It wasn’t as clean as hoped, but the Seattle Seahawks did get the job done against the Tennessee Titans. Seattle was never really in serious danger of losing, but 30-24 doesn’t feel good when the Titans hadn’t scored more than 22 all season and Seattle had a 20-point lead. Still, a win is a win and the Seahawks are inching closer to securing a playoff berth with an 8-3 record. Leg one of the easiest portion of their schedule is complete, with two more to come before the gauntlet combo of the Indianapolis
Colts and Los Angeles Rams in mid-December.
Time for Winners and Losers!
Winners
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
With Tory Horton hurt and Cooper Kupp struggling to generate man coverage separation, the passing offense really now more than ever lives and dies off of JSN. I don’t think I’m off-base in suggesting that without him, the Seahawks may have a bottom 10 passing attack. He means that much to this offense with his ability to win against any coverage, at any depth of the field, against any type of defense. I don’t want to speak in absolutes, but this year it’s undeniable that he’s been the best receiver in the NFL, such that he should be getting MVP votes. Yes, not Offensive Player of the Year, I’m talking Most Valuable Player.
Kenneth Walker III
Don’t look now, but Walker has consecutive games with over 100 yards from scrimmage. He had 71 yards on 11 carries plus 30 yards on three catches. Seattle just didn’t run enough plays on offense for Walker’s stats to really beef up, or else I believe he was poised for a big day.
Zach Charbonnet
An effective day as the RB2, with six carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. Charbonnet has seven rushing touchdowns, and it’s almost a meme at this point when you consider how often he’s spelled for Walker in the red zone after drives in which Walker did the bulk of the work. I’m sure fantasy football owners who have Walker and not Charbonnet are seething every week.
Rashid Shaheed
It might be weird to put him in here after a zero-catch day (with a run for five yards sprinkled in), but he’s here for special teams. Shaheed had two quality punt returns that led to a touchdown and a field goal. It’s also worth pointing out he had the key block on Charbonnet’s 13-yard run during the first half two-minute drill.
Now with all of that said: Shaheed needs to get up to speed (heh heh) with Sam Darnold and this offense as a whole ASAP. I don’t really want to see him used as a gadget player taking direct snaps.
Leonard Williams
Another sack for ‘Big Cat’ and he has six on the season. He led all players with four quarterback hits and had a 3rd and 1 run stop. The man is like fine wine and he only gets better with age.
Byron Murphy II
Another sack for Murph to lead the team with 6.5. Any concerns about his lack of major box score productivity as a rookie ought to be shelved.
Derick Hall
Finally, finally, finally he has his first sack of the year. He’s played too well to be out of the sack category, but not any longer!
Devon Witherspoon
I thought Spoon was the best player in the Seahawks secondary all game, making open-field tackles, a couple of pass breakups, and he would’ve had a sack of Cam Ward if he wasn’t held by Tyjae Spears, thus paving the way for Murphy to get the sack instead.
Patrick O’Connell
Called up due to Ernest Jones’ injury, O’Connell had an inauspicious beginning to his first career start, biting on a Cam Ward pump fake and giving up a scramble for a first down. After that, he was a menace. O’Connell recorded a sack in the red zone in addition to nine solo tackles and a key run stop for a loss. No Jones, no Tyrice Knight, no problem. O’Connell is the latest Seahawk practice squad player to impress with his active roster elevation.
Jason Myers
His only misses since Week 6 are a 61-yard field goal and a blocked kick versus the Houston Texans. Otherwise he’s been virtually perfect for two months, and his kickoffs are evidently the best in the league. Myers went 3/3 on his FGs and 3/3 on his PATs against the Titans.
Losers
Team discipline
I know Ron Torbert’s crew is very flag-heavy, but Seattle earned most of its penalties. Twice the Seahawks lined up in the neutral zone, three times the offensive line false started, and the final tally was 11 accepted flags. The way to keep bad teams in striking distance is to commit turnovers and penalties. Seattle was clean on turnovers but the penalties were uncharacteristic given the context of this season.
Olu Oluwatimi
An issue for Jalen Sundell before his injury was getting overpowered at the line of scrimmage. Same thing is happening to Oluwatimi in pass and run blocking. I thought he was the weakest link (yes, even over Anthony Bradford) on the offensive line on Seattle’s worst plays, and I firmly believe Seattle needs more competition at center and definitely a new right guard.
Jake Bobo
An uncomfortable truth about our favorite meme: Bobo has three penalties and two receptions on the season. For all of the supposed value he brings on special teams he’s not showing much there, and even with injuries at the WR position he’s having a hard time getting onto the field on offense.
The health of the roster
Ty Okada, George Holani, and Chazz Surratt all left with injuries and did not return. Holani and Surratt are at least special teams guys and Holani has gotten involved in the offense a little more lately, but Okada is Julian Love’s backup. We don’t know if Love will be ready to return for the Minnesota Vikings game next week, so if he can’t go, then I guess it’s either a true safety role for Nick Emmanwori or some work for D’Anthony Bell.
Final Notes
- Sam Darnold was not sharp to me. Yes, his connection with JSN remains phenomenal, but everything else was a little shaky in terms of accuracy and decision-making. He was lucky not to have a pick-six on the opening drive, then a near-interception in the end zone on a throw to A.J. Barner when he could’ve scrambled for yards, and a third near-pick on a hurried deep ball with Jeffery Simmons in his face. Darnold is still having a great season, but I’m seeing some familiar habits creep back in. At least he was hitting his checkdowns more often on this occasion.
- Considering the Seahawks scored 30 points on their first seven drives, I’m not up in arms over Klint Kubiak’s performance as much as others may be, but I don’t like the somewhat lackadaisical approach in two-minute drills and the inconsistent late-game “run the clock down” offense. Those need to be better executed.
- Cooper Kupp isn’t a “Loser” but throwing to him has not been effective throughout the season. He can’t really separate against man coverage and for as long as Tory Horton is out and Shaheed isn’t caught up on the offense, Kupp has more burden that he really isn’t capable of providing anymore.
- All of the injuries I think can somewhat excuse the poor coverage on the Chimere Dike punt return touchdown. However, Dike looks like he could be an All-Pro return specialist, so perhaps some credit is in order for the Florida rookie, just as much as I credit Cam Ward for making a lot of improvised plays in the face of constant pressure.
- The defense didn’t really cover itself in glory with the open field tackling issues at times, especially on 4th down. Seattle’s lack of a truly elite finisher at the edge rusher position is why the Seahawks were reportedly in the hunt for a high-end player throughout the offseason and into the trade deadline. It’s going to be a top priority next year on defense, guaranteed.
- The Minnesota Vikings are cooked. Their defense is still good but not as great as last years, while jettisoning Darnold for J.J. McCarthy is a short-term disaster. This should be a favorable matchup for the Seahawks on defense, such that as long as the offense doesn’t self-destruct at home, it’s Seattle’s game to lose. And they shan’t dare disgrace the throwback unis at home again by losing to a collapsing Vikings squad. I’m expecting better, cleaner football to come if/when key injured Seahawks return, and that could start as soon as next week with Julian Love’s possible return.
