This is a guest article by Curtis Allen…
Record: 1-3
Thoughts
The Seahawks entered this quarter with a 3-1 record — unsettled as a team but with a well-founded belief that they could and would work out their issues. The First Quarter Report Card highlighted problems with turnovers, offensive balance and the Special Teams unit.
What transpired over the next four games was very difficult to watch. Disastrous turnovers doomed the team and wiped out all hope of progress. They played well enough to escape the San Francisco and Denver games with wins – flipping this to another 3-1 quarter – but were sunk by needlessly giving their opponents the ball.
After a gorgeous ‘get-right’ win against Kansas City, they quickly came crashing back to earth in an ugly three-phase loss to an ascending Bears team on Monday Night Football.
The offense is in disarray, doomed by poor playcalling, inadequate protection and an anemic running game. The defense has played well but has been hamstrung by field position due to turnovers. They constantly were put in a position that required them to create something extraordinary to turn the game around. Special Teams have flipped from team strength last year to a bang-average unit at best and an ugly and sloppy unit at worst this quarter.
Sitting at 4-4, this moment feels like a critical tipping point for the season. Winning the division and having a shot at the #1 seed appears out of reach. A hard turn to spinning off an impressive winning streak that restores confidence seems out of reach.
If Mike Macdonald and the team are not careful, a slip to an ugly 8–9 win season is entirely possible.
MVP
1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Imagine this team without him weaving his magic every single night. A nightmare. Right now, if the Seahawks are not finding a way to get him the ball in at least one of the first three plays of a series, they are punting.
It is clear. The offense is not functioning without his contribution week in and week out.
When there are valid arguments to be made that they should be force-feeding him targets and they should be distributing the ball better, the impact he is having is obvious.
He has already had a good season for a mortal Wide Receiver through eight games and is on track to absolutely obliterate his 2025 Offensive Player of the Year season:
At this point in the season, he must be on the shortlist for the NFL’s MVP, a rare feat for a Wide Receiver.
We are witnessing greatness.
2. Ernest Jones
He is one of the few players right now that are on track to be better than in 2025.
The Seahawks are blitzing him more and he is producing results.
This quarter, Jones had two sacks, a Quarterback Hit and two pressures on his eight blitzes.
And yet it has not come at the expense of his other duties.
His tackling numbers are outstanding, with 40 tackles – 20 solo – in the quarter. Two of them came behind the line of scrimmage.
Last year he had 126 tackles, 60 of them solo with four for a loss.
Through eight games, he has 81 tackles – 41 solo – with three for a loss. That puts him in line to end the year with 172 and 87 and 6, smashing his last year’s numbers.
He also is more efficient. The players above him for in tackle stats have played far more snaps than he has. He also only had one missed tackle this quarter, giving him two for the season so far. Those are Bobby Wagner numbers.
And just for good measure, he has also improved in coverage as well. He had 2 passes defended this quarter and has allowed only a 66.7% completion rate in coverage and a QB rating of 81.0.
He is a rare linebacker that is equally good near the line of scrimmage and eight yards deep.
You cannot ask much more than what he is giving.
3. Byron Murphy
His quarter: Two sacks, 15 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, four Quarterback Hits, four pressures and stellar run defense.
He is the interior player that is doing two jobs well: eating double teams while still compiling numbers.
And his star is still rising. He is one of those players that has risen from the ‘precocious and talented young player’ to ‘defensive mainstay that you forget how good on a regular basis he is.’
Offensive Coordinators don’t forget though.
Rookie of the Quarter
N/A (unfortunately)
Successes
1. Acquiring Quenton Nelson
At the moment, the Offensive Line is a bit of a mess.
Nelson is a Free Agent in 2027 and it looks like a deep playoff run this year is unlikely.
Does not matter. When you get a chance to acquire a player of Nelson’s caliber, his sterling record of success and plenty of good play left in the tank, you do it. Much more so when the cost is a current Third Round pick and a future Fifth. Even more so when you have so many picks in the upcoming draft, they might not all make the roster.
Once this line is settled, Nelson can take this offense to places they desperately need to go in the run game.
And if the last three offseasons are any indication, they will convince Nelson to sign an extension next spring.
Another home run acquisition by John Schneider.
2. The Kansas City win
It was a bit cathartic.
