This was not the night Seattle sports fans wanted, it’s not the night Seattle sports fans deserved, but it wasn’t a lost cause for Seattle sports.
While the Seattle Mariners came agonizingly close only to fail to reach their first World Series, the Seattle Seahawks overcame their many self-inflicted wounds to defeat the Houston Texans 27-19 and close out the first portion of their season in a three-way tie for top spot in a daunting NFC West. When the worst team is the 2-5 Arizona Cardinals, who have
lost all of their games in the final minutes and have a point differential of -1, you know you’re in with some tough competition.
Seriously though, why was this game so needlessly difficult?
It’s time for Winners and Losers for the final time until November!
Winners
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Another week, another huge game (8 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown) even against one of the top defenses in the league, and his historically torrid start to the season is not letting up. Seven games played, five games with over 100 yards receiving, plus his fourth touchdown on the year. JSN is elite, and it’s terrifying for the rest of the league that this may not be his final form. The Texans have a great defense and an elite corner in Derek Stingley Jr and he laid waste to them, too.
Uchenna Nwosu
Nwosu should’ve had the opening points of the night. Five sacks leads the Seahawks and he has a real shot at double digits. Considering all of the question marks regarding his health and whether he’d even be on the team this year after taking a pay cut, this is a phenomenal bounce-back season for Chenna.
Byron Murphy II
That tackle for loss on the screen pass was a thing of beauty, and he continues to be impactful as a pass rusher and run defender. The second-year ascension is real and he has been outstanding. It also helps to learn from veteran stalwarts like Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, both of whom were great.
Nick Emmanwori
Whether he’s running stride for stride in coverage with wide receivers or making diving pass breakups, Emmanwori is showing off his athletic traits and his coverage instincts. Another impressive showing by the exciting rookie safety, who nearly had his first interception back in the third quarter.
Ernest Jones IV
Three interceptions on the season for the star middle linebacker. Josh Jobe had the pressure on C.J. Stroud and Jones took advantage with the pick. Jones also should’ve had a strip sack leading to a fumble return for a touchdown by Drake Thomas, but Thomas fluffed his lines late and the whole play ultimately didn’t count.
Drake Thomas
Tyrice Knight ain’t getting that weakside linebacker starting job back any time soon. Thomas may have his issues in pass coverage and defending in space, but he’s a menace going downhill, and it paid off with three PBUs and two tackles for loss. He’d have had a touchdown with better ball security on the fumble return, too.
Ty Okada
A sack and an amazing PBU in the end zone on 3rd and goal at the 1 by the backup safety. Julian Love must have undoubtedly been proud watching his efforts. Seattle’s depth has been tested in a big way and for the most part it has stepped up to the challenge.
Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe
Jobe has struggled the past two games and Woolen has had an up-and-down season such that he’s been subject to trade speculation. They were both fantastic in pass coverage and Jobe at the very least could’ve had two interceptions.
Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III
It might not have looked great, but Charbonnet and Walker did indeed combine for 115 yards on 29 carries and Zach had a couple of touchdowns. Walker is a winner because today is his birthday and who doesn’t love to have a birthday win? But seriously, these two need far better blocking than they’ve been getting.
Losers
Seattle’s ball security
Enough is enough. Four turnovers at home, all of which came while up by double digits, is absurd. I’ve written about this before but Mike Macdonald absolutely needs to hammer home this point during and after the bye week and in perpetuity. We’re looking at 13 times in 24 games the Seahawks have turned it over at least twice, which is gross. Fix this. Now.
Klint Kubiak
Why on earth were they throwing so much when it was more important to drain the clock? This led to an interception and a near-safety on consecutive drives. Why is Seattle making Cooper Kupp a QB2 right on the cusp of the red zone? What is the issue with Kenneth Walker III that he is immediately subbed out of every third down even when it’s not an obvious passing down? This was one of the more ridiculously called games I’ve seen by any Seahawks OC, which is saying something.
Cooper Kupp, the quarterback
Never again. Klint Kubiak failed him by even calling that play but my god, how many more times are the Seahawks going to dial up a non-QB throwing the ball and immediately get picked off? It’s almost a decade of this nonsense happening.
Mike Macdonald’s conservative decisions
Macdonald’s defense deserves praise and he deserves huge credit for how his undermanned defense has played. That said…
These 4th down decisions are maddening. Thankfully, the Seahawks defense was so dominant that it didn’t really matter, but I don’t like punting on 4th and 1 from Houston’s 44 in the 4th quarter when even a field goal effectively ends the game. They run some junk fake punt “hope they jump offside” formation and Houston doesn’t bite. I get you’re concerned about the offensive line but any chance you get to put the game away by scoring, you should take that chance. Macdonald is not always conservative with his 4th down decisions, but he is bare minimum inconsistent with his choices. Punt on 4th and 1 at the 44 but throw it all around the yard up 15 later on in the game?
Anthony Bradford
Two penalties and a series of lopsided, losing reps for Bradford. I’ve been lenient with this season despite his less than favorable metrics, but that was not a good showing whatsoever. There’s no indication he’s getting benched so it’s kind of pointless to talk about it, but it’s clear where the weaker points are on this offensive line.
Tory Horton
First time I’ve put him on the list but he had a couple of nervy moments. No catches on three targets and a bobbled punt return, which actually gained decent yardage but nevertheless was his first time showing iffy ball security. Horton has no catches over the last two weeks.
Final Notes
- Tough luck that Dareke Young is injured. Hopefully it’s not too serious given how important he is on special teams.
- The crowd was going through it between the Mariners loss and being up later than ever before to watch a game in person on a work/school night. It made for a somewhat odd and uneven atmosphere throughout the night.
- Tank Lawrence is giving the Seahawks great value as a run defender and he’s still providing some pass rush even though that’s not his biggest strength. All of Seattle’s big FA acquisitions have largely panned out to varying degrees.
- Jason Myers is scaring me a bit. The blocked FG is not his fault but he was really close to shanking a 27-yarder like he’s been possessed by Blair Walsh.
- No more 7 pm PT kickoffs. Ever.
- I am looking forward to this bye week. It allows the Seahawks some time to rest and recover and prepare for a much more grueling stretch of the season than probably thought at the start of the season. I’ll also be doing a little bit of rest and recovery toward the end of this week after a pretty draining and emotionally stressful first couple of months of the season.
- Seriously, no more late night kickoffs.
