As we get further into Mike Macdonald’s tenure as the Seahawks head coach, we are starting to learn his ticks and phrasings. When he describes his ideal vision for this professional football team, he often using the term “shocking effort” when asked about what he wants them to be.
It is not just the traditional defensive minded head coach philosophy of wanting to establish the run, play strong defense, and limit turnovers, shrink the clock, flip field positioning, etc. It’s the spirit and character that he wants his players to embody that fuels it.
What he appears most interested in is fielding a ball club that will shock and awe the opposition each and every Sunday. He wants explosive plays on offense, whether they come through the air, or on the ground, and he wants to see a collective effort on defense that will overwhelm an opposing quarterback. This is what he means when he says he wants a team that plays with shocking effort.
The shocking effort we now see in throughout his defense feels different than the great Legion Of Boom defense. It’s faster on all three levels with more versatility, and the collective of defenders are molding into group of connected badasses who can do seemingly anything asked out of them. Guys who rush can cover, guys who cover can rush, and Macdonald can expose a different opponent’s offensive weakness differently week in and week out on Sundays, it now feels with them.
In terms of the shocking effort we see out of the offense, we see it led by an athletic veteran quarterback who can make everything throw with accuracy, and is unafraid of taking the kill shot with his superstar receiver at any point in the game. He plays with a young offensive line that pass blocks well, and is starting to round out together as a better run blocking unit. They added a piece to the offense at the trade deadline who can kill a defense as a receiver and runner. They have speed at running back, receiver, and tight end, and they have an offensive play caller who treats each down as an opportunity to move the chains for a first down. They, as much as the defense, have the stuff that can shock and awe opponents at any down in the ballgame.
For two Sundays in a row, we have bared witness to Seattle’s shocking effort taking down weaker opponents. They did this in Washington when pundits felt the Commanders would give it a good fight, and they did this yesterday against the Cardinals when there was a narrative that AZ would give it a strong go.
This should be a trend that continues against struggling teams, and gone should be the days of the Seahawks playing down to a weaker opponent. Mike Macdonald won’t stand for that happening. That is what my gut tells me based on what we have been seeing.
The 22-44 final score of the Seahawks dominating the Arizona Cardinals does not do this game much justice. Midway through the second quarter of the game, Seattle got ahead 0-35, and thus forced Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon into a rare decision making process of dictating that his offense needed to go for it on all four downs from there on out.
The result is that Seattle’s defense stayed on the field during this game for what felt like a century of football. In result, Seattle’s offense was twice backed up towards its own end zone after failed fourth down attempts near the goal line, and could not get out of it’s own way with fumbled center snaps between Sam Darnold and backup Olu Oluwatimi, and a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage for an interception in an inexplicable play action pass play that was called.
Some people will look at this game as an uneven one from Darnold, but nuance would show that he was barely had many opportunities in the second half to guide Seattle to more scores. Yet for the day, he was 10/12 in completions, he passed for 178 yards, a touchdown, and that funky assed interception from his own end zone when OC Klint Kubiak decided to dial a play action shot from the pocket against a strong defensive line.
The fumbled center exchange, the INT, and a second half strip sack fumble won’t make Darnold’s MVP hype rise much this week, but on the whole, I thought this was yet another solid day for the veteran passer. He impressively completed 90 percent of his passes, and the truth of the matter is that Seattle’s offense gashed a strong AZ defense on the ground for 200 yards, and he didn’t need to throw much in this one for Seattle to score points.
For as much as Seattle’s defense was yet again dominating, it was their offensive ground attack that most raised my eyebrows in a positive way on Sunday. I have been hearing all the past week that Seattle sucks at running the football.
In fact, Mina Kimes went on one of her podcasts and stated that if she were the Cardinals defensive coordinator, she would drop both safeties back in coverage and dare Seattle to run against a lighter box because they suck so much at running it. Well, I guess now maybe Kimes wants to revaluate that strategy, and assertion about Seattle’s running attack.
On Sunday, against a vaunted AZ defense that held a high scoring Dallas Cowboy offense to 17 points on Monday Night Football, Seattle’s offense ran wild, and scored 30 points. In fact, as the game wore on, it was Seattle’s offensive line and running backs took the game over as Darnold and Jaxon Smith Njigba took a backseat. That effort on the ground paired with a strong defense is most definitely a winning recipe moving forward.
I wrote about this as soon as the Seahawks made the trade for Rashid Shaheed. Shaheed’s presence in Seattle’s offense is likely going to open up their run game. Defensive coordinators will be apprehensive to load up the box to stop Seattle’s ground game when they know Seattle now has two receivers who can take the top off of a defense that isn’t playing coverage. If you play Seattle’s heavy offensive sets with two deep safeties, as Mina Kimes proposed, the ground game will then probably open up.
Arizona chose to play two deep safety looks in this game, they dared Seattle to run (as Kimes proposed), and when Mike Macdonald probably ordered Kubiak to not muck around anymore passing it in the second half, Zach Charbonnet, Ken Walker, and George Holani went off as runners. Shaheed, himself, saw action at running back once, and also ran on a jet sweep. He had two carries for 20 yards.
In one game, Seattle showed the league multiple ways that they can hit you with the run. How fun.
I believe what we saw out of Seattle’s run game yesterday is just the beginning of things we will most likely see from their offense during these final eight games. Seattle has always been committed to running the ball this year, but now I think we will see significantly more production on the ground catching up to that dedication of running it.
If defensive coordinators decide to load the box in order to stop the run, and dare Darnold to throw, he now has Shaheed with JSN to kill defenses deep with. So the question moving forward is what does a defensive play caller choose to try to limit and take away, and what do they choose to potentially be beaten with in result. This is why the Shaheed trade mattered for Seattle.
The Sam Darnold Jaxon Smith Njigba Connection has been a fun storyline to the Seahawks this year, but I think we start seeing the run game now catch up to it. This is one of my predictions for this team moving forward this year.
If defenses load the box against Seattle, they have too much fire power to torch them for it. I would rather play two high coverage against this offense, and hope my linebackers and defensive linemen do their jobs stopping Ken Walker, and company than watch Sam Darnold throw easy layup touchdowns to Tory Horton against me. I would rather choose death by a thousand paper cuts with the run game than instant evisceration with the deep ball.
My other prediction is that Seattle’s defense going to continue becoming the talk of the entire league. They have been playing without pro bowl safety Julian Love for weeks, and their secondary feels formidable. They played without their best linebacker in Ernest Jones yesterday, and Drake Thomas and Tyrice Knight played like pro bowlers in his place. The defensive line was without stud defensive tackle Jarran Reed, yet you couldn’t notice much of a difference. The Seattle Seahawks are showing the prowess of their defensive depth chart, and it is a glorious sight to behold.
Tyrice Knight, in particular, in place of Ernest Jones, might be my player of the entire game. He created not one, but two sack fumbles on Jacoby Brissett that were scoop and score touchdowns for edge rusher DeMarcus Lawerence. Okay, let us process that for a moment.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW RARE AND INSANE THAT IS?!
In all my years of watching football, of playing Madden while my family sleeps, I have never, ever, seen such a thing occur.
This. Just. Does. Not. Happen.
Yet it was beyond a thing of glory that it did in this game.
By the time that second sack fumble by Knight turned scoop and score by Lawrence happened in the first half, this game was over. There was no way AZ was coming back, yet Gannon kept insisting that Brissett keep throwing on fourth down. What else could he do as a coach?
It was valiant effort from Brissett that he held in strong against Seattle’s dominating pass rush, but my God, man, this poor soul of a journeyman was sacked five times, and he completed only fifty percent of his passes. With every missed pass or deflected pass, the clock of this game that was long over with before halftime painfully stopped. My goodness was that ever annoying to watch, but I get why Gannon would continue going for it on fourth downs.
Brissett was too savvy and strong in the pocket to look like the confused and wounded animals that CJ Stroud and Jayden Daniels were against this defense in recent weeks, but he also showed us why he’s always been a journeyman player. He doesn’t move that well, and hangs onto the ball too long. Because of that, we got a second half of football out of his that showed toughness and unflinching grit, but also saw his limitations.
If the Cardinals ever do find a quality franchise quarterback to replace Kyler Murray, they will be a very dangerous team with all the talent they have been drafting in recent years. The gritty tough guy play of Brissett showed us that, and I suspect they will be a team giving other teams fits as they battle forward this season. I will root for them when they play San Francisco next weekend, and I do not think that game with be a gimme for the 49ers.
But for them against the Seahawks this Sunday, it was just not a thing to be. Seattle is legitimately riding high right now, and this likely won’t be their last beat down victory we see out of them this season.
Game balls go to Knight for being the second coming of Mike Singletary in place of Ernest Jones, Jason Myers for kicking three field goals and breaking a franchise record of field goals made, reserve cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett for one of the best touchdown preventing four down pass breakups I’ve ever seen, Shaheed for providing a sneak peak spark on special teams and on the offense, and all the Seahawk running backs for being badass and awesome.
Special nods to Darnold for being ultra efficient again, Cooper Kupp for making a splashy run after catch play, and JSN for continuing to be JSN, and Leonard Williams for continuing to be Leonard Williams, and Riq Woolen for continuing to turn the corner towards being a special cornerback again.
Extra special nod for safety hybrid player Nick Emmanwori for being my new favorite member of the Seahawk defense. It is an incredibly exciting thought to think that he is just scratching the surface of what he will be for this franchise. Right now, he feels like the team’s biggest cheat code on that side of the ball.
Next week, the 7-2 Seahawks will travel to LA to face the 7-2 Rams. Both teams look and feel like clubs that can make deep playoff runs.
I will not be surprised if Seattle does not win that game, but I will also not be surprised they pull off a win, either. They are playing that good right now, and it is fun to watch, and next week’s game against the Rams should be a really good one. Objectively, as a fan of football, I am looking forward to this matchup.
This was the move to make before the trade deadline
Anyone who follows this blog knows that I had been suggesting, for a good while now, that perhaps the Seattle Seahawks would target one of two receivers who played for offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak last year in New Orleans. Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed made too much sense for a 6-2 Seahawk team to not explore acquiring, and it makes sense for the dismal 1-8 Saints team to acquire as many draft picks as possible to finally do a proper rebuild of their roster that they have been putting off for a while now.
Seattle surrendering their 4th round and 5th round picks for Shaheed was fair compensation for a young number two receiver who is an electric deep threat, a run after catch artist, and a lethal returner on special teams. Think of all the value he adds to this offense and special teams, and consider what you will likely get in the back half of rounds four and five next April.
It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that he is on the last year of his contract, and will be set to hit free agency this March. He has nine games to make his mark in Seattle on a team that now leads the league in total DVOA as they push towards the playoffs. If he proves productive, if he fits in well with the coaches, and culture, John Schneider will likely work in the offseason to retain him, and Seattle will be set up to have one of the most dynamic receiving rooms in the league once again. They will have the cap space to pay him, JSN, Charles Cross, and Devon Witherspoon all within the next couple years.
What Shaheed brings to Seattle now is an explosive deep threat that they don’t presently have on offense, and he carries with him a familiarity of Kubiak’s offense. It might take him a few games to get the full playbook fully back in his body, and build chemistry with Darnold, but I think once we get into the later stages of November, we should see a connection forming.
