5 Takeaways from Seahawks-Patriots

Geno, the dynamic WRs and Pennsylvania voters

When Malcolm Butler rang the bell to kick off week two in New England, it would be easy to rage in frustration. When the FOX broadcast showed the Malcolm Butler interception, it would be easy to want to explode. When the Patriots took the lead by marching down the field against a porous Seahawks defense in the fourth quarter, it would be easy to say “here we go again”. But Mike Macdonald and Ryan Grubb aren’t your old Seahawks coaches. And Geno Smith isn’t going to let you feel those negative emotions.

The result is that the Seahawks are one of only four NFC teams that sit at 2-0 after two weeks. Seattle is also alone in first place in the NFC West and continues to impress despite the fact that no one is talking about them.

Geno Deserves More Love

The ten most expensive quarterbacks in the NFL are listed below.

Kyler Murray is the only player on this list with a top 10 grade according to Pro Football Focus. Geno Smith, the third ranked QB in all of football according to PFF, is getting less cash this year than Drake Maye. Geno Smith, the man who is most responsible for the Seahawks 2-0 record, is a bargain and is ballin. This guy is slinging the ball all over the place.

In week one, Smith needed Tyler Lockett and he fed him.

In week two, Smith found DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba over and over again, peppering them with targets while finding Lockett when he needed. With very little time to throw and no run game on Sunday, Smith was magnificent as he threw for 327 yards. For the season, Geno Smith is completing 73.9% of his passes and looks like a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Hawks fans should be overjoyed that Geno is our guy.

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The Run Game was Abysmal

With Kenneth Walker III out for this game (and likely a few more), the Hawks turned to Zach Charbonnet to establish their ground attack. Unfortunately, Charbonnet is no K9. While there are issues up front, especially in the middle of the O-line, there is a lot of blame to be put on Charbonnet as a runner. Walker hits the hole quickly and is elusive. Charbonnet is simply too slow to react. Look at these screen shots as an example.

In this first shot, Charbonnet has the ball with a cut back hole that is the size of Lake Michigan.

Here is Charbonnet about 0.5 seconds later. Still a big hole, even with two Pats ready to close in.

But unfortunately Charbonnet runs right into the middle because he loves contact.

Look at Charbonnet again in the second quarter.

There is a clear hole between Charles Cross and Laken Tomlinson. Charbonnet simply hits it too late and only gets two yards. In contrast, Rhamondre Stevenson hits the hole, makes someone miss and gets up field. Stevenson got 9 yards where no hole seems to exist.

The Hawks need to sprinkle in some Kenny McIntosh next game to get the ground game going. It can’t be Charbonnet or bust.

Welcome to the Party, DK and JSN

There have been a number of good receiving duos in Seahawks history, including the Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf years recently. However, no receiving duo has even come close to the production that Jaxon Smith-Njigba and DK Metcalf put up on Sunday. Strangely there had only been 11 instances of a player grabbing 10 or more receptions in a single game since 1976. Against the Patriots, both Metcalf (10 catches for 129 yards) and JSN (12 catches for 117 yards) topped the double-digit reception mark.

While the numbers are impressive, the way offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is utilizing both JSN and Metcalf is more exciting. In week 11 of 2023, Metcalf had a solid game and ran a route tree that looked like this.

You will notice a heavy left side workload for DK and a lot of similar routes. Look at yesterday.

It gets even more exciting with JSN. Here is last year when he was barely used.

And then look at this Grubcasso from Sunday.

How can you not be geeked out of your mind about what you saw on Sunday from those two receivers in this offense?

Get Your Advanced Degree in Defensive Backery

The Washington Huskies alums and coaches (at least in the past) have often referred to their program as DBU, as in “Defensive Back University”. With the likes of Tyler McDuffie, Kyler Gordon, Budda Baker and Byron Murphy holding it down in the NFL, there is an argument to be made that UW turns out the best of the best in the defensive backfield. If Washington is DBU, maybe the Seattle Seahawks are the PhD program.

Granted the New England Patriots did not throw out Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but the combined stats of three catches for 19 yards by Patriots receivers is astounding. Riq Woolen is the second highest-rated corner by coverage according to Pro Football Focus while Devon Witherspoon comes in at No. 21. However, Witherspoon’s yards/catch is at a ridiculous 5.5 (and Woolen is pretty good too at 7.8). Again, the Hawks have not faced a good receiving corps but will this week. It will be time to see if we should enroll.

The Run Defense is Pennyslvania

You may be aware that there is an election happening in under two months. With multiple swing states in play, the next (or returning) United States president is up in the air. Pennsylvania is one of those key swing states and no one can predict who is going to bring home those 19 electoral votes. Seattle’s run defense is a Pennsylvania voter. They can’t decide what direction they are going.

In week one, the Seahawks allowed only 99 rushing yards and 23 of those were on a late Bo Nix scramble. The defense absolutely stymied Jaleel McLaughlin and Javonte Williams as both running backs averaged less than three yards/carry.

Week two was a different story as Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson ripped off multiple runs of 10+ yards to a grand total 185 rushing yards for the Pats. Stevenson still averaged less than four yards per carry and Gibson would have been as well if Boye Mafe had wrapped up six yards in the backfield. Instead Gibson ran for 45 yards. All this to say, we don’t know who this run defense is just yet.