After hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February and bringing back 20 of 22 starters, fans and analysts had high expectations for the Seattle Seahawks heading into the 2026 season.
So far, those expectations are not being met, and following a disappointing 17-14 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football, the Seahawks will have nine days to prepare for Week 7 when they will face one of three teams in the league that is currently undefeated in the Kansas City Chiefs.
The first topic
of note when it comes to snap counts on the offensive side of the ball is the rotation between Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens swung heavily in Haynes’ favor against the Broncos. After Haynes playing time had slowly decreased each week, he played more than double the snaps of Stephens in the loss to Denver. Of course, neither Haynes (5 pressures allowed) nor Stephens (3 pressures allowed) excelled in the loss to the Broncos, and whether it’s missed assignments due to playing in a new system or miscommunications from lineup changes, the line is not performing at the level it did in 2025.
At receiver Rashid Shaheed saw the lowest percentage of offensive snaps of the season at 45.9% of snaps, while simultaneously tying his season high in snaps played at 39 simply due to the fact that the Seattle offense was on the field for a whopping 85 snaps. On the positive side, Shaheed and Sam Darnold finally teamed up for a couple of deep connections, though the refs overturned 32-yard completion and Shaheed was injured pulling in a 42-yard pass shortly after halftime.
Following the injury, second year receiver Tory Horton took many of Shaheed’s snaps on both offense and special teams. Horton had a nice 13 yard return on a punt, and pulled in a 13 yard pass on 3rd & 8, but Darnold was off target on several other pass attempts that headed in Horton’s direction, including one pass that was batted down at the line, one that was off target and uncatchable and the very poorly thrown interception that Kirk Herbstreit somehow decided was all Horton’s fault. It’s true that Horton may have been in better position to catch the pass or even break the pass up with a flatter route or had he come back to the ball, but Darnold underthrew the ball on a pass delivered late and that’s where the finger should be pointed.
At tight end, Elijah Arroyo’s night ended early due to a shoulder injury on just his fifth offensive snap, with Nick Kallerup getting Arroyo’s snaps the rest of the night.
When Denver had the ball, the defense got pushed around some during the first half as Denver put 14 points on the board. Tyrice Knight played in place of the injured Drake Thomas, and while that may have played a role in the Broncos putting points on the board in the first half, the Seattle defense had Bo Nix and company on lockdown after halftime.
Meanwhile, veteran offseason additions Trevon Diggs and Dante Fowler combined for just nine snaps, while the return to health of the starters in the secondary kept Nehemiah Pritchett on the sideline for all but nine defensive snaps.
Just as every week, Brady Russell led the way on special teams with 24 snaps, while Patrick O’Connell and Jimmy Ciarlo were right behind at 21 snaps apiece. Eric Saubert played 20 special teams snaps, with Mike Morris and Rodney Thomas at 19 to round out the top six.
Also noteworthy is that Irv Charles saw his first game action for the Seahawks after coming over from the New York Jets in an offseason trade, playing on the return and coverage units on both punts and kickoffs.
And now it’s on to the mini bye before hosting the NFC West leading Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6.