The importance of his deep threat ability added to this offense is two fold. It will certainly help make a league leading explosive passing attack all the more lethal downfield, but it will also likely help the run game. Allow me to explain.
Seattle plays mostly out of heavy looks that either have two tight ends on the field, or a tight end and a fullback. Accompanied with them is two receivers. Through eight games, defensive coordinators have chosen to load the boxes against these looks, bringing safeties down to take away the run. They have been choosing to run the risk of getting beaten over the top by JSN and Cooper Kupp in order to snuff out the run, creating second and long scenarios that will hopefully lead to third and longs. Sometimes, they have paid for it, but other times, their loaded boxes have worked stalling out Seattle’s run game through stretches in games, and we have all felt these moments.
If Klint Kubiak decides to trot out Rashid Shaheed in these heavier personnel sets instead of a slower Cooper Kupp, theoretically, that could put a defensive play caller in a greater bind. Do you drop a safety down to stop Ken Walker, and risk a play action pass where a red hot Sam Darnold now has a quality target who can jet past corners and safeties downfield along with the deep route running prowess of JSN? Or do you lighten your box against this heavier look, and risk one of the most explosive running backs in the league gashing past slower second level defenders who are getting blocked up by tight ends or a fullback?
If you load the box with Shaheed on the field with JSN, you risk Darnold putting up even more absurd Madden numbers against your secondary, but if you play you safeties two deep, you run the risk of your defense getting gashed on the ground. Personally, I suspect Mike Macdonald would love nothing more than to see defenses shift to two deep looks against his offense’s heavier packages. While I am sure he loves what Darnold and JSN have been cooking together, seeing he run game further opening up to better compliment his defense would certainly be his chef’s kiss through the second half of the season.
Therefore, I believe this addition of Shaheed was made to put a further bind on defensive play callers, and it comes at the right time of the year when Seattle will continue to face some pretty formidable defenses. They will face one this weekend when Arizona comes to town, and they will face another one when they travel South to face the Rams in a week and a half.
This addition of Shaheed also provides an insurance should JSN get dinged up at any point in the remainder of the year. Some Seattle fans were probably more than a bit nervous to see Cooper Kupp show up on the injury report heading into the SNF matchup against a desperate Washington team playing for their season, and they were probably equally more than relieved to see rookie Tory Horton step up, and show out.
With Horton, Seattle Seahawk fans should feel hope for now and the future. Now, if something were to happen to JSN, and Seattle had to operate for a little while with Horton, Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp, with the way Sam Darnold is spinning it, I think a lot of fans would feel okay about it, and Kubiak would feel like he could stay within his full playbook. This matters, if you want to see this team in a deep playoff run this year.
This is why I wanted this trade to happen, and I’m not even spending much time discussing what Shaheed’s value will bring as a returner on special teams. We know Seattle is trending to be having one of the top defenses in the league, and we know their offense has been surprisingly explosive. Now they have a returner who can make their return game lethal each and every Sunday that they play.
If you enjoyed the way Seattle took care of business against the Commanders, and the way they made the game against the Saints over before halftime in back in September, you should be pumped that they added Shaheed to their offense and special teams. There are games on their schedule where we could easily now see similar outcomes in favor of Seattle where by the fourth quarter, we are watching Drew Lock throwing to Jake Bobo in garbage time minutes, and handing the ball off to George Holani to kill clock.
Yeah, for all these reasons, I love this trade.
I know most wanted to see Seattle trade for a right guard, but no team was going to trade away a player at the position who is better than Anthony Bradford. Good interior offensive linemen do not get traded mid season. It just doesn’t happen. The Browns, and Titans are miserable teams going nowhere this year with good veteran guards, and they held onto them.
I also allowed myself to have some pretty highly unrealistic hopes that Seattle would try to make a play for Maxx Crosby in Vegas, or Myles Garrett in Cleveland like some podcasters were suggesting that perhaps they would make a run at. Who knows if they tried, but I think the reality is that even though guys are getting a bit older on bad clubs, and perhaps cashing in on a major draft haul for them would be right for those organizations to do, it would be a brutally awful pill for any GM to force upon their tortured fanbase, and ask them to swallow it for the hope of a brighter future down the road.
Crosby and Garrett are generational talents, and they are superb leaders, and if you trade them away for capital that you hope will provide you your next franchise quarterback, and that player never materializes, you will become a league wide laughing stock for years. That is the risk.
If there was one position that I would have liked to have seen Seattle make a play for in a trade, it would have been linebacker, given the knee situation with Ernest Jones. The fact that this type of trade wasn’t made does give me hope that his injury suffered against the Commanders isn’t a bad one, and that Macdonald feels good about the depth behind him with Drake Thomas, and Tyrice Knight, and he also likes what he is seeing from his practice squad guys. It is very possible that Macdonald feels better about that position group than casual fans do, and I think we have to trust him on that given that linebacker coaching is his forte.
I will end this piece with a final thought about the trade deadline for the Seattle Seahawks. I am glad that they didn’t trade away Riq Woolen. I know he has been a subject of frustration for fans the last few years, and I, myself, have speculated on this blog whether he is a fit for Macdonald. I also know that there is a real chance that the team chooses to let him walk in free agency this Spring, but given the injury to Julian Love at safety, and the concussion to Josh Jobe last Sunday, I didn’t want to see Seattle thin out a deep cornerback room.
Woolen has played pretty well the past couple games. He still possesses a physical talent level profile that is incredibly rare in this league, and I get the sense that he is a good locker room fella. I think he has taken this trade speculation noise around him over the past couple months in good stride, and that says something about his character.
He now has an opportunity to really show his net worth in these final nine games. If he continues playing well, if that contributes to Seattle going on a deep playoff run, he will set himself up for a massive payday either here, or somewhere else next Spring. I like those intangibles being a factor for this defense moving forward this year. In fact, I like that a lot.
I like how Woolen is trending lately. I want him to be a part of this thing this year, and maybe even beyond. Through these last two games, I have come more around on Woolen from where I was with him over a month ago. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do during this second half of the season push.
But I really do love this trade for Rashid Shaheed. This was the right thing for this team to do at the trade deadline. He is a luxury addition to this team that was worth making, and I think Seahawk fans are going to have a lot of fun watching him on Sundays. I am excited about that.
The Seattle Seahawks flew across the country with some thinking that they might drop a Sunday Night Football game to the Washington Commanders with their star quarterback Jayden Daniels returning, and they properly beat the holy snot out of the injury riddled DC team for all the nation to see, and they likely ended Daniels’ season, as well. This is how dominant the Seattle Seahawks are capable of being this year, and it has been many years since they have played with this level of shock and awe.
Make no mistake about it. This game was a thorough ass kicking on the road against an inferior opponent, and it was the type of ass kicking that Seattle needed to show the nation after letting the inferior Houston Texans make a game out of their Monday Night Football match two weeks ago. The game in Seattle against Houston should have gone down much like this one last night, but goofy play calling by Klint Kubiak, and up and down play by Sam Darnold let the Texans hang around more than they should have. There was no goofiness from Seattle last night, though. It was all cold blooded business, and it couldn’t have been more satisfying to watch from a Seahawk fan perspective.
The Seattle Seahawks now rest at 6-2, tied for their division lead with the Los Angeles Rams, tied for the conference lead with multiple teams, and it is time for them to be aggressive as the NFL trade deadline approaches this Tuesday. The good news is that it appears they possibly will.
Fox NFL beat reporter Jay Glazer reported Sunday morning that he’d been hearing that the team is looking to be aggressive at several positions including WR, RG, and Edge Rusher. This was an exciting report to hear.
It would be exciting that, come Tuesday, the Seahawks have made significant moves to improve their already explosive offense while have also adding to their impressive pass rush. The NFC is wide open for the taking, and they rest tied a top it. Sam Darnold is proving to be an MVP worthy quarterback through eight games now, Jaxon Smith Njigba is proving to be the best receiver in the game, and the entire defense looks like it could end up being tops in the league.
Now is not the time to rest on laurels thinking you might have a shot at a division title, and a playoff birth in January. Now is the time to strike while your team’s iron is hot, and be aggressive to add a final piece or two on both sides of the ball to fortify your chances of total conference domination for the rest of this season, and in through the playoffs.
For my part, I hope Seattle is aggressive adding another target for Sam Darnold to utilize in this offense. I’m a big believer in Tory Horton who stepped up impressively in place of Cooper Kupp, but the New Orleans Saints have now dropped to 1-8, their season is toast, and they have players who know this Klint Kubiak system, and played well in it last year for him.
Either Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed added to this Seattle offense would just make it all the more potent. Perhaps the price is too much to pry Olave away, but Shaheed in Seattle’s offense mixing in with JSN, Horton, and Kupp feels exciting, and doable for Seattle’s front office. I say go for it.
Saints right guard Cesar Ruiz also feels like a player Seattle could now be eyeing to acquire. He’s struggled this year for the Saints, but he played well for Kubiak and OL coach John Benton last year. In the next 48 hours could we see a Seattle package sent to the Saints for Shaheed and Ruiz? I don’t think it’s a crazy thought.
I will also just say that I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Seattle get even more aggressive to add more pass rush, believe it, or not. Seattle’s defense has been terrorizing quarterbacks all season long outside of the Tampa game when their defensive player numbers were down, but it still feels like they are one pure edger rusher away from total domination, game in and game out. Most of the sack numbers have been coming from the defensive tackle tandem of Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy. What if Trey Hendrickson, or Kayvon Thibodeaux was added to this mix for the final nine game stretch of the year?
This is probably a pipe dream, but with the Cleveland Browns at 2-6 in a division that is probably hopeless to contend in anytime soon, what if Seattle sent a massive package for Myles Garrett?
It’s crazy, I know, but it would be the ultimate double down on the strength of your team.
Think of it this way; if they have to play without middle linebacker Ernest Jones for a few weeks, Adam Sandler could play MIKE backer in this defense with Myles Garrett, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy, and DeMarcus Lawrence playing in front of him, and it would be terrifying for any quarterback in this league to face.
I am not expecting Seattle to make this level of more before the deadline on Tuesday, but I welcome John Schneider to go as bold as he wants to go this year. This is how much I believe in this team in year two of Mike Macdonald’s regime. I fundamentally believe in his defense, and I see the vision of the offense, and I know that together, both sides of the ball can be special stuff this season. Add to it, I say.
I’ve alluded to this since the beginning of the season, and I really think it’s playing out to be true through eight games, now. I believe Seattle has found their franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold, he was brilliant against the Commanders (as he has consistently enough been through most of these games), and I want to see them ride his hot hand and connection with JSN, who is having a historic season as a receiver. Adding to this offense, and defense aggressively now feels like the right thing to do right for this team. The best time to strike is when the iron is hot in order to carry momentum through the finish line.
It would have a very 2021 Los Angeles Rams for Seattle’s front office to do this. Back then, the Rams had just made a curious QB swap with Detroit landing Matthew Stafford in exchange for picks and Jared Goff. By the trade deadline, they added premier edge rusher Von Miller, and they added Odell Beckham Junior to an already solid group of receivers. Their defense was already potent, and so was their offense, but they were not going to let off the gas. These bold front office actions helped carry them to a decisive Super Bowl run and victory.
