It would be understandable if any of these teams lapsed in the first game and weren’t as dominant as they were last season. Well, two of them did …

But the Seahawks allowed the second-fewest points of Week 1 and they were facing the defending AFC Champions and MVP runner-up.

Compare that to other defenses:

• The Texans allowed 36 points and 409 yards to the Bills

• The Broncos allowed 31 points and 392 yards to the Chiefs

• The Rams allowed 27 points and 379 yards to the 49ers

The Rams were not a top-tier defense last season, but many were quick to anoint them as the best unit going into this season based on additions of Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, and Aaron Donald.

Donald didn’t play. Garrett recorded zero tackles and just went on IR. Watson allowed two touchdowns.

Now let’s put a frame of reference on the days that Houston and Denver had: Seattle only had two games in 2025, including playoffs, in which they allowed more than 27 points. Only two! They allowed 38 to the Bucs when they were missing many key starters and 37 to the Rams, in overtime, on a Thursday.

The way that the Texans and Broncos opened their seasons is almost as bad as any game the Seahawks had in all of 2025. Even allowing 27 is a bad day at the office for Mike Macdonald. That’s how many Seattle allowed to L.A. in the NFC Championship game and that was against the best offense in the NFL.

Are Bills, Chiefs, and 49ers “the best offenses” in the NFL? I guess we’ll see about that.

But if we had to pick one reason why the Seahawks have been so consistent on defense since the middle of 2024, and those other teams haven’t been, I think we all know what it is.

Time for Part II of Super Joes Q&A.

Seth: My question is why is MMs defensive scheming so extremely effective? It seems like every-time key contributors are out he just plugs in someone else and they look like all pros🥳 Side note: it’s incredible to watch our four guys getting pressures with one of the lowest blitz rates...what gives?

I have to kick it over to Coach All-22, which is must-see YouTube.

What I didn’t even get to mention is that the Seahawks dominated the Patriots without Nick Emmanwori or Ty Okada or Bud Clark. They could have three or four different starters on defense in a month and the outcomes shouldn’t change. They should only continue to improve.

As All-22 describes in that video, DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu provide veteran smarts that you don’t see from many of the younger NFL players. I don’t have a specific Seahawks video to show you next, but Match Quarters posted this “Glitch” Blitz video about the Ravens last month and if you know Macdonald, you know he is credited as the Godfather of it:

Dewhub: I just got out of the hospital (again), and my poor soul could use an over the top reaction to the Rams meltdown. FTR!

Rusty: What the heck is up with the Rams? First, the stupid travel decision that was roundly condemned by every sleep expert known to humanity. Then their star acquisition and reigning DPOY finishes the game with zero stats, and says he needs to get his knee right. Now surgery is planned for today (Monday) and he’s on the IR. And this is after McVay said Garrett was 100% just before the game.

Sure seems like a lot of drama and miscommunication, but what’s your take?

Setting aside what I think will happen with the Rams, let’s first look at how people would talk about their offseason if they ended up with the worst-case scenario. Look at the potential for these decisions to backfire:

• Traded Jared Verse, a 1st round pick, and more for Myles Garrett

• Paid Aaron Donald at least $20 million

• Traded 1st round pick for Trent McDuffie + paid him $30m/year

• Paid Jaylen Watson on a 3-year, $51m contract

• Drafted QB Ty Simpson with 13th overall pick

• Didn’t draft a single player to help them this season

If the Rams miss the playoffs, or even if they don’t win multiple playoff games, this has the potential to go down as “worst offseason ever”.

I think L.A. makes three potentially huge mistakes every year:

1) They don’t care about rookies

2) They don’t touch preseason or even care that much about training camp

3) They don’t care about special teams

The Rams traded a first-round pick for McDuffie, which does give them a contributor, but they used all their other picks on reserves. A third-string QB in the first, a fifth-string tight end in the second, a backup lineman in the third. Almost every single Super Bowl-caliber team uses the draft as a weapon to help them immediately. Look at Grey Zabel and Emmanwori. Look at Price.

