Hey, the Seattle Seahawks got a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Was it borderline unwatchable because of all the penalties, punts, and the near collapse from a 27-6 lead to a 30-23 score
? Yeah. Is it still a win? Yes it is. Given the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers both won, it was pretty important for the Seahawks to stay ahead of the Rams and not lose contact with San Francisco ahead of the big Week 5 showdown.Let’s get to Winners and Losers while this game is still etched in my brain.
Seattle Seahawks Winners
Emanuel Wilson’s first start is one of his best performances in the NFL
If I could give a game ball to anyone on the Seahawks offense, it’s Emanuel Wilson. He had 81 hard-earned yards on 21 carries, his first Seahawks rushing TD, and he took a 23-yard screen pass (!) to the house. Over 100 scrimmage yards for Wilson on a day when Seattle’s offense was far from crisp. He’s not fast or particularly great with lateral quickness, but he runs hard and can play through contact well when he gets downhill.
Rashid Shaheed makes the most of his limited touches
Only three touches on offense for Shaheed, but one was a 28-yard touchdown run, another was a five-yard carry on a 1st and 10, and his lone reception was a 20-yard catch. Given his slow start to the season, he showed up in a major way even on a low volume of offensive plays. I thought he was agonizingly close to breaking a big punt return, too.
Tory Horton is back in the end zone
How about a touchdown for the first time since last year’s Commanders game? It was Horton’s only catch and only target, but it was a smooth slant on a Sam Darnold check at the line of scrimmage. Hopefully we see more of Horton in the offense as the weeks progress.
Uchenna Nwosu saves the day
There was a real chance the Seahawks could’ve given up a tying touchdown, if not a winning touchdown on that final drive. Uchenna Nwosu closed the show by haunting his former team, strip-sacking Justin Herbert and sealing the win. Nwosu has played well throughout the season and now has the sack to show it, plus he’s as good as it gets when it comes to edge-setting in the run game.
I would walk through walls for Ernest Jones IV
Ernest had a sack and an interception, and there’s a chance he could end this weekend as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for a phenomenal performance. The Seahawks defense (when they weren’t getting flagged) stifled the Chargers offense, and Jones was a big part of that stifling. He’s one of the leaders on the team and he is a premier inside linebacker.
Drake Thomas bounces back
Last week was not one of Thomas’ better days at the office. He started this game with an interception on the first play from scrimmage, and had a TFL on a screen pass. Thomas is just a fireplug of a linebacker and is extremely fun to watch.
Nick Emmanwori looked like Nick Emmanwori, albeit with two bad penalties
E-Man had a normal snap count and had made them count. He picked up a sack, a pass defensed, nine tackles (with two TFLs), and even generated pressures while lined up as an edge rusher. I’m not pleased with the headbutt penalty (more on that later) but otherwise he was dominant against the Chargers offense.
Connor O’Toole is on the spot
Derius Davis muffed a punt, and O’Toole was there for the recovery (which led to a touchdown). While he’s not part of the defensive rotation, he is a valuable special teams contributor when active on game days. I will not hold the helmet-to-helmet penalty against him because that was just bogus.
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Seattle Seahawks Losers
Seattle has to clean its penalties up
As awful as Scott Novak’s crew was, many of those Seahawks penalties were legit. The headbutt penalty by Nick Emmanwori on Cole Strange was a silly one to commit, especially given how flag-happy the refs were for other penalties earlier in the game. Emmanwori committed a face mask that extended a drive, Devon Witherspoon was flagged for unnecessary roughness, Derick Hall got a roughing the passer (which I didn’t like, but I think is correct by the letter of the law) on 3rd and 24, it’s all got to be fixed. Likewise for the pre-snap penalties like Jalen Sundell rocking in his stance before snapping the ball.
The Seahawks are one of the league’s most penalized teams and they were their own worst enemy at the moment. When they run into a crew as flag-happy as Novak’s, that is a cause for concern.
Brian Fleury needs to figure a couple of things out
Seattle’s offensive coordinator has been put in a tough spot with injuries at key positions. The Seahawks third-down passing game is not consistent enough to threaten teams, and if Seattle is going to continue to get blitzed into oblivion then he needs to identify and find better blitz beaters. They’re otherwise not equipped to come out on the positive side of obvious passing situations.