I would like to see John Schneider do something similar over the next couple days. Be aggressive. Be bold. This team is really good right now, but don’t rest on it. Go for it with them.
If Ernest Jones is going to miss a number of games this year, go get a middle linebacker off a losing team. Former Seahawk Jordyn Brooks is sitting out there in Miami leading the league in tackles on a bad club. The DC for the Dolphins was Macdonald’s defensive line coach in Baltimore, so it stands to reason he would return to Seattle with an understanding of this scheme. Could free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick also be had in a package?
I won’t pour through every trade scenario I have floating through my head for the Seahawks, and what they could now look to do, but I think by the suggestions I have made, you all get my point. The NFL season is long, and football is a car collision sport. Injuries are very real, and Seattle is now without their starting free safety for at least the next four games, and they could be without their middle linebacker for a while, as well.
While safety Ty Okada is a great story this year as a replacement player, and linebacker Drake Thomas has been fun, as well, let’s not rest on depth players stepping up when needed. Let’s think bigger than that this year. This team is worth that.
Here we are, over a week after the Seattle Seahawks won a sloppy Monday Night Football against a tough Houston Texans team, and still they have yet to make any trade. I won’t lie. I am pretty surprised that they haven’t, and I might even say that I’m a little bit annoyed.
The bye week felt like the optimal time to tweak the roster a bit with an addition (or two), and have those players ready to practice before flying to DC for a Sunday Night Football match against the struggling yet formidable Washington Commanders. Guess I misread the tea leaves on what Seattle would be doing this past week.
They could still make a trade, of course. The trade deadline is exactly one week away from today. I just felt like this past week would have been more ideal in getting a newly acquired player out here and settled into practicing.
There is also the possibility that Seattle sees things differently with players they already have, and believe that they have all the pieces necessary to compete for the division title. After all, they currently rest tied for first place in the division, and will have three of their top defenders returning to their already top shelf defense. They will also have impressive rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts returning to their offense to help put a little extra mustard in their run game with possibly second year guard Christian Haynes returning from IR to practice at right guard behind the somewhat struggling Anthony Bradford.
The return of Ouzts will definitely get any diehard Seattle Seahawk fan’s excitement level up some, but the idea of Haynes mixing in with Bradford probably isn’t going to get even the most optimistic fan’s juices flowing. When thinking about trade scenarios in regards to the Seahawks, most fans will probably point to right guard with all the Tik Tok videos gone viral ripping on Bradford, and the fact that Haynes was never able to beat him out last Summer during training camp, in the first place.
The problem is, however, that bad interior offensive line play is a league wide epidemic. The 49ers, for example, have a horrendous offensive line situation that they surviving despite of, and the list is long filled with other teams behind them in a similar boat. In my opinion, a bad team is less likely to part with a decent offensive lineman because that player will be seen as a building block for next season.
Even Wyatt Teller, the 30 year old pro bowl guard for the Browns who is set to be a free agent this offseason, could be hard to pry out Cleveland. The common fan might assume that he wants out of there, and the Browns in a lost season would be sellers, but Kevin Stefanski is a good coach, and the Browns might be well positioned to draft their next quarterback next Spring with how their season is going. In short, Cleveland might be holding onto hope that Teller will be a pending free agent that they can convince to stick around.
As I look around the league at other bad teams, I don’t know if I see another offensive lineman worth trading for who will likely be better than what Seattle already has. Second year guard/center Jackson Powers-Johnson appears to be on the outs with Pete Carroll in Vegas, but if he can’t vibe with ultra positive player friendly Pete, is he going to be a guy who Seattle will take interest in? 35 year old pro bowler Kevin Zeitler might like to get out of Tennessee, but would the Titans want to trade their best offensive lineman in a year where they are trying to develop their star rookie quarterback?
Even Cesar Ruiz with the Saints, a player I have mentioned multiple times as a potential trade target for Seattle (given the familiarity OC Klint Kubiak has with him), feels like a pipe dream trade scenario. He’s young and contracted for multiple years, and NOLA is trying to build a new foundation with their young head coach in place. Trading away a 26 year old right guard who has played decently in the past feels too counterproductive to what they want to do moving forward.
Sticking with the Saints, you could say that Trevor Penning, their former 2022 first round pick who busted out at tackle and has shifted to the left guard role for them, could be a reasonable target. Maybe, but maybe not if NOLA wants to continue taking a good long look at him at guard. Again, poor interior offensive line play is a league wide issue, and teams with young talent are probably more apt to want to see them developed through the trials and tribulations of a season then wanting to trade these guys away for a bag of peanuts and make a bad situation worse.
Think of it this way; Anthony Bradford might be the most suspect player on Seattle’s starting offensive line, but what exists behind him might be way worse. For as bad as some of these selectively edited Tik Tok videos are of him, he has the size and strength to win on initial contact against bigger defensive tackles in the league regularly while run blocking. It is just him climbing to the second level of a defense where things can go comical for an online content creator. If you take away Bradford with this offensive line, and insert Haynes or someone else, there is no guarantee that player wins regularly on initial contact, and therefore, you make a not so great situation worse. Same goes for bad teams trading away offensive lineman.
The hope for every team with a bad offensive line situation is that young players grow together through the course of an NFL season. The hope for NOLA is that Penning and Ruiz develop together in a lost season. The hope in Tennessee is that Cam Ward is protected enough with Zeitler on the line, that he grows as a passer as a rookie. The hope in Vegas is probably that JPJ can be reached by Carroll and Chip Kelly. The hope in Cleveland is probably that they can convince Wyatt Teller to sign an extension next offseason instead of collecting a mid to late round pick for him now.
The hope here in Seattle is probably that Anthony Bradford can settle in more at right guard coming out of the bye week, like it, or not. This doesn’t mean that Seattle won’t try to search for a good veteran guard option on the trade market if a bad team suddenly says uncle in the eleventh hour of the trade deadline. It just means that maybe that type of trade isn’t likely coming, and Seattle has to look at other means to maybe further fortify their team heading into the second half of the season.
If I were in GM John Schneider’s shoes right now, with the trade deadline approaching, I would stay on the offensive side of the ball, and figure out a way to improve my team’s third down success rate which as drastically dropped in the last two games from somewhat respectable to bad. I think perhaps the best way to do that is to give Sam Darnold one more weapon to throw the ball at on obvious passing downs.
With the kind of year that Jaxon Smith Njigba is having, it might sound a bit weird to suggest that Seattle needs more at receiver, but when you look at what is behind JSN, I am not so sure. Cooper Kupp is great in the run game as a perimeter blocker, and he provides a decent option for Darnold to throw at on first and second downs, but on third and long, he lacks separation needed when defenses know Seattle needs to pass. Tory Horton had a promising start to his rookie season, but has quieted down considerably over the past few games, and against the Texans on MNF, Darnold’s connection with him seemed noticeably off. I think Jake Bobo just sorta is what he is, and he will never be a quick separation guy on critical third downs.
It feels more unlikely now that NOLA will trade away Chris Olave, so I am kissing that pipe dream scenario away bye bye for Seattle, but I am wondering if his mate, Rashid Shaheed, could be a viable draft target. Shaheed knows Klint Kubiak’s system, and is a speed demon receiver who I think Seattle could use quite a bit on all three passing downs, if they needed to pass more.
He’s a natural run after catch guy, and he’s a field stretcher. His presence on third downs, with JSN, and Kupp would likely give a defensive coordinator a thing or two to think about. He’s also a great returner and would provide extra special teams value to an already good special teams situation.
Another receiver that I think might be a viable option for Seattle is disgruntled Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers, and I do wonder if a player for player move would be almost inevitable for him. While, personally, I wouldn’t trade away Riq Woolen at this point given the injuries Seattle has endured in their secondary this year, the return of Devon Witherspoon to the defense does open up some possibility of it.
I can imagine Carroll wanting to add Woolen to his defense given their background together. I can imagine Seattle seeing the addition of Meyers as a rental player for the second half of their season being a spark for their obvious passing down offense. I can see Meyers seeing at opportunity to further spark Seattle’s offense as they aim for the playoffs being a better opportunity to cash in as an NFL free agent next Winter than sticking around in Vegas during a wasted season would be for him. I can see a scenario where a third down three receiver set of JSN, Kupp, and Meyers would have an exciting feel for Seahawk fans.
Another benefit of adding Meyers or Shaheed to this offense on second half of the season rental contracts is that either addition wouldn’t necessarily impede Tory Horton’s development as a potential future WR2 to JSN. I’m still a Horton believer, but it is noticeable how quieted down he became in the last two games where he didn’t catch a single pass while being targeted. That’s not good enough, but it is worth noting that in the last two games, Seattle faced two top end defenses.
This leads me to think Seattle doesn’t need to break the bank for a Chris Olave, or a Garrett Wilson, or even a AJ Brown. They just need a veteran who made gets this offense a bit more than a rookie fifth round pick, and maybe in that, adds a bit more of a secure third down passing option for Darnold.
I would be awesome to get a stud offensive lineman, but I am not holding my breath on it. I think that is probably a move for next offseason.
But I do think giving Darnold another viable target on third downs could be the difference between being a playoff contender to being a championship worthy team this year with this defense, and the explosive nature of this offense on first and second downs.
As we approached this NFC West battle in Desert on Thursday Night Football, I had a sinking feeling that we would be in for a fiercely fought defensive battle between two divisional rivals with strong defenses in desperate need of getting a win to keep up within a very tough division. The Arizona Cardinals lost a tough fought game against the 49ers, and I felt they’d be very determined to defend their home turf against a Seahawks team coming off of a huge blowout win against the Saints. Additionally. from their perspective, I felt it was likely that they would carry extra motivation in getting the monkey off their back with all the games in a row they’ve lost to Seattle in recent years. When a divisional rival has your number, you mark that home game against them on your calendar with the intention of taking it to them with extra pepper in your hot sauce.
So, I really didn’t feel that, in anyway, this game on TNF would be a gimme for Seattle even though they seem to have the Cardinals number. In fact, heading into the match, I felt that if Seattle was going to pull off their third win in a row, it would probably come with perhaps a 17-13 type of result.
Thursday Night games are typically very weird. Often times, they are very sloppy with slop coming from both teams. If the game is fairly evenly matched, the team that usually win these short week games is the one who commits the lesser about of mistakes, and gets the better play out of their quarterback.
We can lament the INT return fumble that Coby Bryant coughed up and gave the ball back to Kyler Murray and the Cardinals in good field position. We can also pull our hair out of the illegal blocking penalty called on Jaxon Smith Ngijba that took away a late TD from Zach Charbonnet that would have collectively put the game out of reach for the Cardinals, and forced us to settle for a field goal. I think both of these mishaps kept this game more within reach than I would have liked to have seen on the road against a decent Arizona club.
