fans about them. Maybe it is the hangover for watching Sam Darnold throw 4 interceptions against a very tough Rams defense last week. Maybe it is simply still PTSD over the last handful of years of Pete Carroll era, but when rookie QB Cam Ward easily marched Tennessee’s offense down for a long time consuming opening score drive for a field goal, I wouldn’t blame you, at all, if you had a bit of doubt creep into your veins. In previous years, the Seattle Seahawks would drop games in a season that, on paper, they should have won.

I suspect there’s probably going to be many Seattle Seahawks fans who will look at this 30-24 victory on the road against what is now a 1-10 Tennessee Titans team, and not be very impressed with this outing. In previous outings against struggling teams this year, the Seahawks wrecked the New Orleans Saints 13-44, smothered the Commanders 38-14, and then pounded the Cardinals 22-44, and if you were expecting this level of beat down against the Titans, and didn’t get what you wanted to see, I get it. I kinda wanted that, too.

That said, I felt, overall, Seattle handily beat yet another bad this year that they were supposed to beat, and that is perfectly good enough for me. If the average fan peals back the layers on the Titans, they would see that Tennessee had been in many of the games they have played this year, and a lot of their losses were close ones against decent teams. If it wasn’t for a freaky Tennessee punt return for a touchdown, the final score out of this probably would have been more like 30-17, or such, and we would have felt more like this game was over by the third quarter, but the Titans, with their frisky rookie quarterback, gave it a good go in the fourth quarter.

I will say, for me, I felt heading into this game that Seattle caught a good schedule break with the injuries that came out of the Rams game with linebackers Ernest Jones, and Tyrice Knight, but in that, I was still nervous about how Seattle’s depth could get tested. I love what Drake Thomas has been doing at linebacker next to Jones, but having to call up Patrick O’Connell from the practice squad, and rely on him to play meaningful starting snaps at middle linebacker had me nervous.

In fact, the ease in which Cam Ward led the Titans to an extraordinarily long field goal scoring drive in the opening series of the game didn’t exactly settle these nerves for me. It was nice to see O’Connell step up, and make a number of impressive run stops and get himself a sack in this game, but Seattle seemed to give up a number of passes over the middle of the field where Jones would normally roam. Even having key reserve Knight in the game might have helped settle things, but in the end, Seattle’s dominant pass rush, and depth on the backend of their defense prevailed, yet again. I will take that.

As for the offense, I am happy they cleaned up the turnover issues, I am happy that they still found explosive passing plays, and they ran the ball well when they needed to do it. Like everyone else, I would love to see less procedural penalties, and I think there is still some work to be done limiting the turnover worthy plays at quarterback.

Still, scoring 30 points on the road, even against a bad team, is something that I would take every Sunday. After all, I have watched a peak Russell Wilson team with the LOB defense play to a 6-6 tie down in Arizona once, and will never forget that burning sensation in my eyeballs for it.

Here are some random musings on different aspects of this game, what I liked and what bothered me a bit. Mostly, I think there is a lot to like, and there are a few things that need a bit more cleaning up.

Sam Darnold had a solid bounce back game but there’s still a bit to clean up

On paper, Sam had a very solid bounce back game against the Titans. Going 16 for 26 in passing attempts, for 244 yards, 2 TDS and 0 INTs is a good day for any starting quarterback in the league. He didn’t turn the ball over, and he was much better at getting out of the pocket when he felt pressure. He largely looked like a solid starting NFL quarterback, and his explosive deep ball passing to JSN continued to be the big highlights of the day for Seattle.

On the whole, it felt like the good Sam Darnold was back in action, and if you can run the rock for over a hundred yards on the ground and a score, if your kicker also has a good day, and the defense holds in, you should win a lot of games, if you get this level of QB play. For this, I say bravo, and good job Sammy.

I will still say that there were probably about three plays out of Sam that were turnover worthy, and there were a couple of throws of his that he was off with to wide open targets. So, there’s that, as well.

He was going against one of the best pass rushing DTs in the league, though, in Jeffery Simmons, and that’s not a lot of fun for any guard or center to deal with for four quarters, so I can forgive him for a hurried throw, here and there. I would like for him to continue playing clearer, though.

I wrote extensively about Sam last week after the Rams debacle, and what he can do to get back on track afterwards, and take the next step as a passer. Essentially, I said he needs to shake the hero ball out of his game, and take the check down options when they are there. In this game, he demonstrated good examples of that when he felt the rush creeping in.

I also love that defensive minded HC Mike Macdonald isn’t hampering the playmaker qualities in Sam’s game as a deep ball passer. Sam’s deep ball should always be a threat in every game, and it most definitely was in this one.

