With so much chaos going into Week 9 of the NFL season, the Seattle Seahawks had a well-timed bye week to gear up for the second half of their regular-season campaign.
With a rejuvenated defense and a motivated QB ready to prove his critics wrong, the Seahawks are poised to elevate themselves from a feel-good story to a serious threat in the NFC and even vie for a Super Bowl.
Taking Advantage of the Bye Week
Everybody knows how important the bye week is for teams, especially for injuries. A crucial moment for players to regain their strength and exercise patience for their bodies to come back stronger for the rest of the season. It is a big reason the placement of bye weeks in schedules is so important; a later bye week can sometimes pay dividends as the postseason approaches.
Nonetheless, the first department that desperately needed a break from the trainer’s room for the Seahawks was the defense. Just two weeks ago, EIGHT starting defensive players found a spot on the injury report in a big road matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The extra time for the Seahawks’ players to let their bodies rest and heal will make a big difference if this team wants to win a Super Bowl.
What We’ve Learned Through Eight Weeks
To put it simply, the Seahawks have shocked the NFL once again. Since 2022, the Seattle Seahawks have been written off as a team that can beat bad teams but can’t show up when it matters most.
In a division that they haven’t won since 2020, they’ve been pushed to the side for other contenders, to say the least. But this year, through eight weeks of football, the air around this team just has a different smell to it.
It all really ties back to Head Coach Mike Macdonald. In his sophomore season, Macdonald has not only restored an identity for this team, he has resurrected the inferno that was smoldering when Pete Carroll left after the 2023 season.
After Carroll, a Super Bowl champion coach who personified himself on defensive tenacity and grit in every way, parted way with the Seahawks, it meant whoever was to replace him was going to have big shoes to fill. It was going to be no easy task for a rookie head coach to walk into that locker-room and try to pick up the pieces, but Macdonald has done it, and exceeded expectations to say the least for Seahawks fans.
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Defense Stands Tall
In that aforementioned game against Jacksonville with over half their defensive starters missing, the Seahawks defense tallied seven sacks with 27 pressures on Trevor Lawrence. While some of the fault has to be pointed back at the Jaguars offensive line, the Seahawks also put the league on notice after that game.
To follow it up, in their next game against the Houston Texans, they pressured C.J. Stroud 28 times and sacked him three times. The defense was absolutely relentless from start to finish.
Sam Darnold Time?
The defense has been steadfast and wasn’t even healthy?! This team must be incredible.
A logical next question would be, “How good is the offense though?” Once again, the credit goes to Macdonald and general manager John Schneider.
During the offseason, the Seahawks relieved quarterback Geno Smith of his duties and signed 28 year-old free-agent Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100 million deal. Darnold had just been released after a phenomenal 14-win season and brought the Minnesota Vikings back to playoffs.
Yet, he still heard a ton of criticism after losing the final two games of the season, including a wild-card game against the L.A. Rams.
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“He’s inconsistent.”
“He’s not good enough to win a Super Bowl.”
“He cracks under pressure.”
This is the rhetoric Sam Darnold constantly heard from critics around the league. Even in Seattle, John Schneider put a clause in Darnold’s contract that the team could cut him after one season and only owe him 37.5 of the $55 million in guaranteed money, basically making the contract a one year “make it or break it” deal for the 28-year-old.
Offense Shines
Let’s just say, there’s a reason people use the phrase “pressure makes diamonds.”
Sam Darnold in seven games has thrown for 1,754 yards on a 68.2 completion percentage for 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. Holding a 5-2 record as well, the team has given up game-winning drives in both of their losses, neither of them being Darnold’s fault.
Having the best wide-receiver in football, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, absolutely plays a crucial role in his success. With over 800 yards and four touchdowns in seven games, JSN has been an absolute game-changer for this offense and has ascended significantly from his sophomore season.
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Control Your Destiny
Regardless of how much praise the performance on the field at the moment gets from this team, Seahawk fans everywhere know that it’s a game-by-game process with this team. Recent past has proven that a monster game one week does not mean another will happen the next, and that’s why there needs to be a fresh mindset going into every week.
If this team can stay healthy on defense and continue to improve offensively, they can truly be dangerous come playoff-time. Their defense is easily a top-five unit, but can their offense compliment it? That’s the question.
They’ve proven they can due to their growth so far through eight weeks, but it’s going to have to continue if they want to compete with the leaders of the NFC.
With a possible playoff preview matchup forecasted for Week 9 and two divisional matchups against the Rams left in the second half of the season, the Seahawks truly still have their work cut out for them. They absolutely control their own destiny sitting in first place; but “the marathon continues” as a wise man once said.
The Seattle Seahawks have a primetime date against the Washington Commanders up next on Sunday Night Football.
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