A smoky haze tinged the sun and dirtied the sky in Seattle in the morning leading up to Mike Macdonald’s first game as the head coach of the Seahawks. The dinginess of the morning seemed to leak into the dawn of this new era. A rousing raising of the 12 flag by Kam Chancellor was quickly followed by a groan-inducing sack and a gut-punching interception. If that was not enough to dim the light of this new day, the Seahawks would add a muffed punt, two safeties, and an injured right tackle to the picture, nearly blotting out the sky. All but the most ardent supporters of the team were losing patience and faith among a fanbase that had seen both mindsets dwindle in recent years. A lot can be learned about a person when adversity hits. Macdonald and his team entered the locker room at halftime trailing an inferior team at home, having made almost every possible mistake. They exited calm, collected, confident and hyper-aggressive. Meet your new Seattle Seahawks.
It was just a year ago that the Seahawks were clinging to a 13-7 lead at halftime in a game they were favored to win against a supposedly rebuilding Rams team. That team started the apparently new tradition of losing starting offensive tackles to injury in season openers when both Abe Lucas and Charles Cross were lost for the second half. The way that team responded was to score zero points the rest of the game and surrender 23 in two quarters to get blown off the field by a division rival 30-13.
Facing a frisky Broncos defense that features a good pass rush arsenal with a third-string right tackle, new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb committed to running the football in a way Seahawks offenses have been unwilling to do in recent years.
They ran on five of six plays on the first drive of the second half, including four straight, and shoved the ball down the speedy-but-light Broncos front seven. After the speedy-and-strong Seahawks defense forced a fumble, Grubb dialed up another six rushing plays. The would have had a second straight touchdown if not for an unnecessary hold by D.K. Metcalf in the end zone.
The body blows delivered on those two drives helped the offensive line find their footing and put the Broncos defenders on their heels so the passing game opened up when Grubb turned back to it on the third drive of the second half. Geno Smith would complete three straight passes, all for first downs, and then delivered the knockout with a fourth straight completion to Zach Charbonnet for a 30 yard touchdown.
Three possessions. Three scoring drives. All keyed by a physical style that featured the run from an offensive coordinator who everyone said was only able to succeed when throwing the ball 70% of the time with the best offensive line in college football.
Grubb made a number of questionable decisions in the first half, especially when backed up on his own goal line, but the more telling indication of his potential in this league came in that second half response.
All NFL coaches will need to have answers for tough questions posed by opposing coordinators. Vance Joseph and the Broncos defense came out creating more disruption and pressure than Grubb anticipated going into the game. Past Seahawks offenses have failed those tests in the past, wilting and retreating. Grubb and that offense turned a failing grade into a winning one. They can build on that.
The best coaches are the ones who not only can adjust on the fly, but can force opponents to do the same. Macdonald has established himself as one of those guys.
This defense came out flying. After the painful early interception by Smith led to an immediate red zone possession for Denver, the defense held the Broncos offense without a first down. A sneaky huge play came on the first down run by Javonte Williams when new safety Rayshawn Jenkins made an open field tackle that saved a touchdown. That would be a sign of things to come for the Seahawks safeties.
Denver would not get a first down until roughly a minute was left in the first quarter, and that play required a replay review to grant it by a hair. A primary reason for the Broncos offensive problems was the outstanding play of the secondary.
Jenkins was an orange-seeking missile all afternoon. Macdonald had him lined up all over the field and he was delivering big hits on Broncos players no matter where he was when the ball was snapped. His physical style set a tone, and his play speed made it clear his mind meld with Macdonald and this scheme would make Spock jealous.
He was not alone. Julian Love led the team in tackles with 12 (10 solo). A safety leading the team in tackles is usually a bad sign that the front seven has not done their job or that a lot of passes are being completed with that player in coverage. That was not the case here. Love and Jenkins were making plays at, or near, the line of scrimmage. Love made at least one behind the line of scrimmage. He also broke up a pass, made an interception and forced a fumble. The eyebrows that raised when the team signed up to a big extension without having seen him play a single snap in this new defense might be raised again at a performance that could make that contract one of the savvier front office moves this offseason.
Leslie Frazier talked up Love to Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks this summer on their podcast, indicating people were going to know Love’s name. Frazier, a former cornerback who has specialized in secondary play as a defensive coordinator, seems to know what he is talking about.
K’Von Wallace made the most of his snaps as well, forcing a fumble on the second series of the second half, to complete the trinity of elite safety play.
There was so much hand-wringing this off-season about the state of the safety room after moving on from Quandre Diggs, investing in Love and bringing in two lesser known names in Jenkins and Wallace. That position group just played arguably the best collective game by the safety position in Seattle in the past five years, maybe longer. It was fitting that Chancellor raised the 12 flag for this game.
Macdonald seems to know what he has in that group as he deployed three safeties a lot, especially in the second half. What was especially intriguing to watch was how much the personnel changed. It would have been almost impossible for Sean Payton and Bo Nix to decide to go after any one player because players were changing positions and coming on/off the field so often.
It will be interesting to see if opponents start trying more hurry-up on offense to at least lock in personnel on the Seahawks defense, if not positions.
