The Seattle Seahawks may not have played their cleanest football (to put it kindly) against the Los Angeles Chargers, but they still won the game and had some cool moments along the way. Not everything has to be focused on the penalties or the dueling interceptions to start a game, not when the Seahawks did some good things we haven’t seen from them in a good while!
The first Seahawks running back screen pass touchdown in six years
Their first touchdown came on a screen pass—yes, a “screen pass”—to Emanuel Wilson, who recorded his first Seahawks TD on a 23-yard scamper.
It’s only the second receiving touchdown of Wilson’s NFL career.
The Seahawks passing game is not known for featuring running backs as receivers. Brian Fleury was supposed to get the backs more involved as passing targets, and so far there’s been at least some semblance of an effort even if it’s not in high volume. It’s a running joke among Seahawks fans that the team is/has been notoriously bad at screen passes, particularly to the backs, such that the Wilson TD felt like something from a parallel universe.
What’s the last Seahawks screen pass touchdown to a running back? You have to go back to the cavernous feeling of the 2020 pandemic season, when fans were either not allowed in the stands or there in limited capacity. Chris Carson’s second receiving touchdown of the quarter from Russell Wilson couldn’t have been much easier. You can even hear Atlanta Falcons defenders and coaches yelling “SCREEN!” as they hopelessly chase a lost cause.
Ernest Jones IV pulls a Bobby Wagner daily double
Seattle’s elite middle linebacker destroyed the Chargers offense. Whether it was stopping the run, getting after Justin Herbert, defending receivers in the pass game, or creating turnovers, Jones might end up with an NFC Defensive Player of the Week award come Wednesday.
Jones picked up his first sack of the season on a blitz that the Chargers had seven in protection for and didn’t come remotely close to stopping.
The next possession was Jones’ first interception of the year, one that might as well have been catching practice given Herbert threw the ball directly in his lane.
Jones became the first Seahawks linebacker since Bobby Wagner to record a sack and an interception in the same game. Wagner did it in 2018 against the San Francisco 49ers, sacking Nick Mullens before setting a franchise record with a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown. Bobby also had a sack and a pick against the Minnesota Vikings in 2013.
Seahawks score 30+ points in three straight games for first time since 2020
Ahhh the Let Russ Cook year. Might have been a blessing in disguise given what soon transpired out of that season. Seattle started the year scoring 38, 35, 38, and 31 points out of the gate, starting the season 4-0. They also put up 34, 37, and 34 points later in the season, but lost two of those games and so went the LRC movement.
It might not feel like it, but the Seahawks have scored 92 points (31, 31, and 30) over the past three weeks. The offense hasn’t been at its sharpest but they are scoring.
Rashid Shaheed is the first Seahawks receiver to get a rushing TD since…
Shaheed finally got his first offensive touchdown in a Seahawks uniform. No, it wasn’t on a catch, but he impacted the run game with a couple of carries for 33 yards. His 28-yard touchdown run is Seattle’s longest rush of the season.
A Seahawks receiver scoring a touchdown isn’t something that we have seen a lot more recently than the other facts. You just probably don’t remember that the previous WR rushing touchdown was scored by… JAKE BOBO! Yes, Bobo received a handoff near the goal line and scored against the Cleveland Browns back in 2023.
Before Bobo, the last Seahawks rushing touchdown by a receiver was Tyler Lockett’s 75-yard jet sweep score in the 2016 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Drake Thomas’ first play pick
Justin Herbert clearly loves him some Seahawks linebackers, because before Ernest got his INT, Drake Thomas snagged Herbert’s first throw of the game.
Yes, we know the Seahawks wasted this with an immediate interception at the other end, but this was an excellent start for the defense after not forcing any takeaways last week. It’s the first time the Seahawks have recorded a first play INT since supreme ball-hawk Quandre Diggs got Derek Carr in a 2022 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Maybe it’s an AFC West thing.
So while it’s easy to be steamed at the very real issues we saw in the Chargers game, Seattle still produced some significant performances and highlights worth praising. They’re still 3-1, they’re still the reigning Super Bowl champions, and you know Mike Macdonald and that locker room will not be complacent with “a win is a win” mentality.