And while I think there is a valid reason to be cautious with the preseason, Sean McVay takes it to the extreme. He doesn’t let anybody important play a single snap in the preseason. The only exceptions would be someone like Simpson, who he knew wouldn’t get any more reps for a year. Although most teams, including the Seahawks, barely treat the preseason like an opportunity to get ready for Week 1, I think that’s a mistake.

I agree with Tony Dungy: “I saw many players and teams who were not ready for the speed or contact of a real game” in Week 1.

But Matthew Stafford sits out the majority of the offseason because of his back. The starters probably got more reps with Stetson Bennett than they did with Stafford. Puka Nacua and Myles Garrett also missed most of training camp. I don’t know if Donald has practiced with the Rams in full one time yet.

So the Rams could look unprepared out of the gate. I’d expect them to get better as the season goes on, as they always do, but if they start 2-4, is it too little, too late for the NFC West? Looking at the schedule, that record isn’t out of the question.

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Bob: A lot of QB, Defense and rookie RB chat in Fanland (and rightfully so), but I was jazzed about our O-line in the opener. They make ALL the rest, on offense, work. With Fleury's scheme could we be looking at a top FIVE O-line...or is my chronic SOB (Seahawk Obsession Bias) acting up again?

If I recall correctly, the broadcast mentioned that Seattle is one of only three teams to bring back their entire starting offensive line from last season? Seaside Joe had a story in July about the offensive line jumping from bottom-three to top-10 this year.

Former NFL center LeCharles Bentley recently praised Jalen Sundell as someone he believes could be “protector of the year”.

Ironically, Abe Lucas may be the guy on the line drawing the most critiques right now in terms of one-on-one pass protection, but we also know that he’s been praised as Seattle’s best lineman at other times.

Jadarian Price averaged 3.5 yards before contact per run, which is top-10. If Seattle can continue to run block and pass protect at a high level, the team’s less heralded starters (aka everybody except JSN) should be more than OK.

zezinhom400: Have you heard anything we haven’t about Emmanwori’s availability for the Cards game? It’s another full 10 days now of recovery time...

And he seems to unlock some of the other guys bc he’s so difficult for the other team to figure out, could be anything from edge to LB to safety to nickel to CB. Crazy the impact he has on games.

The first practice report comes out on Wednesday, so we’ll have to just monitor if Nick Emmanwori gets in a full practice participation by Friday. Emmanwori posted a practice photo of himself on Tuesday, so hopefully that’s an indication that he’s optimistic about his chances of playing against the Cardinals.

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Bill: Did I miss the in-depth stories of our draft picks this year? I loved the history behind JSN that you did, where you showed us his high school years, as well as the whole series on Kenneth Walker. I don't recall seeing historical write-ups on Price, Clark, etc. While you're at it, how about the same for folks like Lock, the best punter in NFL history Dickson, Leo, etc. If you've done them, please post the links. :-)

Thanks for asking! I did do a write-up on Jadarian Price’s history from high school to the draft titled “Could Jadarian Price have been ‘Jeremiyah Love’ first?’” which details his immense potential as a recruit and why he was never able to totally realize his star power at Notre Dame due to an early-career injury and the luck for the program to also land Love.

The reason you probably remember Walker and JSN but not Price is that his career is not very noteworthy relative to those two players. As I wrote right after the pick, Price is one of, if not the most undecorated first-round picks of a running back in modern history. That doesn’t take anything away from Price as a player; it’s just a fact.

A running back with zero career college starts getting drafted in the first round is unprecedented and he might be the first running back to go in the first two rounds while never having more than 125 touches in a season. So it was hard to create a series for Price in the same I could do for Walker coming off of an All-American season in which he was a workhorse for Michigan State; or Jaxon Smith-Njigba after he had one of the best high school careers in Texas history and an all-time college season at Ohio State.