It also chopped my hide quite a bit seeing Ken Walker get drawn into a stupid taunting penalty by a defender that cost us points. It was also infuriating, as the game progressed, seeing him run backwards circles behind the line of scrimmage into tackle for losses. Just bang the bloody thing up towards the line of scrimmage as best as you can, for goodness sake. Not every run will be a success, just don’t turn the flipping thing into a worse play by trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.
And perhaps even more infuriating than K9’s needless collection of pirouettes into lost yardage was seeing Riq Woolen continue to draw penalties in coverage and give up explosive passes. After watching Seattle’s defense pretty much handle Murray for three quarters, seeing the plunky little passer purposefully target Woolen when the Cardinal offense went into desperation mode in the fourth and finding plenty of success gave me a full dosage of PTSD from opening weekend.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a piece pondering whether the Seattle Seahawks had a K9 and Riq Woolen problem, and a lot of my concerns went away after a quality win on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers when K9, in particular, had a great game. After watching this game against the Cardinals, however, my concerns about both players have returned. I think K9 is one of the most schizophrenic runners I have ever watched, fully capable of exciting runs that get you pumped up, and then within the same game, he’ll do things that make you want to see him pulled. With Woolen, I just find his lack of consistency too souring for my taste, especially when Seattle appears to have strong depth behind him.
Okay, these are all the negatives in this game that I have gotten off my chest. I could include a couple offensive play calls from Klint Kubiak that I didn’t love, and a missed field goal from the otherwise sensational night of Jason Meyers, but that really would be nitpicking.
The Seattle Seahawks won this game because they made less mistakes than the Arizona Cardinals did, and they won this game because Sam Darnold was a better QB than Kyler Murray was on Thursday Night. It is that simple.
I thought both teams fought very hard on defense, and both offenses showed out in their moments, but Seattle did what they needed to do better than what Arizona needed to get done. While the game should have been won more handsomely by Seattle in many respects, they did just enough, and they fucked up less. I will take it.
Winning in the NFL is always a good thing, and losing always sucks. Now we get a breather of ten days before Seattle faces yet another tough opponent at home against Tampa Bay.
Here’s some of my more positive takeaways for Seattle heading out of this desert battle. As much as it sucked watching their quality lead evaporate late in the game, there are also some quality silver linings coming out of this one.
Sam Darnold Continues To Shine
I really dig how Darnold has played these first four games of the year for Seattle’s offense. I think he’s shown a lot of command and poise, and I love his timely playmaking abilities when he extends out of the pocket making throws downfield, and out of pressure, at critical junctures. This is how you want to see your QB1 play.
He was also the best player on offense on Thursday night, between both clubs, and I don’t think it was close between him and Murray in terms of QB play. Darnold showed better accuracy, poise under pressure, and he put up better production on significantly less passing attempts than Murray did, and it did this against an equally tough defense.
Make no mistake, Arizona has a very good defense with a much improved defensive line, and their linebackers and safeties are all very good football players. Generally, I thought Darnold boxed very smart against a defensive scheme that can be tricky to pass on. He largely took whatever was there, but he was also savvy enough to recognize when there were opportunities further downfield. His pass to JSN down the sideline with less than thirty seconds to go for a chance to kick a game winner was a big time money throw from any NFL quarterback, and he delivered it on the dot.
The more I watch Sam Darnold play in this offense, the more I feel like he’s a quarterback that Seattle will want to hang onto for the longer haul, and build around. He’s only 28, and there is a reason why he was taken third overall in the NFL draft in 2018. He just feels like an NFL prototypical franchise quarterback, and I genuinely look forward to watching him play.
Elijah Arroyo And AJ Barner Flashed Big Play Potential
On the night, I thought both of Seattle’s tight ends played really good games. AJ Barner had three nice grabs and a beautiful touchdown, and rookie Elijah Arroyo had two impressive grabs for 44 yards.
I know that Barner is a pretty good tight end, but Arroyo is a big target at TE with insanely gifted abilities to get downfield on vertical throws, and explosive catch and run opportunities. When Seattle drafted Arroyo, I got excited because I knew these sort of downfield plays would be coming from him, eventually.
Last night, against a tough Cardinal defense with great safeties, he really flashed, and this was, in my opinion, one of the hidden little gems of the game. As we get further into games this year, I think we are bound to see more high level playmaking from this youngster, and get ready for that fun to take place.
Let us remember that he is still a rookie, and tight end is a position in this a scheme that has a lot on its plate. Once the lights come on for this guy, and he has the pass and run plays in his bones, he has the physical talent to be a superstar tight end in this league right up there with the guy who plays in Arizona and the fella who plays in the Bay Area.
I look forward to seeing Arroyo and Barner continue factoring in as pass catchers in this offense. This was a good sign.
The Seahawks Sacked The Shit Out Of Kyler Murray And Intercepted Him Twice
First off, Chenna Nwosu posted a terrific game against the Cardinals both in terms of a pass rusher and run stopper. That was very timely, too, as Seattle lost their regular base defense speed rusher DeMarcus Lawrence early in the match with a hamstring injury. Chenna’s play spoke a lot for him, but also for the quality depth, in general, that Seattle currently has on their defensive line.
Seattle’s defense dropped Kyler Murray six times in this match, and they picked him off twice. Despite giving up 20 points in the end, I think these stats alone proved how really dominant Seattle’s defense largely was for the night.
If it weren’t for some offensive mishaps late in the fourth quarter that took points off the board and gave Arizona new life, and Murray a chance to make plays with his legs and arm, I think Seattle’s defensive effort would have felt greater. In the end, they did enough against a dangerous quarterback.
I say this also acknowledging that I personally don’t have that much belief in Murray as a quarterback, and have been out on him for a few years now. The main reason why is because, while I see him as a rare bonafide playmaker, I think his tendencies are to play big games early in the season, and then go cold later on after wear and tear takes hold. He’s like a little Bruce Lee video game character through the first eight games of the year, but by midseason, after being hit numerous times by defensive tackles and edge rushers who run like BMWs, he becomes a different player.
But early in the year, Kyler Murray can be a scary ass little fucker to play against, and he is still one of the very best athletes in the league who can threaten to take over games if you allow him to do so. In this game, Seattle did a lot to harass him and keep him largely ineffective until the fourth quarter. This should be celebrated despite the late game collapse in coverage by Woolen and company.
The next time these two teams face each other will be mid November, when Kyler starts to typically turn into his annual second half of the season pumpkin. Really glad that we have Sam Darnold, though.
For the night, Murray had to pass 41 times to collect 200 yards through the air with 2 late scoring TDS and 2 INTs. You tell me if that was a great night for him early in the season when he is known to play his better ball.
By Winning, Seattle Is Awarded A Valuable Mini Bye Week
After dropping a disappointing home opener against the hated San Francisco 49ers, Seattle’s schedule was to play three games in eleven days with two of those games in the road against quality opponents. The Seahawks have now won all three of those games. This is quite a contrast to last year when Seattle dropped three games in a row in the span of ten games.
Scheduling matters in the NFL. It matters especially to the human bodies that play this violent sport. Seattle has sustained itself very well in this stretch, and will have ten days to properly prepare to host a tough Tampa Bay team.
This is going to benefit Seattle. It is going to allow coaches to self scout the team more and make corrections. It will allow these players a chance to rest and heal. It will allow the players and coaches to study the Buccaneers a bit deeper.
This mini bye could allow the John Schneider and the front office an opportunity to bring in other players from outside via trades, or free agency. It feels to me that the New Orleans Saints could be on the verge of selling if they lose in Buffalo this Sunday, and we are probably all expecting that they will. It is worth keeping in mind that Klint Kubiak was their OC last year, and knows their offensive players very well.
Could the long time Seahawk terrorizer Alvin Kamara be had for a mid round pick? Could Chris Olave also be made available?
As I continue to find myself flummoxed about K9’s play, part of me wonders if an older back quality like Kamara would help settle him down. As for Olave, I know that his concussions concern, but the thought of what Sam Darnold could do in a passing attack with JSN, Cooper Kupp, Tory Horton, and Olave entered into the mix entices quite a bit. Could both players be had?
It’s an interesting thought as we approach a point in the season were really bad clubs start eying their rebuilds. For now, however, I suggest that you enjoy this win against the Cardinals, if you are a diehard Seattle Seahawk fan.
And if you are not a diehard Twelve, why on Earth are you even reading this stuff? Seriously.
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.
Is it time to rip the K9 bandaid off this offense?
While I am reluctant to put too much stock into a week one loss at home against a tough division rival in the San Francisco 49ers, enough time as passed where dust has settled on a couple thoughts that I have regarding the Seahawks as a team this year.
One thought is that, if it weren’t for the misfortune of a small hand full of bad plays (an early third down drop by Cooper Kupp, a run after catch fumble by JSN, a couple bad coverage plays by Riq Woolen, and Abe Lucas getting trucked into the throwing hand of Sam Darnold by Nick Bosa), the Seahawks could have walked out of Lumen Field with a quality win over San Francisco. Things feel bad after any loss, and they feel worse with a loss at home against a hated rival, but often times, the game itself may not have been as bad as it initially felt. I really believe that this game was one of those.
The other thing that I have been mulling over is that perhaps now is the time for Mike Macdonald to turn the page on a couple of Pete Carroll holdovers who simply haven’t been living up to the hype, and fitting these schemes. I wonder if running back Ken Walker is, at all, system fit for Seattle, and I have the same concern over cornerback Riq Woolen.
Firstly, let’s have a good old fashioned glass half full look at last Sunday’s game
As mentioned in a game recap piece I wrote on Monday, even though the final score of this 17-13 loss at home to San Francisco felt grim, I left the game with an impression that maybe Seattle didn’t really play as bad as some would think, and in another match, they might have easily walked away with a quality win. Today, with more dust settled, I feel more steadfast in this belief.
The Seahawk defense was set to be the star of the day. They pressured Brock Purdy more than he had ever been pressured in a game, and that caused two interceptions. In a world full of coulda woulda shoulda, had Riq Woolen sustained his technique on a sideline ball to Ricky Pearsall, or had he made a dedicated attempt to intercept a desperation throw by Purdy in the corner of the end zone, Seattle could have held San Francisco to 10 points, and walked away with a gritty win where the defense would have been the major storyline.
As for the knee jerking fans who wanted to dump on Sam Darnold afterwards (I saw a lot of your online), the advanced analytics of Pro Football Focus had him graded has the fourth best performing NFL quarterback in week one with an elite 82.6 grade, and he was the top performing Seahawk offensive player in the game, just ahead of Charles Cross, and JSN. While I recognize that in the divided society that we live in, people use PFF analytics to support views on players that they want to defend, and then they want to dismiss PFF grades as hoo-ey when they don’t align with their narratives, I tend to put a lot more stock in their metric grading as the truest judge in the court of public opinion.
Their metric system isn’t just raw data, it looks at the data inside the prism of what plays were called and what the intention was behind them. With this in mind, PFF had concluded that Darnold pretty much did everything he was asked to do to go win a ball game. He took care of the football (the strip sack wasn’t on him), he was decisive getting the ball out to the right places, and he was generally pretty accurate.