I can recall a number of years ago when Russell Wilson was in an MVP campaign the team traveled to Buffalo, and he hit a wall throwing interceptions all game long. Afterwards, Pete Carroll put a clamp down on their explosive passing offense, and they went ultra conservative the rest of the way as they eeked into the playoffs. This was sorta the death nail in Russ’s tenure in Seattle. I am glad that Macdonald resisted such of an impulse on Darnold after that Rams game last week. Kuddos on the head coach for that.

Jaxon Smith Njigba cannot be stopped on Sundays and I am here for it

With eleven games played into this season, JSN has now officially broken DK Metcalf’s record in single season receiving yards. I wrote in my season primer that JSN would become a bonafide superstar in the league this year, and man, was I ever not blowing smoke up that.

JSN has a chance to break Calvin Johnson’s regular season record, he is the best receiver in the league, and I do not know how you can argue it otherwise. I knew he was going to have a big day against the Titans because they are so down on cornerbacks, but jeez Louise Swiss cheese, I honestly don’t know how he can be stopped on Sundays.

The mind meld he has with Sam Darnold is unlike anything I have seen between a quarterback and receiver in Seahawk uniforms, and I remember vividly Dave Krieg’s connection to Steve Largent in the 1980’s, and we all know Russell Wilson’s connections to Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett, and Matt Hasselbeck’s connection to Bobby Engram, as well, if you are an older millennial or Gen X or a boomer. This thing that Jaxon and Sam have together makes my Sundays, and I did not see this level of connection between them coming to this wild extent. Every Seattle Seahawk fan should savor this connection.

For my money, though, JSN needs to be considered in the MVP conversations. Should Seattle make a deep playoff run, I don’t know how you argue against it. There are no limits to his game. He can play inside at slot, and he can play the perimeters on all levels of the defense. He can route up any quality DB. He’s a bigger faster version of Doug Baldwin, and Largent, and he is ours. You should thank your stars every day for this, if you are a Seattle Seahawk fan.

Slowly but surely, Seattle is finding its run game and it is happening at the right time

A month ago, I sensed a lot of fans stressing out about Seattle’s run game, wondering how they could sustain their explosive passing offense without production out of the running backs. Yesterday, Seattle’s offensive line went up against one of the best defensive tackle rotations in the league and they ran it against them for 114 yards. That will do.

Last week, against a very dominant Rams defense, they ran it for 135 yards, and they lost a close game by merely two points because of those INTs that Darnold tossed. This is the same Rams defense that murdered Baker Mayfield and the Bucs on national television last night.

The week before that, the Seahawks ran on the good Cardinals defensive front for nearly 200 yards. The run game was a major reason why Seattle blew the doors off of the Cardinals along with their stellar defensive play.

This is a three game stretch where Seattle is running well against good defensive fronts. I suspect that their offensive line is gelling more together, the running backs are better understanding the nuances more of Klint Kubiak’s zone blocking attack, and the receivers and tight ends are also syncing up more with it all. It feels like it is really coming together now.

I suspect that by the end of the season, we are going to see the Seattle Seahawks as one of the better running teams in the league. This should come at the right time, and I am absolutely going to be here for that.

Grey Zabel is an absolute bad ass throwback

God bless John Schneider for listening to reason, and drafting left guard Grey Zabel in the first round this year. I love Nick Emmanwori, and I think JSN is probably the best player on the Seahawks this year, and I am excited about Bryon Murphy, and I think Sam Darnold has the stuff to be the franchise quarterback for the next several years, but Grey Zabel is absolutely the player Seattle needed this year for their football team.

The Dude twisted up his knee at the end of a tough loss to the Rams, and instead of taking a game off to rest up for the Vikings, he looked at all world defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, and said “yeah, I think I can give it a go.”

How absolute bad ass is that?

Very. It is very old school bad ass offensive line mentality, and it is foolish to assume that his knee was a hundred percent in this game.

Football is life, man. It is not easy. There are people out there who will break your heart, there are jobs you will rely on that will evaporate, and if you work in the trades like I do, your body will physically break down, but you have got to keep plowing forward with it.

Grey Zabel is a plower. He is a tone setter, and an example maker. I cannot overstate the importance of having a roster full of players like him. I cannot stress enough why this matters in the violent blood sport of American football. It is a sport made for the mentality that Zabel possesses.

This team needs more Grey Zabels. They absolutely do. You win Super Bowls with Grey Zabels.

Go get me another one next year, Schneider. Do it!

The defense held in fine but they need to start getting healthier down this stretch

As stated above, for as much as the Seahawks defense put pressure on Cam Ward, I think the lack of Ernest Jones at middle linebacker was probably felt, and that is not knock on the fine play of Patty O’Connell, and Drake Thomas. They played fine, but Jones is the quarterback of this defense, and he’s a playmaker. I don’t want to go too many games down this final stretch without him.

Can Seattle fend off the Vikings next week without him? Yes, they certainly can, but I would feel better going into that matchup if 13 was on the field commandeering the defense.