For what it’s worth, it’s comforting to look back and see that some of the takeaways I had at the time were:

"JSN could soon be the Seahawks’ best receiver” before his first game as a rookie (when the team had DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett), and in another article in that series I compared him to someone who was not yet his teammate:

But the conversation around Smith-Njigba going into the 2023 NFL Draft reminded me a bit of Cooper Kupp skepticism in 2017, as “Team All-Traits” was desperately looking to explain away his legendary career at Eastern Washington in which he broke every major receiving record in FCS history. To be fair to Team All-Traits, Kupp broke records set by players like Scott Pingel, Terrell Hudgins, and David Ball.

However, the NFL knew that Cooper Kupp was no Pingel-Hudgins-Ball. How do I know that? The Rams drafted him. And did so in spite of a 4.62 time in the 40-yard dash. But his 6.75 three-cone time was really good for a 204 lb receiver (faster than eventual teammate Brandin Cooks, who is known for his speed) and Kupp didn’t waste any time in showing skeptics that they were wrong about him

And on Walker, I wrote a headline in 2022 that feels very fitting when put next to the lovefest surrounding him on X after his Chiefs debut:

“Ken Walker III could do the impossible: Make analytics believe that running backs matter””

It’s easy to find writers who praise every player who is on the team that they cover, but I am careful with who I allow myself to get hyped about and I dove headfirst into guys like Walker, JSN, and Devon Witherspoon because the more I found, the more I liked. It was like digging through a Halloween bucket and the candy just kept getting better and bigger as you dumped it all out onto the floor.

And it’s not that Jadarian Price is a sugar-free lollipop or anything. It’s more that there wasn’t as much to see and many of the highlights were bite-sized. There’s a lot to love about Bud Clark and I probably should go back and dive into his history. Same as Julian Neal. Although it may be put off until 2027.

As far as veterans, I did do one on Julian Love in 2023 that I think is great to re-visit, especially coming off of “his best game as a Seahawk” according to Macdonald.

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Ray: You've mentioned that George Holani is a serviceable third-down back. Can you tell us what a "Third-Down" running back's duties and responsibilities are?

Short answer: Teams aren’t expected to run the ball on third-and-medium or third-and-long. In 2025, teams passed the ball 92% of the time on third-and-medium (4-6 yards) and 95% of the time on third-and-long (7+). Therefore, a good runner isn’t necessarily who you want on the field in most third down situations beyond third-and-2.

Third-and-3, the pass rate is still over 70%.

So what are the qualities of a running back on an expected passing down?

• #1 good pass protection

• #2 good pass protection

• #3 good receiving ability

A third-down back has to be able to pass protect. John Schneider called Holani’s pass protection “elite” during the playoffs.

Skip Peete, Todd Gurley’s former running back coach on the Rams, said that pass protection is “the most important thing” a running back can do in the NFL. Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said that if you can’t pass protect, you can’t play. Duce Staley also said that pass protection is a back’s most important job. And just this offseason, John Harbaugh said that backs have to be “great” in pass protection if they’re going to play on third down.

So fact of the matter is, Holani will play Seattle’s third downs because the Seahawks trust him as a pass protector. It’s not something Price was asked to do a lot in college and presumably is a skill they’re working to develop as quickly as possible in practice. Furthermore, you’re probably wondering, “Well isn’t Price the best option on third-and-short at least?”

While those opportunities are not out of the question, Seattle likes Emanuel Wilson for short yardage situations.

First downs will belong to Price, but he’ll be in on most second downs. Third downs will belong to Holani. Second down will still be shared among all three backs. Short yardage third and fourth downs will probably go to Wilson or A.J. Barner.

And a “three-down back” is exactly what it sounds like. A complete running back who can do everything and never has to come off of the field, although those players are largely made obsolete by the realization that their careers will be longer if you give them adequate rest.