Had Cooper Kupp been able to haul in an early third down pass that hit his hands, then late in the game made a stronger attempt to stretch out for a critical third down that kept possession, had JSN not coughed up the football on a catch and run screen towards the red zone, Darnold’s raw stat lines probably would have looked a lot better. He was not the problem for Seattle’s offense.
Now for the K9 bad stuff on Sunday and thoughts as to what Seattle should do moving forward
I think Ken Walker was problem this last Sunday against the 49ers, and I think he’s been a problem for a while. Let me expand my thoughts.
Brian Nemhauser of Hawkblogger mentioned on his podcast the other day that Seattle uses different blocking concepts for when Zach Charbonnet is in the game than what they do for Ken Walker. On top of that, Field Gulls just came out with an article displaying how K9 has a tendency to misread a lot of the zone blocks in front of him, and his impulse is to always look to kick things to the outside instead of properly going where his blocking should lead him towards.
Okay, let’s think about this and really breakdown what happened on Sunday.
Seattle’s lone touchdown scoring drive happened when Charbonnet was the featured runner. Let’s review the plays that happened on that drive.
First play of that series was a six yard run by Charbonnet. Second play was a five yard Charbonett run, and first down. Third play was a 21 yard Darold pass to JSN. Then it is another five yard Charbonnet run. Ken Walker mixes in for a four yard run (good). Third and one, tight end AJ Barner is used as a wildcat QB (interestingly not Jalen Milroe), they gain two yards, and a first down. Four yard run by Charbonnet, followed by another four yard run by Charbonnet, followed by a negative gain by Charbonnet on third down that forces fourth and goal.
Seattle passes on fourth, draws a pass interference, and a new set of downs at the goal line. Next play was Charbonnet punching it in at the one yard line behind left guard Grey Zabel. This concluded a lovely, well managed, well executed touchdown scoring drive.
None of the runs by Zach Charbonnet during this drive were super flashy, but most of them were good positive gains that any offensive coordinator would be happy to take, especially on the early downs getting them to third down and manageable situations for a mature NFL quarterback to operate out of. They were strong, and decisive runs, too.
Decisive is the operative word that I want to use for Klint Kubiak’s offense. It requires it from its quarterback, but it equally requires it from its runners, as well. See the right read quickly and hit it. This touchdown scoring drive is pretty much how you would like to draw it up for this scheme.
Now, let’s look at some of K9’s day on Sunday in comparison to the drive described. Fair warning, it is not fun.
The third possession of Seattle started with a toss run to K9 on the outside right that 49er linebackers read well, and it was a one yard loss, and the next to plays were incompletions that led to a punt. This series was the exact opposite of the touchdown drive led by the running of Charbonnet. The fourth offensive series that followed was even worse.
In the fourth series, the first play was a screen pass to K9, again to the outside right, that All Pro linebacker Fred Warner read well, and it was a negative five yard play that put Seattle in second and fifteen. Adding insult to injury, the very next was an inside draw to K9 that was a minus three yards making it third and eighteen. The third down pass was yet another minus three yard pass to K9. Yikes.
In this damning series, it was three plays, all directed to K9, that led to a whopping negative eleven yards for the Seattle offense. It felt like the San Francisco defenders were completely inside Kubiak’s playbook, possibly knowing exactly how Seattle would try to get K9 going, and they attacked it accordingly.
Now, let’s go back to this notion that Seattle uses different blocking methods for Charbonnet and K9 to fit what each runner’s strengths are, and comfortabilities. I want to break down their final possession just before haft time for you.
Seattle gets the ball back with a chance to grab the lead. First play of the series is a six yard run up the middle by Charbonnet, and it is followed by a 22 yard pass to JSN, there is a nine yard pass to Kupp, a 4 yard run by Charbonnet, an incompletion, and then a brilliant nine yard bootleg run by Darnold that sets up a Jason Meyer field goal that gives Seattle a halftime lead, and good vibes heading into the half.
Notice, if you will, that at that critical juncture in the game, the Seattle coaches trusted Zach Charbonnet over K9 to be on the field executing plays that led to a go ahead score before the half. Let that firmly sink into your mind, and think about why that was the decision.
I am not going to go into all the offensive stats that generated during the second half of this game, but it was basically a lot more of the same as described above. The first offensive possession for Seattle included a K9 run for no gain, and the next time they had the ball Charbonnet gained six yards on a carry, was stopped for no gain, Darnold made a nice third down throw to JSN, and it eventually led to the JSN fumble that was costly. The greater point is that it was largely a continuation of positive results when Charbonnet was featured as a runner, and troubling results when Walker was the guy.
This is purely my opinion on both Seattle running backs, but it is backed by what I saw last year, and what I saw out of this game on Sunday. I think Zach Charbonnet is the guy who you should take to the alter and marry in this offense, and Ken Walker is a fella you can be compelled to flirt with because of some top shelf athletic intangibles, but you maybe should not commit towards, if you want this offense to run optimally as designed by Klint Kubiak.
Charbonnet will give you significantly better decisiveness as a runner, he will offer significantly more toughness inside, and he’s got enough wheels on him to kick it outside, as well, when it is required for him to do so. He does more, he offers more, and most importantly, he does what this scheme asks him to do. He is who you marry.
Far too many Seahawk fans and members of Seattle media have gotten too swept up by the memories of K9’s rookie year, and the home run threat he provides in open space, but there has been enough time, and history that has shown that, with each year with him here, he has gotten less, and less productive as a player. Part of that is definitely due to injuries, but even in that, I wonder how much of his history of injuries has led to more indecisiveness out of him, and how much unwillingness he has to firmly stick his nose inside like Charbonnet does for tough gains.
If he is playing protective, seeking out the big play instead of the tough yards required, he is a problem. If he just does not have the innate instincts as a runner to see the proper places he needs to go, and needs different blocking than Charbonnet does, I think he is also a problem, and ultimately, Mike Macdonald has to be the one to make a tough call.
I know that this is just one game to start the season, and maybe this weekend he does some cool stuff on the road against the Steelers that makes up for it, but I wouldn’t be willing to bet much at that, at this point. The Steelers bring a very physical brand of football on defense, and I think they are more talented up front than the 49ers are in totality.
If I were Mike Macdonald, I would be calling upon on a lot more I formation featuring Robbie Ouzts in front of Charbonnet than I would mixing in Walker. I would consider sticking with that format and using more George Holani with it, as well.
But I am not an NFL head coach, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of play calling. I just see what I see on my television set, and whenever I am at games. I like what I see a lot more from Charbonnet than I do from Walker, and I have felt this way for about a year, now. His flashy is not as flashy as K9’s flashy, but his style just feels more dependable, and reliable.
Even more importantly to the bigger picture of this team, I also think that it is highly problematic if the coaches are having a young offensive line block one way for Zach, and another for K9. It is putting more on their plates, and it is giving defenses very obvious tells as to what to expect when each back is in the game.
If a major goal for this team this year is to get a young line gelling together and becoming good together, wouldn’t it be best for them to put less on their plates when run blocking? And is it not a massive hinderance to the development of the line to tell defenses that Seattle will do one thing for Zach when he is in the game, and then something completely different for K9?
Part of the beauty of this whole Kubiak/Shanahan/McVay style offense is to keep looks the same, but then run different things off of those looks, building, and orchestrating a variety of plays of them to keep defenses unsure and on their toes. There is a rhythm to that designed to lull defenders, and then surprise them. If the defenders see that certain things get called for one back, and other things get called for the other, does that not diminish the ability for this offense to function in its truest intents?
I don’t like it at all. This is why I am out on K9 right now.
Now for the Riq Woolen issues
As for Riq Woolen, I feel like I am equally ready to turn the page on him. I will be very blunt about that, and I have always been drawn to his big play potential.
Like K9, he has all world physical traits to be a dominant player, but he just lacks way too much consistency for me to want to rely on him figuring it out, and if Mike Macdonald really does love Josh Jobe, and he likes others on the roster, as well, I am ready to move on. I am squarely to this point.
This is year four for Woolen, and he had a full season under Macdonald to learn the complexities of this defense scheme. He has also had a full offseason to further grow even further in it, and while I know this is just one game to start the season, good lord, he still showed lapses in basic fundamentals that other DBs in this scheme do not seem to show.
Josh Jobe, like Charbonnet, feels more reliable, and I suspect that if Shaq Griffin got into games, he would offer more consistency in coverage and against the run, if not any real big play potential that Woolen provides. On top of this, I don’t know how much of this particular scheme depends on big play potential at cornerback over doing all the fundamentals correctly. In Baltimore, I don’t think Macdonald had any big play shutdown guys playing cornerback in his league leading defense in 2023. His playmakers were his safeties, and inside linebackers.
Riq Woolen will always tease with his high level playmaking abilities. His length and athleticism makes him a league wide rarity, and the fact that he’s a former receiver, he has very natural abilities to make plays on the ball once it is launched downfield, and he finds himself in decent position.
The main issue is playing with the requisite discipline to put himself consistently in good position. If he could just do that, he has the talent to be the best cornerback in the league, but going into year four now, he has yet to show he can.
Personally, I don’t think it is that hard to imagine that had Shaq Griffin (who played decently as a starter for the Vikings last year) been covering Pearsall down the sideline last Sunday, he would have kept better position, and that the play would have resulted in an incompletion. I think it is also possible that had he been in coverage in the corner of the end zone as Purdy carelessly lobbed up that pass, his veteran instincts would have taken over and he would have made a stronger play on the ball than the half hearted attempt Woolen gave on that play which contributed to a fluky touchdown grab.
If most fans are willing to place most of the blame on Sunday’s loss to Woolen, I wouldn’t argue against that. He has too much talent to not live up to his potential, and this is year four for him to prove that he deserves a big payday on the 2026 offseason.
These two brain farts should not happen him at this stage, and that fact that they occurred in the season opener at home, against a fierce rival, in a contract year to boot, feels almost more unforgivable, and damning. If we see him benched next week, I wouldn’t be upset.
That said, I have a split mindset when it comes to him, as well.
On one side of my brain, I would hope that the embarrassment for being viewed as the main culprit for a tough loss would be the thing to finally make him pissed off for greatness as a player through the remainder of this year, and on Sunday, in Pittsburgh, he plays his ass off against DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers. If I am to wager anything of significance that this would happen, however, I would be incredibly stressed out by that, however.
This leads to my more dominant mindset on Riq which is heaped in great reluctance to ever trust that he will ever put forth all the necessary efforts to be consistently great. I am so hestitant about him that if Pete Carroll came sniffing around dangling a third round pick like he did with Geno Smith, and he was dealt next week, I think I would be feeling pretty good about it for Seattle if that deal were made.
I do believe that Woolen, given his youth, his physical traits, and the premium position that he plays as an outside cornerback, would net significantly more value for Seattle in a trade than Ken Walker would, at this point. In a more simplified defensive scheme, that doesn’t ask as much out of defensive backs as Macdonald requires, I think it is possible that Woolen could do better somewhere else than here.
Here, in Seattle? I am dubious to see it with him, at this point. He should know by now what is required out of him by Macdonald, and he should be more serous minded than what his play demonstrated last Sunday.
Josh Jobe appears to get it. Woolen should, by now, get it, and be playing his ass off in a contract year. This feels like a turning point for him here now where he must decide if he is in, or out.