Tyrel Dodson was among the players being asked to take on different responsibilities from snap-to-snap. He most often was in his customary middle linebacker spot, but was sometimes asked to drop into what looked like a safety coverage zone while one of the safeties crashed toward the line.
Dodson was fantastic on the day, bringing ferocity to every hit and soundness to every tackle. He finished with 10 tackles (9 solo), a tackle for loss, and what should have been an interception. This was a player who looked like the lofty PFF grade he received a year ago (highest among all LBs in the NFL) was not a mirage.
His partner, Jerome Baker, saw his first action as a Seahawk and had a solid game. He recovered a fumble and collected five tackles. Macdonald sent him to rush the passer a fair amount, with little success.
The two position groups, safety and linebacker, that many saw as the biggest question marks on defense were arguably the most impressive on the day.
Cornerback was known to be a strength, but Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon made sure to remind people why. Woolen had a gorgeous interception and another beautiful pass breakup. Witherspoon was the Tasmanian Devil we all know him to be, smashing into ball carriers on one play and breaking up passes on the next.
Ironically, the perceived strength of this defense, the defensive line, had a less notable day. There was almost no pressure or disruption created in the first half. It appeared they were being asked to hold their positions and not attack up-field in order to force Bo Nix to pass the ball and not scramble. They changed that immediately in the second half with what looked to be a much more attacking style of play that suits them.
Leonard Williams collected 4 quarterback hits. Derick Hall had 3, along with his first career sack when Nix ran out of bounds without gaining any yardage. Boye Mafe flashed his speed with a great tackle for loss to start the second half, a sack that was similar to Hall’s, and multiple QB hits.
Byron Murphy did not have the flashy debut he or others would have hoped for. He was stout and made some plays in the run game, but there was not a lot of pressure created.
Collectively, this was a dominant defensive performance. The Denver offense was gifted huge scoring opportunities after an interception, a muffed punt, and two safeties. The results:
- 4 plays, 3 yards (FG)
- 3 plays, 4 yards (Punt)
- 4 plays, -2 yards (FG)
- 6 plays, 17 yards (Punt)
Quick aside: I hope Seahawks fans show some patience with Dee Williams. This is young kid getting his first shot as an undrafted free agent. He’s incredibly talented, but understandably nervous in his first game. Consider offering some encouragement instead of criticism to help him become the playmaker he is meant to be.
If not for a late 54 yard drive for a touchdown that was keyed by Nix finally getting to use his legs as a runner, the Broncos would have finished with fewer than 200 yards of offense. Even with that drive, they averaged a paltry 3.3 yards per play.
Most importantly, a Broncos team that has quality run-blocking offensive linemen, good running backs, and had a desperate need to run the football, left Lumen Field with just 64 yards on 20 carries by their running backs. The Seahawks defense last year was helpless, especially without Uchenna Nwosu. This was an encouraging start on that front.
Tyler Lockett made maybe the play of the game when he sealed the victory with a one-handed stab grab on a 3rd down throw. He led the team in receptions (6) and yards (77) on a day when passing the football was a major challenge. His earlier back-shoulder catch was another beauty.
This a mostly disappointing opener for D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Metcalf was unable to make some contested catches that he has made all training camp. They will come. He has turned a corner. The state of the offensive line hurt how the team was trying to use him in this game. Look for more slants and outs to him that are less reliant on pass protection.
The connection between Smith and Metcalf and JSN has simply been too good against a very good Seahawks secondary the last two months for it to be an illusion. It will come.
Kenneth Walker was outstanding in this game when the team gave him the chance to be in the second half. Broncos defenders looked panicked anytime they were trying to bring him down in the open field. He finished with 103 yards and a touchdown. There are much bigger games in store for him this season.
The offensive line remains a work in progress. Laken Tomlinson and Anthony Bradford were awful in the first half. Stone Forsythe is not great, but there are some limits to what you can expect from a third string tackle. Check out the Rams tape in Detroit Sunday night if you need a reminder of that reality. Guard play, though, has to be better.
Both Bradford and Tomlinson provided some hope in the second half with how well they blocked in the run game. Bradford, especially, had some dominant reps that saw him drive blocking players 15+ yards downfield. You cannot blame those two players for the first half offensive malaise without crediting them with the resurgence in the second half.
Grubb can call running plays and Walker can carry the ball, but if those two guys are not clearing the path, we are having a very different discussion today.
Lost in the muck of the first half was what seemed to be a very good game by Charles Cross and solid start from Connor Williams. This team had no stability or quality play at almost any offensive line position last season. Having one or two guys doing their job can help create the foundation for others to find their footing. Scott Huff knows he has his work cut out for him, especially if Fant is lost for long.
Some will say this was an ugly win. Not me. It was a pleasure to finally see a dominant, playmaking, defense return to Lumen Field. It was encouraging to see an offense win a game with toughness and grit when those were the attributes lacking for years. It was satisfying to see the chess game won by the Seahawks coaching staff despite their collective inexperience going up against a Super Bowl-winning coach on the opposite sideline. Season openers are tough. Look around the league and see how many home teams struggled in week one. Macdonald left the field Sunday holding up one finger saying, “That’s one.” With this young core and fresh staff, he may well be holding up that finger more often and for more reasons in the weeks to come.