It is worth noting that, during this game, reserve-safety-thrust-into-starter Ty Okada ended up with an oblique injury, and Seattle doesn’t seem to have much depth at safety past him. I think that contributed to passing yards given up in this game, as well.

So, it would be great to get Jones back, and starting safety Julian Love, as well, for the Vikings game, and the final six games of the year, but we will see. When Macdonald was asked about Love post game, however, he kinda pumped the breaks by saying “we will see” – calling his situation day to day and wanting to not rush him back too soon, if he needs to work through that hamstring longer.

It will be interesting to see what Seattle does next week at safety if Love isn’t ready and Okada isn’t able to go. Do they drop rookie hybrid sensation Nick Emmanwori into the deep safety role? Do they roll with D’Anthony Bell, who is more of a traditional box safety? Do they call up rookie Maxen Hook from the practice squad and plug him into the spot like they did this week with O’Connell this week at middle linebacker?

Personally, I don’t think Macdonald will want to take Emmanwori out of his specialized nickel roll in the 4-2-5 defense that he has Seattle largely operating out of. This defense is very much the staple characteristic of this team, and Emmanwori feels like their Sunday cheat code in that nickel role and all the disguising that Macdonald can have them do out of that.

Against the inexperience of JJ McCarthy, I think Macdonald will want to throw the sink at him much like he did with Ward yesterday, and Emmanwori at nickel feels too necessary to move him out of there, and risk taking away that dynamic. Therefore, I feel like we will have to hope Bell holds in if Love and Okada won’t be ready to go. The way this defense has played without starters, though, there is perhaps little reason to believe that with a week’s worth of prep, Bell can’t functionally do the job, however.

I will say that what Macdonald is doing with his reserves is one of the most impressive things I’ve even seen a coach do. Seattle plays very thin at linebacker and safety and they still manage to make opposing offenses look overwhelmed on Sundays.

I don’t know much, but I really, genuinely sense that Mike Macdonald is one of the absolute smartest minds in all of football, and I am glad he is the Seattle Seahawk coach for years to come.

But it will be good to see the projected starters return down this final stretch. I hope we get Ernest Jones back next Sunday, and I cannot wait to see Julian Love return to this defense, along with defensive badass tackle Jarran Reed.

Final thoughts

I thought at the beginning of this season, if all goes well enough for Seattle, that they would probably be a 11-6 team with a chance at the division title. They are now at 8-3, and this feels it was an accurate projection. With six games left in the year, it feels like eleven wins is very doable, and more wins than that is not unreasonable to consider. Here is why I feel this way.

I like how Seattle is running the ball now. In fact, I really like that a lot.

I think it is really important in these next six games for Sam Darnold to show how efficient he can continue to be, and also how much cleaner he can be with the football. If he is supported with a run game that is clicking more now, I like his chances a lot to do just that.

Sam should not feel like Seattle needs to win games because of his hero ball antics, but rather he should feel like he can manage games along, and look for his kill shots whenever they are clearly there. Knowing that the run game is gelling should go a long way towards that.

The LA Rams appear to be very real this year. They feel like the best team in football right now, but I also think that when Seattle gets a bit more of their pieces back on defense, they are as good of a football team as any to give them a run in the NFC.

The Bucs felt like the best team in the NFC over a month ago, but are struggling now. Green Bay and Detroit aren’t exactly impressing much, and while the 49ers have a favorable schedule, they don’t feel like world beaters this year, either. Then there is the Eagles who just lost to Dallas, and share the same 8-3 record as Seattle has. Do we believe in the 8-3 Bears who play perhaps the easiest schedule in the league next to the Niners?

The thing that I love about the Seahawks this year is that they are beating the teams that they objectively should beat. That hasn’t felt that case for the Seahawks in many years now. I like that for them moving forward in the Macdonald era of Seahawk football.

And for all the talk about how they and Darnold haven’t beaten good teams this year, they beat a good Jaguar team on the road that appears likely to be a playoff team, and they beat the Steelers on the road, as well, who are still in playoff contention.

The narrative that Darnold doesn’t play well in big games feels a bit overblown. I get why it is out there, and I am aware enough about myself to see that I will be one of the staunchest Darnold defenders you will find, but the simple fact is that he’s only played in the playoffs once in his career (last year), and during the regular season last year for Minnesota (and this year with the Hawks) he’s had his big moments. He beat a very good Green Bay and a good Seattle team on the road late in December last year for the Vikings, and I look forward to seeing more from him as a Seahawk this year, and beyond.

And I look forward to these Seahawks to continue kicking ass. This feels like a kick ass team chock full of kick ass players in the trenches, and that is exactly where you want to kick ass. There is kick-ass-ed-ness all throughout this team, in fact. They have kick ass corners, receivers, tight ends, and running backs, safeties, and linebackers. They have a kick ass kicker, in fact.

So, enjoy this time of Seahawk football. It is okay to buy some stock in it.

Go Hawks.