Three weeks ago, the Seattle Seahawks looked untouchable, stacking up a franchise-best 12-game winning streak. But the picture has shifted fast. The defending Super Bowl champions have dropped two of their last three, and Sunday’s 32-29 loss to unbeaten NFC West rival San Francisco only sharpened the questions heading into Thursday night’s Week 6 trip to Denver.
That’s the backdrop for a Seahawks stock report that features a few names on the rise - and a few areas that have become hard to ignore.
On the plus side, defensive tackle Byron Murphy II is making noise in a hurry. San Francisco came in having gone the first four games of the season without allowing a sack, the first team to do that since 2005.
Murphy snapped that streak by taking down Brock Purdy twice before halftime, and he also teamed up with Uchenna Nwosu on a third-and-1 tackle for loss. Through five games, Murphy has 3.0 sacks and five tackles for loss, putting him on pace to top his 2024 numbers of 7.0 sacks and seven tackles for loss.
He also leads all interior defensive linemen with 15 run stops, according to Pro Football Focus.
Cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett also made his presence felt against the 49ers. He helped force two of Seattle’s three takeaways, first by delivering a heavy hit on return man Jacob Cowing that played a part in a muffed punt, then by undercutting a third-down throw for an interception despite logging a season-low four defensive snaps.
Pritchett now has two interceptions and four passes defensed on the year, and PFF has him graded as the No. 2 cornerback. His snaps have dipped over the last two weeks with hybrid defender Nick Emmanwori back from ankle surgery, but that kind of play can force a larger role.
K Jason Myers belongs in the up column, too. After a shaky preseason, he has been nearly automatic in the regular season, drilling all 10 of his field-goal attempts and 14 of 15 extra points.
That includes two makes from 50-plus yards. Against San Francisco, Myers went 5-for-5 on field goals, connecting from 49, 50, 43, 48 and 40 yards.
The rougher side of the ledger starts with Sam Darnold. Since returning in Week 3 after missing nearly the first two games with a glute injury, the quarterback has not found much rhythm.
He sits 29th out of 30 quarterbacks in ESPN’s QBR and has completed 64.3% of his passes for 755 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Among qualified quarterbacks, his 5.1% interception rate is the highest in the league, and his 6.1% PFF turnover-worthy play rate is tied for fourth-highest.
Even with last year’s league-high 20 turnovers, his turnover-worthy play rate then was 3.4%.
Seattle’s running back situation has also turned into a problem. With the backfield battered by injuries, Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson and George Holani have combined for six fumbles in five games, and four of those have been lost.
It reached a boiling point Sunday, when Holani and Wilson both coughed up costly fumbles that led directly to 49ers touchdowns. The contrast to recent seasons is stark: Zach Charbonnet never fumbled in his previous three years with Seattle, while Kenneth Walker III fumbled just three times and never lost one over his four seasons from 2022-25.
The ball-security issues are layered on top of uneven production, with Wilson averaging 3.4 yards per carry, Holani at 3.0, and Price at 4.3 while on injured reserve for at least two more games.
Behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the passing game is still searching for a true second threat. Smith-Njigba has been electric again, leading the NFL with 583 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches.
After that, the drop-off is steep: Cooper Kupp is next on the team with 129 yards, followed by AJ Barner at 122 and Rashid Shaheed at 96. That gap showed up loudly against San Francisco, when Smith-Njigba posted 102 receiving yards and no other Seahawk topped 24.
Cornerback Josh Jobe lands in the down category after a difficult matchup with Mike Evans. Facing the six-time Pro Bowl receiver for much of Sunday’s game, Jobe was in coverage when Evans caught six of eight targets for 98 yards and a touchdown, according to PFF.
That was more production than Jobe had allowed in any of his previous 33 regular-season or postseason games with Seattle. Evans also used his size advantage to overpower the 5-foot-11 Jobe on a key fourth-quarter 2-point conversion.
Still, Jobe had made his own mark earlier in the year, sealing the Week 1 win over the New England Patriots with an interception and holding opponents to 23.3 receiving yards per game over the first four weeks, according to PFF. This one may have been more about the matchup than the trend.
In Other News...
Seahawks Suddenly Face A Tough Christian Haynes Decision After Latest Loss
After the loss to the 49ers, the Seahawks are again staring at the kind of midseason roster question that can reshape a stretch run. Turnovers helped sink them, and with the trade deadline approaching, Seattle is weighing whether to make a move that could help at running back while also affecting a part of the roster that has quietly stabilized.
Christian Haynes has been one of the better recent stories on the offensive line, which is exactly why his name has surfaced as a possible trade candidate. Moving him could give Seattle a chance to address another need, but it would also create a hole up front unless the return is strong enough to justify it, leaving the Seahawks with a decision that is as much about protecting what they have as it is about adding something new. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have Real Hope For A Backfield Boost
The Seahawks may finally be closing in on a much-needed boost in the backfield, with Zach Charbonnet now trending toward a possible season debut in Week 7. The second-year running back has been sidelined since tearing his ACL late last season, and Seattle has gone the first six games without him as it has tried to sort through its rushing workload.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Charbonnet has a legitimate chance to get back on the field next week, which would give the Seahawks another physical option at a position that has felt thin at times. Even before he was hurt, Charbonnet looked like a player Seattle wanted to feature, so his return would carry real weight for a team trying to stabilize its ground game heading into the heart of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A Josh Jobe Problem They Can't Ignore
Josh Jobe entered this stretch with a real opportunity to settle into a larger role after signing a three-year deal with Seattle, but the latest outing against San Francisco did not help his case. He was targeted often enough to become a focal point, and the damage in receptions and yards was hard to miss for a Seahawks secondary still trying to find its best mix.
The cornerback room already looks different after the offseason shuffle and the addition of Trevon Diggs, which only raises the pressure on Jobe to hold his spot. If Seattle decides the competition needs another jolt, more changes are possible, and the next few decisions around the position will say plenty about how much faith the team really has in Jobe's long-term fit. [Read more 🡒]