My conclusive thoughts on what I most need right now out of the Seahawks come hell of high water
At the end of the day, while I would love to see this roster comprised of blue chip players everywhere with elite traits shooting out their nostrils, I want a roster full of what I think Mike Macdonald guys are. I want good football players, who above everything else, are smart, disciplined, serious minded guys, and committed to playing the best brand of football together as they can collectively do.
I don’t need a world class athlete at quarterback if he is not ready to properly read and dissect an NFL defense. I don’t need a wildly athletic runner if he cannot properly see the holes, and lanes he is supposed to attack. I don’t need some long freaky fast corner if he cannot stay fundamental in his coverage skills, and I do not need a tall burner receiver if he cannot run required routes and catch with reliable hands.
I need good, dependable football players across the board, and if there is a smidgen of blue chip talent in there at a few spots, then I think that should be enough to make this team a truer contender down the line. This is the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
Right now, I am good to see what we got with Darnold. I love what we got with JSN. I am eager to see Zach Charbonnet assert himself as our featured runner, and I feel better about Josh Jobe at corner than I do today with Riq Woolen. There is a long list of other guys on this team that I feel good about, too. I love me some Big Cat Williams.
I just need this team to comprise of 53 Mike Macdonald players to suit up every Sunday, and once that happens, I will judge more sternly what kind of coach I think Macdonald is. This year, even more so than last year, must be about this very thing.
It is time for Mike Guys, and you are either in, or you are out.
Let me start this whole thing off by saying that I think it is worthwhile for any diehard Seattle Seahawks fan to watch that Dallas Cowboys Netflix show America’s Team, as much as the subject and title might offend. It is incredibly well produced, but more importantly, it offers tons of insight into how a proper championship quality team gets built over the duration of about three to four years.
Three years is probably how long it takes a good head coach to see their vision of how they want their team to win fully take hold. Could happen sooner, as was the case of Sean McVay in LA, but most often, it takes about three or four years.
That is how long it took Pete Carroll here, and Mike Holmgren years before. That is how long it Jimmy Johnson years ago in Dallas, and that is how long it took Kyle Shanahan with the dreaded 49ers. This is how long it could take Mike Macdonald here in Seattle now, and that felt evident after yesterday’s dud against San Francisco.
As the dust has settled upon yet another disappointing home loss to these pesky 49ers, I cannot summon that much anger as I reflect on this 17-13 defeat. Was this a blown opportunity to beat a bitter division rival? Sure, and that blows, but.. I dunno.. also feels like a game that could prove teachable for a young team and a young coaching staff, and maybe this is the Cowboys Netflix show rubbing off on my perspective.
Truthfully, I’m not even really all that upset that Lumen Field was that packed with 49ers fans. I mean, I hate that it was, but I also think, what are we, as Seahawk fans, really expecting at this point?
It is what it is. The Niners are now the significantly more established team, with more top end talent, and Seahawk season ticket holders, perhaps many of them transplants now who work for Amazon and Microsoft, feel more compelled to sell off to Niner fans to turn a profit than be at the game themselves. It sucks, but there is only one way to turn this back around in favor of the home team.
This all changes when the Seattle Seahawks give 49er fans strong reasons to stay at home in Northern California. For the first time in a while, I do feel like those reasons could be coming sooner than later, as bad as this loss feels, and this game was an indicator.
Seattle’s defense, generally speaking, played good enough to win this game had in not been for some fourth quarter coverage issues (Riq Woolen, please come down to the principal’s office). As for their offense, while they were not great, they flashed potential, and nearly pulled off a come from behind win at the end. It didn’t happen, but I don’t think most 49er fans were necessarily feeling tons of confidence right before that strip sack of Sam Darnold happened in the final seconds, as he guided Seattle straight up the field into the red zone with plenty of time to score a game winning touchdown.
I know a lot of frustrated Seahawk fans won’t see it this way, but when the game was over, I kinda thought that in another match, Seattle would take these Bay Area clowns, and really, it was a game that could have gone either way. We shall see if that’s true in their end of season rematch down in Santa Clara.
This was not an easy game for the San Francisco 49ers, who some have projected as being the top team in the division based on talent, experience, and ease of schedule. This is probably the best positive that Seattle fans can take from another disappointing outcome.
Seattle fought them tough. Maybe that is not going to make a lot of Twelves feel assured about new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and new QB1 Sam Darnold, but at the end of the day, I never thought this game would make or break either team this year.
I think the truth about the Seahawks offense is that it will likely be a process of finding itself through the first half of the season, much like Mike Macdonald’s defense did last year. I had hopes that they would come out of the gates on fire, but I am now tempering expectations. My new more rooted in reality view is that it might take to the end of October before we start seeing it gel.
Darnold is brand new to these receivers, and linemen, and runners. Klint Kubiak is probably still assessing what kind of offensive attack he can lean into with the talent on the team, and maybe he overthought scheming against his old boss Kyle.
I will say that I was pretty surprised (and annoyed) about how much of a mixed bag of looks concepts that Kubiak chose to use in this game. By everything that I kept hearing coming out of training camp, and seeing in games, I thought we would see way more Darnold under center, playing out of I formation with a fullback, getting the ground game going, and using play action out of it.
From the jump, it felt as though we got into a lot of the same crap we saw last year with Ryan Grubb’s calling plays. Lots of shotgun, drop backs, empty backfield passing, and stupid screens that weren’t working, and really not nearly enough trying to lock in and build off of the run.
Darnold’s best plays of the day seemed to be when he was allowed to go downfield, and when he was rolling out of play action. Zach Charbonnet seemed like Seattle’s most effective runner, and yet they head scratching-ly kept going to Ken Walker with seeming hopes of getting him going. JSN seemed like Seattle’s best deep threat, yet they were trying to get him going on screens instead of having him route up DBs downfield off of play action passing.
I think all of this frustrating stuff is probably symptomatic of Kubiak and Mike Macdonald needing to further iron out the newness of this offense, and figuring out what best to do with this personnel. I can forgive them for this game, but I don’t think I will be very forgiving if in week six against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the offense still looks this way.
We cannot have another year of erratic offensive play, especially with a schedule as favorable as this one appears to be. If this happens, it is squarely on Macdonald and nobody else.
Who knows if Sam Darnold is a franchise QB for this team, but it seems like he is used best as an under center play action guy. Maybe commit to him mastering that before trying to “trick opponents” with things further in the bag of the playbook.
Perhaps hold back on trying any Milroe Package stuff until the regular offensive starters all got the basics down like clockwork through the course of a game. I was hoping to see what the rookie could do, but that QB sneak play early in opening drive of the first quarter was a dud of a play when other parts of the offense seemed to be initially working, it felt head scratching to watch, and painfully forced. If it would have worked, we would be celebrating it today, but Milroe on the field pretty much signals what the play will be to any talented All Pro linebacker such as Fred Warner.
I also think it would be nice to decide who the main running back is between Walker and Charbonnet, and roll with him. For my money, it looked like Charbonnet was destined to be the hot hand against the 49ers until they shifted to K9, who was ineffective. I think it is possible that Charbonnet is the better fit for this scheme in terms to how he sees and reads the holes, but because K9 is the more dynamic athlete, perhaps they are trying to see if they can get him going. I think they need to decide on one being the primary guy, and for my money, I think it should be Zach.
I also cannot stress it enough how important it is to be what your state you want to be on offense. If your head coach says that he wants a tough as nails running style offense, then be that. Sam Darnold is not making so much money that you need to feel like you need him out of shotgun to get things going through the air. You can be more stubborn about getting the run game going, use that fullback, and tight ends.
And where were the much anticipated tight ends in this game, anyways? San Francisco had their top guy knocked out, and still found ways to get their reserves going.
Be what you say you are going to be.
I’m not going to criticize the defense much in this one. Nope, won’t do it.
They fought hard, but were on the field way too much, and you could say they struggled on third downs, but I would also say they clearly weren’t supported much by the offense. Against the well oiled offensive machine of the 49ers, who have been dominating with this offense for years now, they still managed to give Brock Purdy fits all day. They gave an effort worthy of a quality home win.
It was just the offense that didn’t deliver, and it is what it is. Nothing more, or less.
Ultimately, however, I would also say that now is not the time to panic about it, either, comparing Darnold to what Vegas did with Geno Smith against the Patriots, and all this other stuff that some fans and media will, inevitably, feel compelled to do. Let’s just resist that impulse, and think about the greater picture and process of this team moving forward with Macdonald at the helm.
If you are an overly stressed out Seahawk fan right now, or an underwhelmed one, then get even more behind the Mariners as they push for the playoffs, and then keep your fingers crossed that Kubiak, Darnold, K9, JSN, Charbonnet, and Cooper Kupp and company will settle in together better after September. I still think there is a good chance that they all will.
And I still believe this could be a fun year for Seahawk fans.
This Sunday, at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, the Seattle Seahawks will face their dreaded foe the San Francisco 49ers. The forecast for the game is usual for early September in Seattle, a high of about 70 degrees, with some chance of rain. It is also in the forecast that 49er fans will be traveling well, and the stands will be packed with them.
Would it shock me if Seattle drops this game to San Francisco, and Seahawk fans will have to suffer all the obnoxious Bang Bang Gang crap that 49er fans will throw their way?
Absolutely, not. San Fransisco has been the class of this rivalry for a number of years now, and while their roster is older now, and isn’t projected to be as strong as it has been in recent years, they will come into Lumen with extra motivation to squash any upstart attempts by the younger Seahawks team. The 49ers need this year to be special for them perhaps more so than Seattle does given the amount of money they have paid into players who are getting older, and therefore, the clock on their window for a title is ticking more loudly. If they have another down year, it could spell the end of the Kyle Shanahan tenure.
I would also say, however, that I wouldn’t be surprised, at all, if the Seahawks end up beating them pretty handily in this one, sending the legion of 49er Faithfuls departing for their hotel rooms before the final whistle is blown. Objectively speaking, Seattle feels like one of the bigger X factor teams that is tough for prognosticators to get a handle on, and therefore, could be surprise contender. The Seahawks will have tons of motivation to beat the 49ers and send a message to their fanbase, warning them of buying tickets to travel all the way up to the PNW expecting any more easy wins.
I would also say, as a longtime fan of this team, it would be extra gratifying if they did decisively handle the 49ers in a few days, setting a tone early for everyone to see that they are going to be a tough out for any team to play this year. It would be extra, extra gratifying watching all the 49er fans who spent upwards to $300 a ticket, thinking this was going to be a cakewalk for their team, depart the stadium stunned and angry, and suddenly full of doubt. I would enjoy getting bunched in the face by any angry 49er fella just to look him in the eye and smile, knowing my guys kicked the crap out of his. Football is that stupid and ridiculous like this sometimes.
This all said, a win or loss out of this game won’t make or break the season for either team, and the season is a long one with many storylines within teams to tell. In short, injuries happen, and the difference between good teams and bad ones, outside of coaching, is most often the quality of depth at key positions.
Could things unravel for the Seahawks this year in a competitive division against the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals? Absolutely, they can. No question about it.