Grant: Jalen Milroe will now be active on game-day. I'd like to cross my fingers and see a Milroe snap or two, but I bet I'm in the minority. Does having Lock as the starter change the calculus for anyone else? I wouldn't do it just to do it, but in the right situation if the game flow needs a change of pace, I hope Fleury has got a few plays in his back pocket.

Jumping off of what I just wrote, personally I like the idea of giving Jalen Milroe a random second-and-short QB option now and again. I know there was a fumble disaster on one such call in 2025, but if Jason Myers misses one kick do you give up on him entirely?

Watching players like Lamar Jackson run around the field in Week 1, and knowing that Milroe is at least capable of rushing the ball like him, it seems like a missed opportunity to completely ignore his potential contributions now that he is going to be active on Sunday.

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Burgdawg: I’m continually amazed by the level of involvement on SSJ—the premier Seahawks site. As well as Field Gulls, etc. For example, the number of comments during games seems impressive. While I know the Seahawks community is the best, are there other NFL fan sites (SB Nation) that rival the Seahawks in terms of fan participation? Curious about your sense of how the level of Seahawks fandom compares to other teams.

Some of the fandoms that seem the most fervent to me based on my experiences of actively monitoring sites for basically all 32 teams would include the Bills, Eagles, Chiefs, Giants, and yes, the Seahawks.

And I’m talking about Bills before Josh Allen, Chiefs before Patrick Mahomes. This goes back even to their more mediocre days.

In 2014, I also drove around the country for a month going to NFL games and I hit up these stadiums on the tour:

• Cowboys

• Jaguars

• Moons

• Bills

• Bears

• Broncos

• Seahawks

Best fans: Seahawks, Bills, Broncos. Worst stadiums: Moons, Bears. Lackadaisical fans: Jaguars. The funny thing about Jacksonville is that it is a fun experience, but people seemed more invested in the hot tub and the DJ (yep) than the game and I saw more Steelers jerseys than Jags jerseys.

Cowboys Stadium is extravagant and the fans care obviously, although the entire experience felt more like being at a sports movie than an actual real life game, if that makes sense.

What are your non-Seahawks stadium experiences?

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Seaside Joe 2743

As of Monday evening, the Seahawks announced it as a “short-term injury” with no hip joint damage and that’s all they can confirm right now.

In the meantime, Drew Lock is everything a team wants in a contingency plan. There are plenty of quarterbacks better than Lock, but most of them are starters. Among the NFL’s backup options, Lock is as comfortable as it gets, and certainly appealing when compared to quarterbacks who aren’t even signed with teams right now.

Like Jimmy Garoppolo.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell and The Athletic’s Mike Sando both left their reputations unprotected in the shooting range of social media by suggesting that Seattle should sign Garoppolo in the event that Darnold is seriously injured. This is by far the most basic and unsophisticated take on the situation possible because it requires you to know nothing more than these three facts:

• Garoppolo was on the 49ers

• Brian Fleury was on the 49ers

• Garoppolo is a free agent

That’s it. That’s all you have to know and everybody who reads Seaside Joe knew it already. Also because Garoppolo is more of a public figure than, say, Nick Mullens or Jake Browning, this is where their minds went to first and it is a lot more tantalizing of a reaction than reality.

What’s the reality?

The reality is that while Lock will start in the interim, Jalen Milroe is the Seahawks’ best fallback option this season. Not Garoppolo, a quarterback who hasn’t played in a serious football game since 2023, which was when he was on the Raiders and one of the worst starters in the NFL.

His game log shows that he threw at least one interception in all six starts:

The connection between Garoppolo and Fleury is as strong as the one between Garoppolo and virtually anyone associated with the 49ers in the early 2020s. Fleury wasn’t the offensive coordinator or the quarterbacks coach. He wasn’t even an offensive coach for San Francisco in his first season under Kyle Shanahan. There was only one year where the two overlapped in a notable capacity, which is when Fleury was the tight ends coach in 2022.

Is that notable though? Not really.

