I’ll be honest, at halftime with the Seattle Seahawks playing to a 6-6 tie with the Atlanta Falcons, I was becoming a little concerned with Seattle’s offense. At that point, their production in the last
seven quarters had been one Zach Charbonnet touchdown and a whole mess of field goals. Seattle’s defense produced just as many touchdowns in that span thanks to Ernest Jones IV’s pick six against the Minnesota Vikings. In addition to the lack of scoring, there were so many drives that looked disjointed. Ill-timed penalties and plays getting stopped for a loss were far too commonplace. Look no further than the first drive of the game, where they lost yardage on all three plays and had to punt backed up against their own end zone. Things were looking pretty bleak at halftime as the doubts were starting to pile up.
Then Rashid Shaheed made his presence felt.
That huge kick return breathed life back into the Seahawks. Their defense, already playing like a group of wild banshees, kicked it up another notch and exerted even more pressure which led to more turnovers. Using these extra possessions, Seattle’s offense finally broke out of its slump scoring 24 points after the Shaheed touchdown to clip the Falcons’ wings en route to a 37-9 shellacking. It was an extremely satisfying second half that showed the immense potential of Mike Macdonald’s squad.
Seahawks Droppings
- Seattle’s defense was finally healthy for the first time since Week 1 and it showed. Julian Love split time with Ty Okada – and most importantly – didn’t suffer any setbacks. Jarran Reed was back and forced a fumble on Bijan Robinson with his club. The Seahawks defense hasn’t given up a touchdown the last two games, holding firm in their red zone with backups in the late fourth quarter against Atlanta after two very stupid penalties that extended the Falcons’ drive. It was a matter of pride, and Seattle was having none of that nonsense whether they had the starters in or backups. You love to see it!
- Speaking of things you love to see, Devon Witherspoon is always mentioned as playing better than his statistics would indicate. Coming into the game today, he had only one career interception. Make that two now, as Spoon somehow came up with a bobbling pick on a screen play. Really though, he deserved it since he was the one who blew up the play in the first place. Spoon was also flying all over the field, pressuring on blitzes, and making huge tackles. Oh yeah, and he broke up the pass that turned into Nick Emmanwori’s first career interception.
- Whew, Nick Emmanwori. If you watched the game, you know what I mean. If Spoon was all over the field, Emmanwori was arguably even better with 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, and a blocked field goal. The fact that Emmanwori is playing this well as a rookie who missed time early in the season is remarkable. He’s so physically gifted, and seems to have the right mentality to constantly chase improvement. Emmanwori was my favorite player in last year’s draft and I was so damn excited when Seattle traded up to snag him. I can’t wait to see his role keep evolving with the madman Mike Macdonald at the helm.
- Sam Darnold shook off a shaky first half to look dialed in for the final two quarters. His interception was another ill-advised throw that was a little behind the target. Darnold’s decision making in the second half was much better, possibly helped by the fact that his receivers were running free. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and Rashid Shaheed were all cooking their defenders. If the primary reads weren’t open, Darnold was fine checking down which was important against Atlanta’s sack-happy defense. I hope this performance gets Darnold back on track after a tough few weeks.
- Rashid Shaheed deserves his own callout here. In addition to the huge 100-yard kickoff return for a TD, he hauled in 4 catches for 67 yards, his best receiving performance by far since being acquired from the New Orleans Saints. His ability to take the top off the defense is undeniable, and it’s exciting to see him finally settling back into Klint Kubiak’s offense.
- Jay Harbaugh’s special teams units were quite good once again. A blocked field goal, a kick return TD, perfect field goal execution, and a fantastic punt by Michael Dickson downed inside the five to end the game. Special teams is an advantage for Seattle nearly every week.
- It was kind of fun to see the backups on offense have a sustained drive at the end of the game to chew time off the clock. Velus Jones Jr. was a favorite of mine a few years ago, and he definitely has some explosion to his game. Christian Haynes got some time at center, which might be a better fit for him long term. Not sure if the fumbled snap was on him or Drew Lock. Bryce Cabeldue got game reps at right guard as well. This is building depth for the future.
Seattle held serve in the division, with the Los Angeles Rams hammering the Arizona Cardinals 45-17. As long as the Seahawks keep winning, they’re in control. With the way the defense is playing, Seattle can win with a middling offense. When they play to their standard as well, like what happened in the second half against the Falcons, that’s when things get REAL fun!
