The Seattle Seahawks have a real chance to stack wins over the next month, and the path runs straight through a four-game stretch that starts with the Arizona Cardinals and ends with the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle’s first two tests come on the road, first in Arizona and then in Washington. The trip to face the Cardinals will ask the Seahawks to come out with force, control the tempo and turn defensive chances into points. With Seattle’s elite defense tilting the matchup and Jaxon Smith-Njigba plus Brian Fleury’s play-calling giving the offense a boost, the Seahawks are forecast to leave with a divisional road win.
Washington is a tougher sell only because it comes away from home again, but it is still a game Seattle is built to handle. The Commanders have the look of a dark horse in the Super Bowl race this season, yet if the Seahawks protect the ball and keep their defense playing at a high level, they have the personnel to finish the road swing 2-0 and come home at 3-0.
From there, the schedule turns to Lumen Field, where Seattle will host the Chargers before a key NFC West matchup with the 49ers. Los Angeles brings enough offensive talent to make things interesting, but the Seahawks should have the edge with their home crowd and pass rush. The Cardinals’ Week 1 upset of the Chargers also showed that the Chargers can be beaten.
The 49ers are the toughest opponent in the stretch. They arrive after beating the overwhelming Super Bowl-favorite Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, which only raises the degree of difficulty. Even so, the Seahawks are viewed as having what they need on both sides of the ball to win that game, too.
If Seattle runs the table, it would move to 5-0 and put itself in prime position to repeat as NFC West champions. Just as important, it would give the Seahawks a sturdy base heading into the harder part of the season.
In Other News...
Former Seahawks Receiver Is Suddenly Becoming A Raiders Talking Point
Cody White has gone from a familiar name in Seattle to an unexpectedly useful piece for Las Vegas, and his latest outing only added to the attention. Elevated from the Raiders practice squad shortly before the game, the former Seahawks receiver made his presence felt on offense and on special teams, giving Las Vegas a steady lift in a spot where the team was clearly looking for someone to step forward.
For Seahawks fans, the interesting part is not just Whites production, but how quickly he has become part of a broader Raiders trend. Head coach Klint Kubiak has brought in multiple former Seattle players, and Whites recent two-touchdown game is the kind of performance that tends to keep a players name circulating well beyond one Sunday. The bigger question is how much of this is a one-week surge, and how much is the start of a larger role. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Payton Nearly Turned Seahawks Scouting Into A Week 6 Feud
Mike Macdonalds first season in Seattle had an unexpected subplot well beyond the usual chess match of NFL coaching. In a recent interview, the Seahawks coach said Broncos head coach Sean Payton threatened to go public with accusations that Seattle had engaged in a Spygate-like cheating scheme after the Seahawks used publicly available fan-recorded training camp video to study Denver.
The issue never became a formal scandal because the Seahawks pushed back and were prepared to respond legally, and Payton ultimately backed off. Even so, the episode adds another layer to the leagues long memory of sign-stealing disputes, and it shows how something as ordinary as publicly accessible practice footage can still set off a tense standoff between two veteran coaching staffs. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A QB Decision Fans Didn't Expect
Sam Darnolds return to the practice field could put the Seahawks in an unexpected spot entering Sundays game against the Washington Commanders. Sidelined since Sept. 9 with a glute strain, Darnold is expected to work on Wednesday in some capacity, giving Seattle its first real update in a stretch that has kept the quarterback situation in flux.
Mike Macdonald left the door open for Darnold to play if the week goes well, but Drew Lock has made the conversation more complicated. In two games filling in, Lock has completed 35 of 48 passes with four touchdowns and no turnovers, giving Seattle reason to believe it can keep rolling even as the team weighs how soon to turn back to its starter. [Read more 🡒]