The Seahawks came out of Week 3 with plenty of blame to spread around after the loss to the Commanders, but the interior defensive line shouldn’t be taking any of it. If anything, Seattle’s tackles were one of the few groups that held up when the rest of the defense started to crack.
That matters, because the breakdown around them was ugly. Washington cashed in on two touchdowns after Seattle turnovers, both coming on short fields, and the Seahawks defense couldn’t steady itself when the game demanded it.
Even if Sam Darnold doesn’t throw that ill-advised pass in the fourth quarter and Seattle walks away with a 31-27 win, giving up 27 points still counts as a rough day for the unit overall. Just not for the tackles.
Byron Murphy turned in his best outing of an already solid season. His stat line only shows one QB hit and another hurry, but that doesn’t capture how disruptive he was.
He kept dragging two blockers with him and opened lanes for everyone else to attack the quarterback. Jarran Reed did his part too, finishing with two hurries and helping shut down Washington’s run game.
Together, Murphy and Reed piled up 14 tackles.
Leonard Williams kept doing what Leonard Williams does. He logged three hurries, two QB hits and a sack, giving him a third straight game with a sack.
That would be strong production from an edge rusher. From someone taking 80 percent of his snaps on the interior, it’s even more impressive.
Elsewhere on the defensive front, the edge group was solid but not dominant. Uchenna Nwosu produced three hurries, though he didn’t record a hit or sack and also dropped a sure interception.
Derick Hall added a sack and a QB hit, while DeMarcus Lawrence woke up with three QB hits and another pressure. They were fine.
Against a Washington offensive line missing Laremy Tunsil and Sam Cosmi, and with Lucas Patrick and Brandon Coleman filling in, “fine” wasn’t enough - especially with Marcus Mariota starting for Jayden Daniels.
Dante Fowler, though, remained invisible on the stat sheet.
Behind them, the story got messier. Ernest Jones IV put together another outstanding game, and Drake Thomas did too.
Nehemiah Pritchett was quiet, though that’s not surprising when he was targeted only once. Devon Witherspoon, on the other hand, was off his game.
The secondary as a whole had issues, and AJ Finley ended up in the middle of the scrutiny after stepping in for Julian Love. Still, the situation was hardly simple: Finley had only two defensive snaps entering the game, missed all of last season, and hadn’t played more than 10 defensive snaps since September 29th, 2024.
Head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t sugarcoat what he saw. The Seahawks know Week 3 wasn’t good enough. But if there was one part of the defense that refused to fold, it was the group in the middle.
In Other News...
Seahawks Fans Suddenly Have A Real Reason To Worry About The Future
New Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla says he has no immediate plans to alter the team or how it operates, which should offer some short-term comfort to a fan base that values stability as much as success. Even so, his latest comments left one important issue hanging in the air: the long-term question of where the franchise will call home once the current lease at Lumen Field runs out in 2032.
Khosla also made clear he is still learning the ropes of running an NFL team, and he suggested his comments about the teams future location could be part of the broader chess match that comes with stadium talks. For Seattle fans, that may not mean an actual move is imminent, but it does mean the next chapter of ownership comes with a topic nobody can quite ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Fans Are Headed For A Familiar Sam Darnold Fight
Sam Darnold is still holding the Seahawks starting quarterback job, even as the conversation around him has picked up again after his Week 3 interception was returned for a touchdown. The criticism has followed a familiar pattern for Seattle fans, because the discourse around the quarterback spot has a way of sharpening fast whenever there is a mistake, even when the overall performance tells a different story.
In that game, Darnold completed 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns with a 105.7 quarterback rating, a line that shows why the Seahawks have kept him in place. Drew Lock, who started the first two games, remains the backup and has not voiced any dissatisfaction with his role, leaving the depth chart intact for now even as the outside noise continues. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Still Have A Pass Rush Question Worth Watching
Even with the season moving along, the Seahawks still have a pass-rush question worth watching as the trade market starts to come into focus. Several edge defenders have been floated as possible fits, and the appeal is easy to see: Seattle could use another disruptor off the edge, and the available names each come with a different mix of production, age, and contract status. Tuli Tuipulotu brings the intrigue of a former second-round pick who just posted 13 sacks, while Chase Chop is the younger bet after a six-sack season that suggests room to grow.
Matt Uche offers a more complicated profile, with an 11.5-sack peak in 2022 but a quieter stretch since then, and Jadeveon Clowney remains a familiar name now back with the Houston Texans on a $5.5 million contract. For Seattle, the question is not just who can help right away, but who is actually available and realistic enough to pry loose. The Seahawks have options to monitor, but the list also underscores how tricky it can be to find a proven edge rusher without overpaying for uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]