They could lose a couple key starters on the offensive line, and suddenly, they are depending on late round rookies and street free agents to start, and Seattle fans will lament over the offensive line, yet again. If they lose Jaxson Smith Njigba for the year, I could see that putting the team in a bind, as well. If Sam Darnold loses significant time, well then, get ready for the Drew Lock Show on Sundays because Jalen Milroe is likely going to redshirt this year, and who knows what comes out of that.
And this is just me thinking about the offense. If the defense were to lose Devin Witherspoon to injuries, if middle linebacker Ernest Jones misses games, or Leonard Williams ends up on IR, it could cause a regression to the side of the ball thought to be the strongest for Seattle, no question. It is a bit of a grim thought.
This is the gamble for every team in the NFL, though. Losing key starters sucks for every franchise, ask 49er fans about it last year, or Dallas fans. They know.
If Matthew Stafford’s back can’t stay healthy enough for him to be an effective quarterback on Sundays this Fall, it could spell the odd lost season for Sean McVay and the Rams as they then perhaps eye the 2026 draft for a new franchise quarterback. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst thing for them, if it all plays out this way, anyways.
Each NFL season tells its own story, though, and in that, it is folly to think what a team was in the previous year will carry through to the next. This is why I don’t put a lot of stock in projections and predictions for each team, the Vegas odds, and neither should you.
Here in Seattle, I think we have a football team that is tough for the national perspective to figure out. After finishing 10-7 in his first year as head coach, Mike Macdonald decided that his offense wasn’t cutting it. He fired his pass happy offensive coordinator and brought in Klint Kubiak to coach a more run centric attack to compliment his defense. Weeks later, QB1 Geno Smith, and WR DK Metcalf individually requested trades out of Seattle, they were granted, and collectively, they were replaced by Sam Darnold, and Cooper Kupp via free agency.
I will avoid getting drawn into debates as to who the better quarterback is between Sam and Geno, or who the better receiver is. There are plenty of strong opinions out there by folks who have voiced them loudly many times over the past months. I will just say that I like the upside of Sam Darnold a lot in this particular style of offense, and I think Cooper Kupp brings much needed leadership to Seattle’s young receiver room.
People are free to offer opinions on Darnold, Klint Kubiak, and Mike Macdonald. If you feel compelled to parrot skeptics over Seattle’s decision making process this last offseason, you are welcome to it. If you feel more compelled now to root for the Raiders because Geno and Pete Carroll are there, go for it. Jump back on the Seahawk bandwagon whenever it feels right for you to do it, I say. I will be here to welcome you back.
For me personally, being a long time, Gen X-y, Seattle Seahawk fan, I feel a genuine sense of excitement over this year that I have not felt in a while. It is fun to see a new regime take over, fully put into place their vision on a team, and watch it mold together. Thus far, I dig the vision of Mike Macdonald, and I don’t mind, at all, that he is a bit of a Harbaugh guy, and that cuts a bit against the gain of those who grew use to Pete Carroll.
If you are a fan of the Legion Of Boom era Seattle Seahawks, ironically however, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be excited about a return of the philosophy of having an offense built off of a strong run game, and playing strong defense. I would argue that, through the 50 year history of this franchise, this very philosophy has carried this team to all of its peaks, starting with the Chuck Knox era that began in 1983, picked up again by Mike Holmgren in the early 2000’s, and then established by Pete Carroll again by 2012.
If Geno Smith had no interest in being Macdonald’s game managing QB1 in a run centric scheme this year, and just wanted to get back with Carroll in Vegas going against Patrick Mahomes twice a year, then God bless him, and best of luck with that. Let’s see what Sam Darnold provides.
Here is what I like about the move to Sam Darnold and why I think it could pay off nicely for Seattle moving forward
If you really peel back the tea leaves with Darnold (which is something I do not think most of his critics have done), I believe you will see his underrated potential for Klint Kubiak’s play action scheme. He’s tall, and athletic with a good arm. He plays naturally under center, and functions well rolling out as a passer, and over the years, he has built up a quick release, has improved his footwork, and thus, has improved his accuracy.
Generally speaking, however, there is a narrative on Sam Darnold that reads, as follows.
I don’t know what version of Sam Darnold we are going to get.. will it be the Vikings Sam Darnold.. or the one with the New York Jets?
We see this statement from various NFL talking heads across the land who, in all likelihood, are not very invested in professional football played in the Pacific Northwest. It is an easy thing for them to spit out on airwaves when they are paid to comment on 32 NFL franchises, and I am willing to cut them slack for that. However, there are the nuances about Darnold that these sorts are not considering.
In 2018, Sam Darnold was taken third overall in the draft by a very bad Jets franchise, and he was placed into an offensive system designed to be run by Peyton Manning. There was only one QB on the planet fully capable of running that offense, and it was Manning, himself, and certainly not a 20 year old kid who played in a rudimentary play action style offense at USC.
Going against the world class Patriots twice a year with all of that on his plate, with not a lot of talent around him, and a guy ill suited to be a NFL head coach, Darnold was destined to fail in New York. In fact, he found himself in Carolina a few years later, coached by someone from college who was running a college spread system that he was also unfamiliar with. Again, Darnold was stuck on a bad team, playing in an ill suited system, and he was eventually replaced by Baker Mayfield who busted out of Cleveland.
The interesting thing with Darnold in Carolina, however, is that when Matt Rhule was fired in the middle of 2022, and replaced by an interim coach, Darnold regained his QB1 job over Mayfield, the Panthers shifted to a run centric, play action attack, and Darnold played decently during the second half of the season for them, guiding them towards playoff contention.
In 2023, he had offers from teams to compete for a starting job in free agency, but he purposely chose to go to San Fransisco to backup Brock Purdy for a year. He told Kyle Shanahan that he wanted to learn how to be a proper NFL quarterback in a scheme that suits him as a player. He spent a year learning from Kyle, went to the Vikings in the following year, and the rest is history. Last year was his breakout and he finished top ten in MVP voting, despite that bad loss against the Lions at the end of the season, and that ugly playoff loss against the Rams.
So, the Seahawks don’t have Justin Jefferson, and I get it. They don’t have Kevin O’Connell calling plays, and I am aware of that, as well.
But isn’t it still possible that Darnold, who just turned 28 years old in June, is starting to finally blossom as an NFL quarterback simply because of the proper coaching he has finally gotten matched with the appropriate scar tissue he has built up as a starter in this league?
I think it is, and there is a decent chance that he gets even better here over time. We shall see.
As for the whole How is Darnold under Pressure Debate.. well, again, I think there is a bit of laziness happening here with him in this regard. Skeptics will say that he is terrible under pressure, yet Pro Football Focus rated him as elite in the league last year under pressure. Is this an instance where the analysts at PFF are dumb on Darnold and naysaying talking heads know best? Or is it that the bulk of Darnold’s doubters have fallen victim of lazy narrations about him as a player over the years? I will let you decide.
If you are not convinced about the upside of Darnold in this offense, and are circling back to how much better the situation was for him in Minnesota than what he will have here, I’m onto you. Truth be told, I don’t think the situation last season in Minnie was that much better than what Macdonald and company are building up here, presently. Allow me to explain.
Jaxson Smith Njigba is destined for stardom and his crew will surprise this year
Let me start this off by saying that I understand your concerns about the Seahawk receiver room, and lack of star power it now has compared to recent years. I think you have cause for concern.
As I already mentioned above, if Seattle loses JSN for an extended time this season, it could be the thing that derails their season. I will be the first to admit that.
Cooper Kupp is still a good player, but he hasn’t stayed healthy for a season in many years now, and I don’t think he’s a guy you want to rely on making it through a full season. Rookie receiver Tory Horton has shown promise through training camp, but he is coming off of a knee injury in college, and I think it could be a bit of a fingers crossed hope that he stays healthy through 17 games, as well. Behind these fellas, we have possession receiver Jake Bobo, journeyman Cody White, and the unknown potential of Dareke Young.
If we are heading into a Week 16 matchup against the Rams, needing a win to stay in playoff contention, and our primary receiver in the offense is Jake Bobo, it’s probably going to be a nerve racking matchup for hopeful Seahawk fans. I can feel my blood pressure rise just thinking about it.
Seattle fans have been spoiled with the presence of DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett together. Even though JSN grew into the primary receiver role over them in 2024, not having either known commodity on this roster anymore takes away a major security blanket for most Seahawk fans. I get the anxiety, but conversely, I think ripping this security blanket away sorta has me more excited about this offense, and its desired new direction.
I love that the coaching staff and front office is banking on JSN fully being The Guy in this offense. When I look at the classic West Coast Offense, a system for which this offense is rooted in, it has never been an attack that has required a take the top of the defense off speed demon receiver. It was all about solid route runners who could get quick separation, who had reliable hands, and who had just enough of a size and quickness to get yards after catch and contact.
The GOAT WCO receiver, Jerry Rice was famously not a fast guy. He was a sudden possession receiver with strong hands, elite precision as a route runner, and interestingly enough, he was built similarly to JSN.
When Seattle first made the Super Bowl in 2005, sporting Mike Holmgren’s version of the WCO, their primary pass catcher was Darrell Jackson, a pure route runner, not a speed guy, also built similarly to JSN. When Seattle went to back to back Super Bowls over a decade ago, playing with a WCO, Doug Baldwin was their primary dude, purely a precision route runner, a bit smaller than JSN. Justin Jefferson plays in this style of offense with the Vikings, is built similarly to JSN, and also, isn’t a fast track fella.
I am telling you now, Jaxson Smith Njigba is tailor made by the hand of God, himself, to be a top shelf receiver in the league playing in this style of offense. He can play inside and outside, he can catch the quick outs, find the creases over the middle, and he can get deep. If Seattle gets a full season out of him this year, he will ascend to stardom in this league, and be thought of as one of the best. Bank on this happening.
He will be thought of in the same breath as Justin Jefferson, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Book it.
As for the rest of this bunch of pass catchers?
When we are taking about Kupp, Bobo, White, and Young, we are talking about physical players willing to do whatever dirty work is needed as perimeter run blockers. We are also talking about tough guy over the middle inside the mouth of the lion pass catchers, and we guys with profiles who fit the mold of what the classic WCO requires.
With rookie Tory Horton, we are looking at a guy who has the talent to be the steal of the entire 2025 NFL draft, and could ascend to the second main option for Darnold by the end of this season. His potential is that promising.
But truth be known, when we look back to this season by the time January rolls around, I think we will be talking a lot about the tight ends, and it is going to be in a good way. The Kubiak offense, and the heart of the WCO pass game, features tight ends in big ways. People are going to be excited about rookie Isaiah Arroyo and the athleticism he provides, but if I am to pick a breakout player for the offense this year, I am picking second year player AJ Barner to wear that hat.
Last year, in a dysfunctional mess of a Ryan Grubb offense, I thought Barner showed a lot of promise. He was a good blocker coming out of Michigan, but he showed surprisingly reliable hands, and play making abilities as a pass catcher as a rookie. It is fun to think about what might lay ahead for him next in an offense that will now know more what it wants to be.
