Expectations are the enemy of rational thought. People attempt to anticipate outcomes for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, anxiety drives the desire to see the future to avoid danger and find safety. Seattle traveled to Nashville to take on the 1-9 Tennessee Titans. Oddsmakers put the Seahawks at 13.5 point favorites during the week, before settling at 11.5 by the time the game started. Many Seahawks fans were expecting a cozy and comfortable blowout. The reactions ranged from annoyance to anger when the game failed to meet those expectations. It might help to remember a different set of expectations Vegas created when they set the Seahawks predicted win total at 7.5 games before the season. Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks just won their eight game with six more games left to play.
I tried to warn folks that the Titans were a pesky bunch in my preview. They trailed the Broncos by a single point after three quarters (13-12). They led the Rams 13-10 at halftime and trailed by just four points after three quarters. They were down 17-13 at the half to the Patriots. The Colts only led by 10 at halftime. The Chargers trailed at halftime and led by only three points after three quarters. Just last week, they tied the Texans with 1:35 to go in the game. Rookie quarterback Cam Ward played better against the Texans defense than Josh Allen a week later.
The Titans are not a good team, but they are pesky. Seattle started slow. Tennessee had a 15 play drive to open the game that took nine minutes off the clock. The Seahawks offense could not get in the end zone on their first drive. A 16-3 halftime lead felt unimpressive even as Seattle had scored on every possession to start the game. A touchdown to start the third quarter pushed the lead to 23-3, and it felt like the rout was on. Not so fast.
Seattle and Tennessee traded touchdowns. The first Titans score came on the first Seahawks punt of the day, when rookie Chimere Dike returned his second punt of the year back for a score. A 73-yard drive engineered by Ward and the Titans on the next possession was aided by some Seahawks penalties and a missed chance by Derick Hall to pick off a screen pass.
Ward was avoiding pressure all day. Pro Football Focus recorded 40 pressures for Seattle. Next Gen Stats had Seattle with a 42% pressure rate, fourth-highest in the league this week and fifth-highest for the team this season. The Tennessee quarterback slipped out of tackles, threw from some impossible positions, and made a number of off-schedule plays. It was an encouraging performance for Titans fans who were losing sleep over the play of their #1 overall pick.
No Seahawks fan was happy to see the game close to one score with under a minute to go, but the outcome was never really in question. It just was not aesthetically pleasing.
The larger goals were mostly met. Seattle moved to 8-3, had no turnovers for just the second time this season, and did not appear to suffer any major injuries to starters.
Safety Ty Okada was ruled out with an oblique injury, leaving Seattle with a very thin safety room. D’Anthony Bell stepped in, with Nick Emmanwori as the only other active player with time at safety. Julian Love is due back next week after a stint on the injured reserve. Reserve running back George Holani and linebacker Chazz Surratt were ruled out with injuries as well. Linebacker was down to just Jamie Sherriff as backup after Surratt went down.
Patrick O’Connell played an excellent game in his first start of the season in place of Ernest Jones IV. The duo of O’Connell and Drake Thomas combined for 18 tackles, 1 sack (O’Connell), and 2 TFLs. Seattle should be getting back Tyrice Knight from a concussion this week, and possibly Jones, depending on how his knee is heeling.
It was unsightly to have the Titans tally the second-highest point total of the season by a Seahawks opponent, but the special teams touchdown made it look a little worse than it was.
Hall recorded his first sack of the season. Byron Murphy II got his 6th sack of the year, more than any season in college, and is on track for 9-10 sacks this year. Devon Witherspoon played arguably his best game of season. He set a terrific edge on one run play that allowed Thomas to knife into the backfield for his TFL. Witherspoon had a great pass breakup in the end zone and a number of other impressive plays. He may just now be getting healthy after battling a bruised MCL to start the year.
It is easy to forget this team still only has four snaps all season with their starting secondary. Playing without Jones and Love was something we were not sure the team could survive. They’ve largely thrived. The loss of Jarran Reed has also thinned the defensive tackle rotation. Brandon Pili appeared to have a nice game in this one.
Macdonald continues to rotate his cornerbacks, with Tariq Woolen and Josh Jobe coming on and off, playing roughly the same snaps. Emmanwori got his first snaps lined up at deep safety as the team has started cross-training him there the last couple of weeks.
It had the feel of a workmanlike performance where the Seahawks defense mostly did their jobs and many of the yards surrendered came on improvisational plays by Ward. Scrambling quarterbacks do continue to give Seattle fits this year.