Sure, a connection to a Shanahan system makes sense, but this would be true of so many coaches who used to be on the 49ers. Bobby Slowik, Klay Kubiak, Klint Kubiak, Mike McDaniel, and even DeMeco Ryans. Garoppolo didn’t go to any other teams just because of a connection to Shanahan, so why would he come out of semi-retirement to be a very short-term backup for Drew Lock for a couple of weeks?

Because Fleury is a friend of a friend? Make it make sense, “top NFL brass” at ESPN and The Athletic.

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Garoppolo also spent the last two years on the Rams, but declined the opportunity to be Matthew Stafford’s backup for a third season because he tired of waiting on the sidelines. He didn’t want to play for McVay or compete for a role on a team with a McVay disciple like Mike LaFleur’s Cardinals, and yet we’re led to believe that Garoppolo is “a great logical addition” for the Seahawks?

Is this just a case of “guys who have a last name that ends in ‘o’” sticking together?

I’ve learned from too many mistakes to ever say “never” and perhaps there is some dire scenario that leads Garoppolo to Seattle, but I won’t hesitate to say “almost never” in this case. It’s not just a bad idea, it’s an IL-LOGICAL one. I know that’s not as exciting as spouting out literally the very first QB name that comes to everyone’s mind when “fleury is a shanahan guy” is the only criterion, but looking beyond the shallow, it actually makes no sense.

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Danno: I’ve seen some fear mongerers say Sam Darnold could be out 6 weeks. Of course I do not see any credible evidence to suggest that, but Florio is one such example of the absurdity…Does this “news,” and I am stretching it to call it news, change your thinking that the Seahawks need a replacement for Lock if Darnold is out for 6 or more weeks?

Look, nothing is news except news. A report that Sam Darnold could miss six weeks may be a totally real thing that was leaked from within the Seahawks, and we can’t dismiss it just because it’s not real news, but it is also not confirmation of literally anything.

A report or a rumor: May be something to file away as a consideration. We shouldn’t just file all of the bad rumors as “bullshit” and all of the good rumors as “credible”, which isn’t what I’m saying Danno is doing by any means, just what I often see in general. Not here, but everywhere for all teams’ fans.

News: Would obviously be anything that is news. Example, the Seahawks putting Jake Bobo on IR was news. It’s real, it’s not changing in 2026. The Seahawks ruling out Sam Darnold in Week 2 is not “news” yet but it’s so undisputed that we basically know Darnold is out this week.

Seaside Joe deals in 94.63%* real news.

*fake news

Okay, I made up that number obviously but still, if you’re reading it here it’s almost always going to be reporting the facts. Or gathering as many facts as we have in order to develop an expectation or an opinion. But those predictions or opinions will always be based on facts with a sprinkle of historical tendencies that are harder to prove, and yet super typical.

Like the Garoppolo thing…

Do I know for 100% certain that the Seahawks won’t sign Garoppolo? No, obviously I couldn’t know that. Do I 100% disagree with Sando and Barnwell that it’s “logical”? Yes.

So nobody should say that they know Darnold is going to miss six weeks or that they know Darnold is not going to miss six weeks. We don’t know anything! The Seahawks have reportedly sought out four second opinions (wouldn’t that be “up to five opinions”??) on Darnold’s butt so they don’t even know the answer!

And frankly we don’t even need to know. All we need to know is that the Seahawks are starting Drew Lock on Sunday. If Darnold misses more time than that, then it’s time to buck up and deal with it like any good football team would do. It’s not all about the starting quarterback.

What I think is MOST logical as QB insurance

If Darnold were to hit IR, this is what I think the Seahawks would do:

• Start Drew Lock for as long as he’s healthy

• Back him up with Jalen Milroe

• Sign a mediocre QB to the practice squad

Unless Lock is as bad as Max Brosmer was against Seattle last year, I see no scenario in which the Seahawks abandon him as the starter for the time being. Remember how panicked fans were when Geno Smith had to start three games in place of Russell Wilson in 2021? This is no different than that and Geno was obviously more than fine.

