The Seattle Seahawks paid for a strange one in Week 3, and the power rankings made sure they felt it.
Seattle’s 33-31 loss to the Washington Commanders sent the Seahawks sliding in multiple national rankings after they entered the week at 2-0 and riding the return of Sam Darnold. Darnold was back after missing time with a hip injury, and Washington was without Jayden Daniels after his dislocated elbow in Week 2. None of that protected Seattle from a loss that immediately reshaped the outside view of the team.
The harshest reaction came from Mike Florio, who knocked Seattle from No. 1 to No. 6. His takeaway was simple: the result will tell a lot about what kind of team this is.
"We’ll find out soon whether the loss at Washington was an aberration or a harbinger," Florio wrote.
Conor Orr also pushed the Seahawks down from the top spot, and he framed the game as one of those results that barely makes sense once it’s over. Orr pointed to Darnold’s four touchdown passes and the fact that Seattle still lost to a Commanders team without Daniels.
"What if I told you the Seahawks got four passing touchdowns from Sam Darnold and were playing against the Jayden Daniels-less Commanders and somehow lost the game? You would say that each year there are four to five games that we’ll probably never think of again because they are so inexplicable and strange in hindsight and are closer to a dream than reality. This would be one of those games," Orr wrote.
Josh Kendall and Chad Graff also moved Seattle down, dropping the Seahawks from No. 3 to No. 5. Their broader discussion centered on quarterback confidence, and they made the case that Darnold’s performance shouldn’t change much, even if Drew Lock had turned heads in a prior game.
"Sam Darnold returned to the lineup after missing two games with a hip injury, and the Seahawks promptly lost for the first time since Week 11 last year. It wasn’t Darnold’s fault.
He threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns while Seattle rushed for only 44 yards (2.4 yards per carry). But you know there are still some Seahawks fans thinking about how well Drew Lock played last week in a win.
(Those people are forgetting Lock was 1-4 as a starter down the stretch in 2024.)"
ESPN had Seattle slipping from No. 2 to No. 4, with Brady Henderson using the Seahawks to make a point about fantasy football disappointments. His focus was Jadarian Price, whose early-season production has not matched expectations.
"Price was 25th among running backs in ADP, reflecting the fact that he was going to be part of a timeshare in Seattle's backfield. But even with those modest expectations, the rookie first-round pick is off to an underwhelming start.
He ranks 47th in fantasy points among running backs after a dud of a performance in Week 3, when he totaled 22 scrimmage yards on six touches with a lost fumble. The fumble was Price's second in as many weeks, which was a big reason for his diminished workload," Henderson wrote.
Pete Prisco had Seattle falling only one spot, from No. 4 to No. 5, but he still called out the optics of the loss. He noted the pick-six from Darnold, while also saying there was good work in the quarterback’s return.
"Losing to a backup quarterback in Marcus Mariota is not a good look. Sam Darnold did some good things in his return, but the pick-six he threw was not good. They will be back," Prisco wrote.
For now, the Seahawks’ drop in the rankings says more about one ugly afternoon than anything bigger. The loss stung, but it did not erase what Seattle has put together so far this season.
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Up front, the right guard spot is still in flux, with Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens continuing to share the conversation rather than settle it. And while Rashid Shaheed brings a different kind of speed to the offense, the fit still invites debate when the line is not holding up and injuries keep shaping the weekly picture. The Seahawks can point to the moving parts as context, but the larger issue is whether the roster as built is giving them enough stability where they need it most. [Read more 🡒]