Darnold was the focus of the offense after a disastrous outing against the Rams. He and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak emphasized going through his progressions this week instead of locking onto one player. He did that on at least three occasions in the first half, finding A.J. Barner underneath on 3rd and 9 to pick up 14 yards for a first down, and a couple swing passes to Ken Walker III that gained good yardage.
He also connected with extraterrestrial receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba multiple times deep downfield, showing he was not going to overreact to his turnovers by becoming a check-down merchant. It was not, however, a perfect outing from Darnold in terms of protecting the football.
He had an early third down pass to Walker that was behind him, and could have been picked off if the defender made a better play on the ball. He had a chance to run with the ball on 2nd and goal at the 7-yard line and chose to try and fit the ball into Barner between two defenders. The ball hit Barner’s hands, but popped in the air and was almost intercepted. Darnold’s worst decision of the day was on 1st and 10 to start the 4th quarter, when he tossed the ball directly to a Titans defender while a defender was about to hit him. He was fortunate it was dropped.
That play was the only one that qualified as a truly awful decision. It is the type of play he has to get out of his game. It was almost good to see him take a sack on a 4th down play later. Having just the second game with 0 turnovers for Seattle all year was a positive. The big plays were positive. Overall, the offense felt a bit stunted and tense. They did put up 30 points and are just a tenth of a point (29.5) behind the Lions (29.6) for second in scoring in the NFL .
Smith-Njigba is the nuclear reactor powering this ship. He had 8 catches for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns. That raised his season total to 1,313 yards, which broke the franchise record for receiving yards in a season, with six game to go. He is on pace for 124 receptions (which would set a new franchise record), 2,029 yards (which would set an NFL record) and 11 TDs (which would set a new career-high).
He is toying with defenders. This game saw him utilize his unique ability to throttle down and create contact with his back, like a basketball player boxing out for a rebound, before accelerating into the throw. His ability to track the ball in the air is unparalleled. He is the rare kind of receiver who can elevate the level of his quarterback and those around him. There are no weaknesses to his game.
It was important to see Walker have a good game as well. His 4 carries of 10+ yards was a season-high, and his 6 carries hitting over 15 MPH on the run was the second-highest of the season. He finished with 71 yards on 11 carries (6.5 yards per carry) and 30 yards on 4 receptions. Don’t look now, but Walker is on pace for 1,046 yards, just four yards shy of his career-best set during his rookie season.
Zach Charbonnet was excellent in this one as well. He helped the team to a season-high 4.48 yards per carry after contact. That was fourth-best in the NFL this week.
One touchdown drive in the second half covered 74 yards, ending in a Charbonnet rushing touchdown. All but four of those yards were gained by either Walker or Charbonnet. There is still opportunity in this season for the Seahawks running game to become a more reliable and productive part of this offense.
Having Grey Zabel play just a week after what initially looked like a serious knee injury felt miraculous. Macdonald mentioned after the game that the rookie had expressed desire to play against this front. He called Zabel an “elite competitor.”
Speaking with Zabel in the postgame locker room, the farm-loving lineman confirmed he had “circled this game when the schedule came out,” because he had such respect for Jeffrey Simmons of the Titans. It was not always pretty, but Zabel’s decision to play in this game speaks volumes about a player who already appears headed for a long career in Seattle.
Seattle hurt itself with 11 penalties, one off a season-high. They continue to have some false start problems on short yardage. Credit Barner, though, with being the first Seahawks player under center this season to draw the opponents offsides with a hard count.
Macdonald knew this was not beautiful game. The team knew this opponent lacked talent. It is never easy to play a game like this a week after one of the most intense and hyped games of the year. Seattle led by 20 points multiple times in the second half. They largely handled their business.
A Rams blowout win against the Bucs robbed the evening of some fun, but it also reaffirmed just how special that defensive performance was a week ago. Seattle may be the only team capable of taking down that Rams squad. Darnold plays his former team this week when the Vikings come to town, then travel to Atlanta to take on Kirk Cousins and the Falcons, before returning home for a critical two-game in four day stretch against the Colts and Rams. The Seahawks could match last season’s win total (10 games) by the time they face those two powerhouse teams. Expectations will continue to build. Rational thought will give way to irrational dreams. This Seahawks crew is capable of making even the craziest dreams come true. Each week is like an 80s montage training for the big fight. Progress was made this week. On to the next.