The Seahawks’ Monday night loss to the Bears came with plenty of moving parts, and the snap counts tell the story of a team still trying to sort itself out in the middle of a rough stretch.
Seattle got Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back after extended absences, and the offense also featured a major change up front with Quenton Nelson sliding in at left guard. That meant a reshuffled line, a heavier workload for some familiar targets, and a backfield split that stood out right away.
On offense, every snap belonged to the starting five and Sam Darnold, with Grey Zabel, Abraham Lucas, Josh Jones, Quenton Nelson and Darnold all going the full 63. Jalen Sundell was right behind them at 62 snaps before exiting with an injury, which is why Oluwatimi logged one play.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was on the field for 61 snaps, a bump from his usual workload, while AJ Barner played 60. Cooper Kupp’s snap total was listed at 5; 92%, and Tory Horton handled 43 snaps.
The running back usage was the most interesting wrinkle. Price played 30 snaps to Charbonnet’s 23, and that showed up in the production line too.
Charbonnet had nine touches for 29 yards in his first game of the season, while Price finished with 12 touches for 37 yards. Neither back found much efficiency in a game where the offense struggled across the board.
Defensively, the Seahawks leaned heavily on their core pieces. Ernest Jones IV, Devon Witherspoon and Ty Okada each played all 70 snaps, while Josh Jobe was on the field for 69 and Julian Love for 66. Nick Emmanwori logged 64 snaps, and Drake Thomas added 59.
Leonard Williams’ lower snap total was tied to a stinger he suffered in the second half, which opened the door for more work for Mike Morris and Rylie Mills. Both handled the extra responsibility well, and Seattle’s run defense still held up despite the overall issues on that side of the ball.
The edge rush, though, was a problem. With Uchenna Nwosu out, the Seahawks were mostly left with Derick Hall and DeMarcus Lawrence in that role, and the pressure never really came. Seattle’s defense, as the snap counts made clear, depends more on Nwosu than many might have thought.
Emmanwori continues to inch toward a bigger role, even if he still functions in something of a specialist capacity. Mike Macdonald appears to be working him into more and more of the defense, and that trend continued against Chicago.
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