The Seattle Seahawks are currently 8-5 and at the top of the NFC West. They have had a very rocky season starting 3-0 then went on a 3 game losing streak. Currently, they are on a 4 game winning streak, beating 2 division rivals in the past 3 weeks.
Off-Season
Last year they started strong but ended up finishing with a 9-8 record coming third in the division and missing the playoffs. Their defense struggled mightily last year and over the off season lost many key pieces. The Seattle Seahawks lost longtime veteran team captain Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks who were the two starting linebackers in 2023 and both were very impactful. They also lost Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, their two best safeties. Jamal Adams was acquired in a trade with the New York Jets in 2020. He was a Pro-bowl caliber player but often struggled to stay on the field. Adams had many injuries in his 4 year stint with the Seattle Seahawks. In his absence, Julien Love, acquired from the New York Giants in his first year with Seattle stepped up and quickly became a captain of this defense.
After head coach Pete Carrol retired, the Seattle Seahawks were expected to go on a full rebuild with a new coach. Mike Mcdonald, the former defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens(who led them to a top 5 defense in the league), signed with the Seahawks over the off-season in hopes to save the franchise. With needs on defense and Mike Mcdonald being a defensive coach, he went to work in free agency. He signed veteran help in the secondary such as Rashon Jenkins and two new young linebackers to start this season in Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker. While it looked very promising, it has not fully panned out.
Player Impact
Jerome Baker was traded to the Tennessee Titans before the deadline. The Seahawks gave up Jerome Baker and a future fourth round pick but in return got a stud young linebacker in Ernest Jones. Jerome Baker only played 5 games for the Seahawks and recorded 37 tackles and only 1 sack. However, Tyrel Dodson was playing very good football and in 9 games he recorded 97 tackles (2nd on the team), 2 sacks and 2 pass deflections. Unfortunately, he got cut and was later signed by the Miami Dolphins. Rashon Jenkins has suffered a couple injuries this season and has only appeared in 9 out of 13 games. He has racked up 46 tackles and 1 defensive touchdown but hopes to soon make a strong return and help out Seattle’s defense.
Third year safety Coby Bryant has stepped up big with Rashon Jenkins being out. He had an outstanding rookie year in 2022, recording 70 total tackles and 2 sacks. But in 2023 he fell into what is known as the “Sophomore Slump”. His role with Seattle got undersized heavily and he mainly played special teams and only recorded 8 total tackles. This season he has almost tripled that total already with 49 tackles. He also got three career interceptions, all being this season; his first ever interception was against the Falcons and the next two both were against the Cardinals.
Ernest Jones Iv (acquired in a trade with the Titans) has only played 6 games with Seattle but has already recorded 64 tackles and has jumped to the LB1 spot and a major point in why the Seahawks are at top of the NFC West. Ernest Jones IV also got his first interception as a Seahawk yesterday in a win over the Cardinals. But after losing the 2 linebackers we acquired over the off season there was a glaring question. “Who will step up and play LB2 if needed”. And the answer to that question is Tyrice Knight.
Tyrice Knight was a fourth round pick out of UTEP from the 2024 NFL draft. In his rookie campaign so far he has played in 12 games, and has recorded 58 tackles and a single sack. Another name that might come to mind is Derrick Hall. He is in his second NFL season at only 23 years old. He primarily plays off the edge instead of a linebacker role. Hall has only recorded 32 tackles but is second on the team with 6 total sacks. He has fallen second only to Leonard Williams.
Offensive Struggles/Excels
Seattle’s run game has been the biggest issue with this team so far. They have two very talented backs in Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet but we have struggled to get them going. The offensive line ranks almost dead last in the league which is why their running backs have struggled so much. The Seahawks rank 27th in the league in rushing yards. Walker has struggled with health this year. He has missed 3 games and only has 542 rushing yards. Walker was one of the most explosive young backs in the entire NFL last year, but has experienced a drop in production. On the other hand, the Hawks rank 2nd in the league with passing yards.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba at only 22 years old is the team’s leading receiver. After a big division win over Arizona yesterday, he has recorded 911 yards and 5 touchdowns. JSN is fifth in receiving yards in the entire NFL and been phenomenal this season. He already surpassed his total yardage from his rookie year by 275+ yards.
DK Metcalf was leading the team and top 5 in almost all receiving categories before week 7. In the week 7 match-up against the Atlanta Falcons, Metcalf suffered a knee sprain and was ruled out for 3 weeks. Since then, he has made some big time catches and has shown up when called upon but he is no longer the top receiver that we saw in the first couple weeks of the season. As of right now he appeared in 11 out of 13 games and has 812 yards with 3 touchdowns. Geno Smith is currently leading the league in passing yards and has made the Hawks offensive explosive this year.
Quarterback Situation
Quarterback Geno Smith ranks 1st in the league in passing yards and even though he has thrown many costly interceptions; Geno knows how to turn on the jets when he has to. Since starting for the Seahawks Geno has 12 game winning drives and he has been leading the league in fourth quarter drives for almost 2 seasons. In 2022, Geno won Comeback Player of the Year and has proved he earned it. Geno knows how to win crucial games when it matters and he plays the position at a very high level. Unfortunately, Geno is getting up there in age. There is speculation that he may retire soon and the Seattle Seahawks are going to be lost at quarterback.
Sam Howell, the former Washington Commanders quarterback, was traded to Seattle last off season. He is only 24 years old but has already experienced ups and downs in his career. In his rookie season, he did not play much but ended up winning the starting job in Washington his second year. He threw for almost 4,000 yards and had a 63.4 completion percentage. His biggest downside was his interceptions. He threw 21 picks last season, leading the league. This year on the Seahawks he has not played much. Howell got in the game but only to hand the ball off and he has not thrown a pass yet. So now the question is “What will Seattle do at quarterback, keep Howell or draft a rookie?”.
Remainder of the Season
The Seattle Seahawks have a tough remaining schedule. In the next 4 weeks, they play a division rival (Rams), two teams with 9+ wins and a fairly easy opponent in the Bears. Just two weeks ago, they beat Arizona by 10 points. It was not a high scoring game but a win nonetheless. Yesterday, they played Arizona again and overcame them by 12 points. The defense got two interceptions and played a very good game. This game was huge for the standing of the division, the Hawks have only a one game lead in the division over the Rams but Arizona and San Francisco are both 2 games behind. Last night, the Rams pulled off a huge upset win against the Buffalo Bills. In Week 18, the Rams and Seahawks will meet up again and depending on the next 3 weeks, that game can decide the division.
Seattle has been playing very well the past couple of weeks. The Vikings and Packers (our week 15 and week 16 match ups) are both currently in the playoffs. These two games will likely be the most important games left this season. Next week Seahawks play the Packers on Sunday Night Football. The Packers are 9-4 but are third place in the very competitive NFC North division. Green Bay is 5th in the league in rushing yards and their passing game has been above average placing 12th in the league. In Week 16, they play the Vikings (Another NFC North rival). Minnesota is 11-2 and has been playing amazing football. The Seahawks close out the season against the Bears. They are currently 4-9 and have had a very underwhelming season.
If the Hawks manage to win 2 out of 4 of their last games they should be able to lock up the division. But every Seahawk fan is wondering “Can we pull out a tough 4 game stretch and make the playoffs or will we fall short for another year”. Only time can tell the answer to this question.