The offense found a mix for one night that worked. The running game, while nowhere near explosive, brought just enough of a clock-chewing element to complement the passing game.
Third down conversions were sparkling. They had plenty of answers, from good solid play calls to players executing well.
And the defense was outstanding. They knew why they were there. Kenneth Walker had been putting up historic numbers and the Seahawks simply refused to be embarrassed in their home stadium on national television.
Michael Dickson was painting punt Picassos.
Before the game had even ended, stat compilers were noting how poor a game this was in the annals of Patrick Mahomes’ glittering career.
For one night, everything felt right again.
3. Team Defense
This quarter:
— Only 3.3 yards per rush were allowed
— 64.2% completion rate and a QB Rating of 80.9
— Seven sacks, 36 pressures
— 13 passes defended, three of them batted balls at the line
— Two interceptions
— A stingy 32.7% Third-Down rate allowed
— Three fumbles recovered
And yet, an unimpressive 21.5 points per game allowed.
It throws into sharp relief how badly the offense has let the team down with turnovers.
Struggles
1-2-3. The Offense
Playcalling and Game Strategy: Poor
Talent Utilization: Lacking
Execution: Dismal
All these factors intertwined into a massive knot that is choking off the team’s identity.
The Offensive Line was a mess. Pass protection threatened to kill Sam Darnold: This quarter, he was pressured 45 times for a 27.8% rate and sacked 13 times.
Run blocking was just as bad. They only averaged 3.9 yards per carry.
Turnovers in the worst possible time and place in the game.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 47 targets this quarter.
A.J. Barner, Cooper Kupp and Tory Horton combined had 49.
Baffling decisions from the coaching staff abounded:
- Starting a drive with 27 seconds to play at your own 4-yard line and choosing not to take a knee and get into the locker room down only one point.
- Plodding like snails with six minutes to play, down two scores to Chicago.
- Going two or three series without even looking at your superstar Wide Receiver’s way.
- Not running behind Quenton Nelson all night long.
Something must give.
Quarter Three Games
Week 9 – Arizona
Week 10 – @ Las Vegas
Week 11 – Bye Week
Week 12 – @ San Francisco
Week 13 – Dallas (MNF + Throwbacks)
Third Quarter Goals
1. Fix the Offense
Oh, is that all?
The return of Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price, the integration of Quenton Nelson into the Offensive Line and facing the NFL’s worst two defenses in Weeks 9 and 10 can mask the very serious problems this offense is facing.
There is an Occam’s Razor quality that is lacking in this offense.
Remember what the Offense does well and play to that.
Run behind Nelson. Target Smith-Njigba early and often. Force teams to stretch their defense to the breaking point to keep him from wrecking games.
Be aggressive when the game calls for it and be conservative when it is appropriate.
Quit plunging Jadarian Price into the middle of the trenches time after time. Get him in space where his speed and explosiveness can be utilized.
Keep Sam Darnold from constantly running for his life.
2. Red Zone play
Both sides must improve if they are to succeed.
On offense, unless they are running behind Quenton Nelson, they cannot just plunge a runner into the middle of the line three times from the five-yard line and expect to score a touchdown. They need to utilize A.J. Barner’s size and reach and Smith-Njigba’s shifty change of direction ability and hands in tight quarters.
And above all else, for the love of all that is good, do not call long-developing plays where Darnold must throw into a soup of 6 or 7 bodies within two yards of each other.
On defense, they cannot allow teams to run in the Red Zone so effectively. This may be a fatigue issue, given how poorly the offense has played and how often they turn the ball over.
Any player on the Seahawks’ defense will tell you that is not an excuse. They must do their jobs more effectively.
3. Stabilize the season
This team is fickle and desperately need to be consistent with their identity. A dominant Kansas City game followed by a deflating Chicago loss needs to be put behind them.
2-2 this coming quarter is not good enough. Moral victories matter less now.
3-1 is a reasonable expectation, given the talent this team has on the roster and coaching staff.
4-0 seems like a pipe dream. But the NFL is on a roller coaster this year. Arizona and Las Vegas should be solid wins, facing San Francisco comes at the best time possible (after a bye week) and there is every chance they face the Cowboys on a ‘we looked like a Super Bowl team last week, what happened?’ week.
They simply must take advantage of these potentially favorable circumstances this quarter. No excuses.
