Seattle opened this season with a crushing loss to the rival 49ers at home. They not only lost, but they did so impersonating another team on offense. There was one play action pass attempt. They operated mostly out of shotgun. Sam Darnold was given an ultra-conservative game plan that had him throwing most of his passes instantly to receivers and backs who were behind the line of scrimmage. Mike Macdonald was seething after the game, and the whole week that followed. They wanted to win at home. They wanted to beat a division opponent. Mostly, they wanted to play their brand of football. That frustration led to immediate changes. Seattle went from 4% of their passes being play action to 24% the next week. They went from 60% shotgun to 60% under center. That has remained consistent in the weeks that followed (23% play action, 57% under center). The results? Seattle has the 6th-best offense in the NFL over that span by EPA per play, and the 3rd-best passing offense. They have won three straight. And Mike Macdonald is moonwalking in locker rooms where music blasts and players dance.
Winning football games is hard. You can win with talent, coaching, or luck. What you can’t do is win by cosplaying some other team identity. Seattle experienced that last season when Ryan Grubb went rogue and the Seahawks coaching staff was not in alignment. The locker room was not in complete alignment, either. You have no chance of sustained success if you are not at least working together toward a shared vision. There still may be more talented teams or better game plans or rough matchups that lead to a loss. This Seattle team should never lose again by being an anathema to themselves.
This game started so well. Seattle controlled the Cardinals on offense and put together some beautiful drives against a stout Arizona defense. The domination was so complete that even when they were forcing turnovers on their own players, it still felt like a win was certain.
A bad holding call on what should have been a game-sealing touchdown, combined with a tiring defense, and a missed field goal, turned a laugher into a nail-biter.
The Cardinals made big plays against both Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen to pull even. It was perhaps fitting that an error by the home team opened the door to a game-winning drive orchestrated by Darnold, Kubiak, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Jason Meyers made a kick from almost the same distance he had already missed from, and some combination of elation and relief filled the hearts of every Seahawks fan, player, and coach.
Seattle is now 3-1, with a road division win, and a mini-bye week where they get to rest this weekend ahead of their big home game against the Tampa Bay Bucs, who will play a physical game against the Eagles this weekend before flying across the country to face the Seahawks.
This was not the game to frame. The Seahawks forced a fumble on their own player after an interception. They got a taunting penalty that cost them points. They blew a big lead. They missed a field goal. They dropped another interception.
Ask the 2016 Seahawks if they would have taken a flawed victory instead of their 6-6 tie in Arizona. Ask the 2024 Seahawks if they would have taken an ugly win over the Rams last year when they had multiple red zone turnovers, a missed extra point, and other mistakes. Ask the Cardinals if they would have apologized for stealing that game.
You take every win.
Doing it on the road, on a short week, against a division foe who was desperate to avoid falling to 0-2 in the NFC West, makes this a game where style points matter less.
What does matter is that Seattle looked like the far superior team on both sides of the ball for most of the game. The Seahawks put up more yards against the Cardinals defense than any opponent this season. They held Arizona to their fewest yards on the year. They sacked Kyler Murray six times against an offense line that came into the game ranked as the 2nd-best pass protection group in the NFL. They rushed for 155 yards against a run defense that ranked 4th in rushing yards allowed before this game. They converted 46% of their 3rd downs against a team that had been ranked 3rd in 3rd down defense. They converted 2 of 3 red zone chances (and should have been 3 of 3) against the 4th-best red zone defense.
They did enough. For now.
The game Seattle played Thursday night won’t beat a team with a better quarterback, better coaching, and better weapons. That team is coming to town next Sunday.
Closing football games is an art, and the Seahawks have shown promise on offense and some concerning signs on defense.
Twice, the Seahawks have have had the football either tied or trailing late in the game. Twice, Darnold and the offense moved the ball into position to win the game. Yes, the first game ended with a fumble, but the drive to get there was noteworthy given Darnold led the entire NFL in passer rating in close and late situations (within 8 points and less than 5 mins remaining) last season. He looks comfortable and courageous in those moments. His offense looks the same way.
This young offensive line has some struggles. They also are showing poise and promise. We have not seen the killer holding call or false start. The pass protection has been mostly quite good even though defenses know they can attack the passer in those situations. Kubiak has dialed up good plays and JSN has been a velvet dagger. Nobody is killing people as smoothly and silently as Smith-Njigba this season.
That this offense is operating so efficiently without the benefit of a reliable run game is encouraging and not something I expected.
The Seahawks are 25th in EPA/rush and 22nd in rushing success rate. Yet, they are averaging 32.6 points per game the last three weeks. That is happening because this is one of the best early down passing offenses in football. Seattle is 5th in the NFL in converted early downs (1st and 2nd down) into first downs, doing it 23.7% of the time. They are 4th in EPA/dropback and success rate on early down passes. That rises to 3rd-best if you toss out the anomalous Week 1 game plan.
That early down success is happening because they are forcing teams into run heavy personnel packages with either a fullback or two tight ends, and then exploiting mismatches. They are the most explosive passing offense in football. No receiver has more 16+ yard receptions than JSN (10).
They have also started to add some explosive rushes to the mix. Only Derrick Henry has more 20+ yard rushes on the year (4) than Ken Walker III (3). Walker, though, also has a 20+ yard reception, which pulls him into a tie with Henry for most explosive plays by a running back so far this year.
It will take time for the run game to become more efficient. It may not happen. I’m betting it will. Adding a quality run game to this passing attack could raise this offense into a Top 10 unit that can give any defense headaches. That’s the mission, and not one many thought was a realistic goal before the season began.
Defensively, they have been steady and stout in every game. Their mission is to become a group that can close out a game.
That requires having players who rise to the occasion and make impact plays at the moment of truth. Too often, those have gone the wrong way. Woolen and Witherspoon both gave up plays that could have lost the game. It is understandable that many are going to want to see Woolen benched. That might happen. Derion Kendrick sitting on the sidelines had to get Macdonald’s attention.
I will not be writing off Woolen. He remains the most talented corner on this roster, and in the league. He is clearly struggling with confidence in playing the football. This team will be better if the coaching staff can help him with that versus giving up on him.
The pass rush also has to get home in these situations and Macdonald has to dial up the correct pressures and plays. This is a defense full of good players. A key aspect of becoming great is finding guys who will finish games.
Seattle now has an extended break to rest and recuperate. Nick Emmanwori should be set to return when practice resumes. Ailing Abe Lucas and Anthony Bradford could benefit from some time to heal. We will find out about DeMarcus Lawrence and others. It will also give time for the coaching staff to self-scout and make some adjustments. We may notice steps forward in the run game and some new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
All possibilities remain open for this team because they won this game. Now, we see if they can transform from good-to-great. Meaningful football is back on the menu in Seattle.