Additionally, too many drives are ending because of 2nd and long runs to nowhere, and he needs to figure out what plays are better run for Emanuel Wilson versus George Holani. The latter should never ever be the short-yardage option, and certainly not to the weaker side of the line.
On the plus side, Fleury has fixed the screen game which looked like an impossible task. That’s a big plus for the first-year playcaller.
Enough of the Christian Haynes/Beau Stephens rotation
If Christian Haynes cannot be trusted to handle a full game of action then I don’t know what to say. Your backup guard cannot be in a time-share deal because you want to give Beau Stephens rookie reps in non-garbage time situations. Haynes has been fine and to my recollection hasn’t given up a pressure yet. Start Haynes until Anthony Bradford comes back. End of story. There was one series where Stephens got worked on multiple run plays, and I’m just exasperated that we’re still doing this.
More special teams inconsistency
Jason Myers missed an extra point, missed a field goal (and was given a second life thanks to a Chargers penalty), and had another kickoff short of the landing zone. Coverage continues to be an issue on kickoffs, although at least they took advantage of Derius Davis’ muffed punt. Something is not clicking with this ST unit on a consistent basis and it has to tighten up.
George Holani is a good “everything but running the ball” running back
I’ve harped on Holani a lot because John Schneider made glowing comments about him over the offseason after Kenneth Walker left. There was even some idle chatter among fans that George could get significant workload. Holani is ordinarily a very good pass-protecting back, a good special teams player who can return kicks, and a quality receiving back. When he actually has to run the ball he is so limited because he’s not fast, doesn’t break a lot of tackles, and can’t push piles. Holani had 7 carries for 18 yards and now has 153 career rushing yards on 47 attempts. His longest carry to date is still 9 yards. These are fullback numbers.
When Zach Charbonnet comes back, it should be Emanuel Wilson and Charbonnet splitting the touches and Holani only in for the most situational snaps (third and obvious passing, maybe two-minute drills, etc.). Hopefully Zach is back sooner rather than later.
A rare off day for A.J. Barner
Not one, but two drops for Seattle’s normally sure-handed tight ends. Three targets, one catch, two drops. Speaking of tight ends, which is up with Elijah Arroyo? Is he ever going to seriously get involved in this offense? Eric Saubert has more targets than he does!
Monitoring closely
Sam Darnold was nowhere near his best
The opening play interception was gross and inexplicable. Darnold sort of settled down the rest of the way and did throw a couple of touchdowns, but he was nearly picked again later in the game and seemed a bit fidgety in the pocket. No, he’s not getting benched for Drew Lock like I saw suggested/recommended/considered. I guess after a one-year reprieve we’re back to what’s been almost a half-decade stretch of turnovers resulting in cries for the backup to play.
Something isn’t quite clicking yet with Darnold on a per-down basis, so he’s neither a Winner nor a Loser, but he’s had a couple of iffy moments that are worth closer inspection over the next few weeks.
Is the run defense starting to crack just a tad?
Seattle’s run defense has been exceptional for almost two full years under Coach Macdonald, but the Chargers had several successful run plays from their running backs. Kimani Vidal, Omarion Hampton, and Keaton Mitchell collectively had over 100 yards on 25 attempts, even if not one back broke out. The run defense is still great, but I am wondering if a better offense is poised to break the dam.
Final Notes
- Byron Murphy II wrecked Trevor Penning for his first sack of the year. What a total mismatch that even sounds like on paper. That’s Mike Tyson against Marvis Frazier levels of non-competitive.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba was “quiet.” And by that, I mean he still led the team with five catches for 76 yards. There were plays in which he was open and Darnold either didn’t see him or had pressure in his face and couldn’t get to him in the progression.
- Thankfully, Leonard Williams appears to be okay. That doesn’t mean “play next week” okay but if it’s not a long-term injury that’s good news.
- Scott Novak’s crew needs to be far away from Seahawks games. Enough said.
- The Seahawks need to clean things up or else they’re in trouble over the next month. Home vs. 49ers, at Broncos on a short week, home vs. 4-0 Chiefs and 3-1 Bears (with Caleb Williams presumably back). From what I’ve seen through the first month, Seattle would do well to split these games. Denver actually looks like the most favorable game given the Broncos offense has struggled, but Seattle’s offense has run hot and cold and the penalties in all three phases are a worry. Seattle hasn’t played close to its best football yet, so if there was ever a time to do so, it’s now.