In an offense that will dedicate itself this year to being built on the run, the well roundedness of Barner is practically destined to flourish, and shine, I believe, and I say that with confidence. If all goes as well as I believe it can, I would not be surprised if he’s a pro bowler. I think this is out there for him.
We shall see, but I am excited to find out.
Why I expect Seattle to have one of the top running offenses in the league this year
Seattle’s revamped offensive line led by Charles Cross, Grey Zabel, and Abe Lucas, with massive and athletic Anthony Bradford, and Jalen Sundell is tailor made to become a potentially dominant zone blocking offensive line. All of these guys are athletes who combine size and power with speed and athleticism. It helps tremendously that they are being coached by guys who have PHDs in coaching up this style of blocking.
They can run inside zone, outside zone stretch, and power gap. If you don’t know all this football jargon, I’m just saying that this a young offensive line physically capable of doing a lot together as run blockers as they grow together as a unit.
Depth might be a concern at the moment, but let’s see how that shakes out as the season progresses. After week one of the season, teams can add free agents and they don’t have to guarantee contracts for the year. Typically, after week one, more transactions occur and rosters then become more set.
As it stands now, through these preseason games, heading into the week one matchup against the 49ers, I like what Klint Kubiak, and offensive line coach John Benton are cooking. Bradford feels reborn and reshaped, and Sundell feels like a potential hidden gem at center. Cross, Zabel, and the newly extended Lucas feel like potential cornerstone players for the offense.
While fantasy geeks will debate whether Seattle should start Ken Walker, or Zach Charbonnet at running back, I could honestly give two flips about it. With the potential of this young line, I think they could roll with George Holani, and be just fine.
Truth be told, I think we are going to see exciting production from all three backs, and I don’t think it will matter who starts. It is a system that produces great running back production, and this dates all the way back to the Denver Broncos in the 1990’s.
if I had to predict what Seattle will do at running back, I would lean toward Charbonnet and Walker splitting the bulk of the duties, and Holani mixing in here, and there, as needed. I suspect all three will have their moments of shining brightly in this scheme, and I am not even factoring in the potential of third string quarterback Jalen Milroe in the special packages Kubiak will have for him during the course of the season.
It will remain to be seen how much Milroe will be called on during each and every week in short yardage situations, and in and round the goal line, but I anticipate that it will be just enough to keep oppositional coaches spending extra time during the weeks to plan for his usage. Right now, I am cautiously optimistic about it. Could be the talk of the season, but it could also be just a bit of an extra wrinkle we see in games, here and there.
What I really want to talk about, however, is the glorious return of the fullback in Seattle and rookie phenom that is destined to be Robbie Ouzts. I have a sneaking suspicion that as Seattle attempts to pry the division title out of the old dead hands of the Los Angeles Rams in late December, one Robert Ouzts will have grown into a huge fan favorite both as a punishing lead blocker, and a play maker catching outlet passes and pulverizing tacklers as he charges upfield. I am here for that big time.
If this becomes truth, I will buy a Robbie Ouzts jersey and proudly wear it each Sunday moving forward with this team. I will be fully Ouzts-pilled as the cool kids like to say (I think).
I am ready for this to be a thing. I am ready to wear the Ouzts jersey on Sundays. Please, Sweet Lord, let it be a thing!
But the real reason for supreme over the top optimism for the Seahawks remains the defense
Defense wins championships. Don’t let any punky keyboard warrior tell you differently. Defense will forever always win you championships.
The whole entire point of bringing in Klint Kubiak is to connect this offense to a potentially dynamic defense brewing in Seattle. Period, end of story. No questions about that, at all.
Am I a bit disappointed that the Seattle Seahawks didn’t ship two first round picks and Leonard Williams to Dallas for Micah Parsons?
No, I am not. I wanted him here, but that would have been too much for him. Parsons to Seattle, minus the best defensive tackle on the team would have been too much.
Give me Leo Wiliams, Jarran Reed, and Byron Murphy all day, every day, mixing in with edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence, Derick Hall, Boye Mafe, and Chenna Nwosu. That’s the defensive line rotation, I am pretty good with it, to be honest.
Could they add another nose tackle to the mix? Absolutely, and they could add another veteran edge rusher, as well.
But at the end of the day, I want to see Mafe and Hall talk the next step as rushers off the edges, and I want to see Byron Murphy take a positive step forward at DT, as well. These guys are the present and future.
As is Ernest Jones and Tyrice Knight at middle linebacker, mixing in with Nick Emmawori who will see time as a chess piece moving around between nickel linebacker and safety. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see backup linebacker Drake Thomas take on a greater role on the defense, as well. Macdonald has talked glowingly about Thomas all throughout training camp, and I, for one, am a bit intrigued.
It is the backend of this defense that could be real stars, though. Devon Witherspoon is becoming an elite cornerback in this league, and could take a further step this year. The other corner, Riq Woolen still possesses the length and athleticism that make him a league wide rarity, and he is going into a contract season. That could easily spell bad news for the rest of the teams in this division, and this is not factoring in the steady play of safeties Julian Love and Coby Bryant, who are interchangeable, sharp minded, play-making pieces for Macdonald.
Emmawori is poised to be the x-factor chess piece, though, I suspect. Expect him to line up almost everywhere at linebacker, safety, and corner.
Personally, I suspect that Macdonald kept him intentionally in a very vanilla role during the preseason games. Fans and media were left with a “meh” sorta response on his impact in games, and I think that’s probably just how Macdonald would have it heading into opening weekend against the 49ers.
It is an interesting tell that Seattle is choosing to go a bit light at middle linebacker heading into the season. It makes me suspect that the usage of Emmawori is factoring, but we will see.
At any rate, I fully expect Seattle to have a top five-ish defense this year. They might make roster additions here and there as the season unfolds, but the defenders we see on the roster now are probably mostly the fellas we see factor into it.
They will utilize practice squad veterans like corner Shaq Griffin, and nose tackle Quinton Bohanna, as needed. The 53 man roster isn’t what it used to be with the practice squad expanded to 17 players with vested veterans being able to be added. Teams league wide use their practice squads as if they have expanded 70 man rosters. So, it is little worth stressing out about how you see initial 53 man rosters get announced.
But mark my words, Seattle will have an elite defense this year, one way or another. Mike Macdonald will make sure of that, and he will pair it with a dominant run game on offense. This combination almost always spells out a playoff team. It is okay to dream about that for Seattle this year.
My concluding thoughts about the Seahawks and their potential this year.
I think the NFC West is wide open for the taking, and in many ways, so is the NFC conference. Outside of the Eagles, again, maybe Green Bay with the addition of Parsons, maybe Washington, I don’t know who the sure fire real contenders are in the conference.
The Detroit Lions lost their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator to head coaching jobs, and their All Pro center surprisingly retire. Can Dan Campbell, who is more of a culture guy than an X’s and O’s fella, get them in top contention with those losses? I am not sure.
Then there is the 49ers and Rams, who, honestly, I don’t understand why there is so much national hype over. The Niners are older and less talented than in years past, and Matthew Stafford is a 37 year old quarterback who now has to manage through a bad back for 17 games. While I can see both teams having big years, I can also see Seattle and Arizona being the top two teams in the division this year because of these factors, as well.
As for other outside the division NFC teams, I am not sold on the Vikings switching to JJ McCarthy at quarterback, and as much as I like Baker Mayfield in Tampa, I don’t know how much better they really are after losing their talented offensive coordinator to a HC gig.
Then you have the who’s who’s of Dallas, Carolina, Chicago, Atlanta, and the Giants. I don’t know what cream can be expected to rise out of this lot, and I am barely even thinking about the Saints.
So, yeah, I’m kind of sun shiny, rosey, good vibes optimistic about Seattle. I dig the potential of the coaching here. I am high on the defense, and I think people are sleeping on the offense. That is all perfectly fine.
In many ways, I feel like it’s a bit of a positive for Seahawk fans to have watched this lackluster effort from the Seattle Seahawk offense in this third and final preseason game. I like Jalen Milroe a lot, and I think he was as good as any developmental quarterback to have come out of this year’s draft, and I was fine with Seattle using their third round pick on him.
But he is a developmental quarterback, and I think it is important for Seattle fans to understand this. He is not Russell Wilson who came out of the third round of the draft thirteen years ago ready to start on a talented Seattle roster. He lacks polish as a passer, and it was evident in this game when he played against starters on the Green Bay defense, and then back end talent of the GreenBay defenders later on.
He wasn’t terrible, and I don’t mean to make this piece sound like a hit job against his day. There were plays he made with his arm, and legs, and he had a beautiful touchdown run called back after a hold, and that, in itself, is encouraging as to what he can become, but he is not ready to start NFL games. Not in my view, in the offense that Seattle that is reliant on timing and anticipatory throws. He works best when designed runs are called for him with frequency, when he is balanced by effective running backs, and he is not asked to throw out of the pocket on third and long.
Aside from the sacks he took in this game, and the fumbles that happened in various ways with him, I thought his day of throwing was fairly erratic, especially when he would try to get out of the pocket and throw on the run. He’s not the throw-on-the-run-master that Russell Wilson always was, and this was evident early when he badly missed on an open receiver as he tried to throw right while rolling out.
He will tease you with some beautiful dimes downfield, though, which was the case more in the second half. I just think that it is good to have some Seattle fans see what four quarters of Jalen Milroe would be like if he were to start as a rookie. It is fun to fantasize about his upside, but it is important to understand that Sam Darnold, and probably Drew Lock, as well, are way ahead of the curb over this guy, and he is appropriately the third string quarterback for a reason.
I feel like some who cover the Seahawks have built up an unreasonable expectation for fans on Milroe through their practice reports on how good he has looked Seattle’s third string defenders all through training camp. I was at the game last week against the Chiefs, and there was nothing out of Milroe that made me belief he was close to being able to start in this league, and in after this game, I feel less certain. That is fine. Seattle will finds ways to take advantage of his raw athleticism in other ways this year.
Seattle can use him in special packages, and I feel almost certain that they will, but to that, I say “Mother of God, youngster, hang onto that damn football.”
The best rookie on the football field for Seattle in this 7-20 loss against the Packers was, undeniably so, undrafted free agent defensive end Jared Ivy. People covering the team have been hyping him for a while, and I am now on board with him. He feels like a long, tough, Baltimore Ravens style defensive lineman who is just going to play pissed off and mean against the run, and plowing into quarterbacks. I hope he makes the final 53 man roster.
Aside from this lopsided loss, I thought the reserve Seattle defenders played pretty well. Milroe coughed the ball up twice early in the game, which gave the Green Bay offense the advantage of short fields to score with, and they did. Had the rookie held onto the ball during a sack and a QB draw, this final score could have been much closer than it was. Jared Ivy was a big part of Seattle’s valiant defensive effort on the day.
The other Seattle rookie I enjoyed watching was undrafted rookie running back Jacardia Wright. I have enjoyed him all preseason, and I actually prefer him over drafted running back Damien Martinez. Wright made the highlight play on offense with a great 64 yard run into the red zone that the offense could not capitalize on getting points off of.
Cut down day will be this Tuesday. I suspect Seattle will look at outside players to fill out depth, perhaps at middle linebacker, possibly guard, and perhaps they add another pass rusher.
12th Life 