A week can flip the mood around a team in a hurry, and the Seahawks felt that swing after Sunday’s 33-31 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Seattle’s offense had to live through a rough day against a defense that made them one-dimensional, while the Seahawks’ own defense was missing two starting safeties and took its hardest hit since last season’s Week 16 overtime game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Commanders, with backup quarterback Marcus Mariota guiding the offense, also brought a punishing run defense that held Seattle to 44 rushing yards and pushed the Seahawks into a game that leaned on Sam Darnold’s arm and Jaxon Smith-Njigba finding room to work.
The snap counts show just how much Seattle kept leaning on the same core pieces, even with a few new names taking on bigger roles.
Up front, the Seahawks didn’t budge much. Grey Zabel, Charles Cross, Jalen Sundell, Abraham Lucas and Darnold all played every offensive snap, going 67-for-67.
That made it two straight weeks with right guard as the only spot seeing real rotation, with Anthony Bradford out. The rest of the line stayed locked in for the full game, just as it has through the first two weeks.
At tight end, the workload ticked up. AJ Barner logged a season-high 91% of the snaps, while Eric Saubert, Elijah Arroyo and Nick Kallerup all got meaningful run. Brady Russell played less than he did in Week 2, but the heavier personnel didn’t translate into much help on the ground.
The backfield rotation was also pretty clear. George Holani and Emanuel Wilson were used the same amount, while Jadarian Price saw the fewest snaps among Seattle’s top three backs.
That lined up with his second straight game with a lost fumble. Head coach Mike Macdonald said the Seahawks waited until the second half before going back to him.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp were again central to the passing game. Smith-Njigba played 58 snaps, or 87%, while Kupp was on the field for 45 snaps, 67%. Rashid Shaheed added 31 snaps, and Tory Horton got 15.
Defensively, Seattle’s starters carried the load almost everywhere. AJ Finley, Rodney Thomas II, Devon Witherspoon, Ernest Jones IV and Josh Jobe all played every snap.
Thomas is now the only Seahawk to have been on the field for every defensive snap this season, even though he wasn’t supposed to open the year as a starter. He’s been filling in for Ty Okada, who has missed all three games.
Finley stepped in for Julian Love and also went the distance.
The back end saw fewer substitutions overall. Witherspoon and Jobe stayed on the field for all 69 defensive snaps, and Nehemiah Pritchett was used less than he was in Week 2 as Macdonald leaned harder on his top corners.
There was also a notable jump for Nick Emmanwori, even after he left the game with a hamstring injury. He had only just returned from ankle surgery in Week 2, but his snap count climbed sharply against Washington.
The production didn’t follow - Emmanwori finished with two tackles - and Knight did not play on defense at all after seeing some snaps in the first two weeks. That likely came down to Emmanwori filling his role in three-linebacker looks.
Up front on defense, Leonard Williams played 56 snaps, Byron Murphy II 48, DeMarcus Lawrence 45, Jarran Reed 35, Derick Hall 35, Rylie Mills 15, Dante Fowler Jr. 12 and Mike Morris 2. Uchenna Nwosu and Emmanwori each saw 36 snaps, while Drake Thomas was on the field for 57.
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