The Seattle Seahawks left Week 2 with a 2-0 record and, for the most part, a pretty comfortable feeling after pulling away from Arizona in the second half. That said, Mike Macdonald still has a few details to clean up before Seattle moves on to Week 3.
The good news is that none of the issues from Sunday looked catastrophic. The Seahawks did enough to beat the Cardinals on the road, and they did it with a backup quarterback. The less glamorous truth is that a perfectionist coach is still going to see plenty on film that needs tightening up.
One of the biggest concerns came in the red zone, where Seattle kept running into a wall. The Seahawks’ first touchdown came on the explosive 82-yard strike to Jaxon Smith-Njigba after Arizona blew coverage, and for a while that looked like the only easy path to points.
Inside the 20, Brian Fleury’s play calling repeatedly ran into trouble. Near the end of the first half, he went with four straight dive looks from six yards and in, and none of them produced a score.
On fourth down, Seattle even brought in Josh Jones as an extra lineman with backup center Olu Oluwatimi in the backfield, and that still didn’t get it done.
The same problem showed up again later. Seattle eventually leaned on Arizona enough to punch one in late, but the overall red-zone approach still looked blunt.
Against a stronger offense, that kind of inefficiency can get costly fast. Getting Anthony Bradford back at right guard may help, but as things stand, the Seahawks don’t have much of a straight-ahead power-running identity.
Fleury is going to need a more inventive answer when the field gets compressed.
Another area that needs more life is the tight end group in the passing game. AJ Barner, Elijah Arroyo, and Eric Saubert combined for just three targets against Arizona, though all three were caught.
The total production was only 15 yards, and Saubert’s -10-yard catch on a busted play dragged that number down even further. The usage was thin across the board: tight ends made up 16 percent of Seattle’s catches, 11 percent of its targets, and only six percent of its passing yards.
Seattle does not need those players to turn into big-play monsters overnight, but the offense needs more from them than that. Barner should be involved more often.
Arroyo should be getting more chances to work downfield. The Seahawks don’t need them to be Trey McBride, but they do need more than a near-nonexistent role when the competition gets better.
Special teams was mostly steady, but there were a few warning signs in kick coverage. Jay Harbaugh’s unit has usually been a strength, and Jason Myers and Michael Dickson were dependable again. Still, the Seahawks had some issues on the right side of kickoff coverage that stood out.
Rashid Shaheed hasn’t yet popped a return the way he did late last season, though there’s no reason for alarm there. If he keeps the job, whether or not Tory Horton eventually gets a look, Shaheed should still have chances to change games with a return or two before the year is over.
The bigger concern was how Seattle handled the Cardinals’ returns. Avery Smith was overwhelmed on the opening kickoff, and that gave Arizona strong field position right away.
On the next kickoff, Myers sent the ball to the other side, but Jalen Brooks cut back toward Smith’s lane. Smith did recover and make the tackle, but only after giving up another return of more than 30 yards.
Smith and George Holani need to settle down that side of the field the way AJ Finley did on the opposite side. The sample was small, but Arizona still averaged ten yards more per return when it came at Seattle’s right side.
In Other News...
Seahawks Suddenly Face A Sam Darnold Decision They Wanted Soon
The Seahawks have spent the first two weeks of the season building momentum without ever really getting their quarterback situation settled. They opened with a close win over the Patriots, then backed it up with a more convincing result against the Cardinals, and in the process Drew Lock has done enough in Sam Darnolds place to keep Seattle moving while the starter works back from the glute injury that kept him out of the opener.
Now Darnold is expected to return to practice this week, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, which means the conversation the Seahawks hoped to delay is suddenly here. Lock has handled the job well enough to keep the team unbeaten, but Seattle remains committed to Darnold as its starter, so the next step is less about whether the team likes what it has seen and more about how quickly it wants to hand the offense back to the quarterback it planned to build around. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A Bigger QB Decision Than Fans Expected
Sam Darnolds availability has quickly become the Seahawks most interesting storyline heading into Week 3, even with Mike Macdonald making it clear the job belongs to the starter if hes healthy enough to go. Darnold has been dealing with a glute injury suffered in Week 1, and Seattle has had to weigh the value of getting him back on the field against the reality that Drew Lock has looked steady in relief.
Macdonald said Darnold is expected to practice in some capacity before the team makes its final call, which keeps the situation in motion for now. For a Seahawks offense trying to settle in early in the season, the question is no longer just whether Darnold can suit up, but whether Seattle has a reason to keep riding the hand the backup has given it if the starter is close but not quite ready. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Face A Drew Lock Decision They May Not Afford
Sam Darnolds injury absence has already reminded the Seahawks how much value there is in a dependable No. 2 quarterback, and Drew Lock has filled that role well enough to keep Seattle afloat. In limited starts, he helped the team go 2-0, giving the staff a level of comfort that is hard to find once a season starts to turn on depth and availability.
Now comes the part Seattle would rather avoid: interest from the outside. With the Giants suddenly in need after Jaxson Darts season-ending injury, Lock is a name that could come up, but the Seahawks may be wiser to treat him as more than a movable asset. A reliable backup is one of those pieces teams only miss once they no longer have it, and Seattles situation makes that lesson feel especially current. [Read more 🡒]