Lock is as good as it’s gonna get among backup quarterbacks. Seattle has the defense, special teams, supporting cast, and coaching to win games without Darnold.

Milroe will be the backup and given his 1.5 years of experience inside the facilities already, he’s a much backup contingency than Garoppolo or anyone else. Garoppolo is terrible anyway. What are we doing here?

Then I’d expect the Seahawks to add a quarterback to the practice squad, someone like Mullens or Browning or Brandon Allen or Josh Johnson, etc. In the worst case scenario, they’d have at least given someone a few weeks of practice reps to get involved with the team and then elevate him for game day, if necessary.

This is the far more logical, far less click-centric analysis of the situation.

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IdahoFred: Are the Cardinals a different team this year? One game so too early to tell? You are in LA, what is the scuttlebutt about the Bolts? I like Harbaugh and I thought McDaniels would be a good addition to the team, but they didn't show up on Sunday. Arizona led the whole way.

One game is always too early to tell. The Raiders beat the Patriots in Week 1 last year. The 49ers beat the Seahawks. This is perhaps the most difficult time of year for analysis because there are just so many overreactions and it really only matters in one sense:

• The NFC West could come down to a tiebreaker, so it matters

• We don’t know who those tiebreakers will actually impact until Week 18

But as far as “looks”? It doesn’t matter a whole to me how a team looks right now. Even if it all goes into the bucket of considerations. Week 1 is definitely the first major data point though, and not the preseason.

To summarize: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14

LaFleur’s first game as a head coach and offensive play caller was a success, as this performance would have been Arizona’s fourth-best day on offense by EPA and third-best day on defense compared to all Cardinals games in 2025.

The only game the Cardinals played last season in which they were as good as this was a 27-17 win over the Cowboys, which does tell us one thing at least: We already knew the Cardinals could be this good, even when they go 3-14.

Just normal regression tells us that Arizona was likely to win more than three games in 2026, whether that’s 5-12 or 8-9 or 10-7. Winning in Week 1 isn’t that crazy, especially against a Chargers team that I would NEVER bet on to be as good as they’re supposed to be.

It’s too soon for me to change my mind that Jacoby Brissett is a below-average starting quarterback. I’m more easily convinced that LaFleur will be a surprisingly good hire and Arizona has a talented supporting cast. The defense is anyone’s guess, but could also be better than expectations.

Don’t count out the Cardinals, this is their Super Bowl.

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Maxx: What kind of day do you see Drew Lock having against the Cardinals secondary? And will the O-line be able to open up holes for JP? Will JP get more carries than last week?

Even if Jadarian Price is Seattle’s best running back (which he is) and he has the potential to become one of the NFL’s most explosive runners (seems like he does), don’t forget that the most carries he’s had in a game since high school is 15.

And that’s just his career-high. Price averaged 9.4 carries per game with Notre Dame in 2025, and 7.5 carries per game in 2024.

A ramp-up period of some sort at the start of his NFL career is rational, and the reward to give him significantly more touches right now isn’t worth the risk of losing him for an extended period of time later. Just look at how valuable Kenneth Walker III was to the Seahawks in the playoffs. Having Price available in games 18, 19, 20, and/or 21 of the season—when he’s a rookie who played in 12 games last year—is far more important than the immediate thrill of seeing him run the ball a few more times in Week 2.

So I’d say, “more” carries? Maybe. “A lot more” carries? I wouldn’t hope so.

Also, I’m sure a lot of people will want to know what I think about Kenneth Walker’s performance on Monday night against the Broncos. I think it’s great for him! Seaside Joe has always said he’s one of the most talented running backs in the league and I’m not at all surprised he had so many yards in his Chiefs debut. Good!

But that doesn’t mean the Seahawks should have re-signed him or that the Seahawks didn’t realize they were going to part ways with a top-tier running back in free agency.

• They were the team that drafted Walker when the media was giving them an “F” for the decision

• They were the team that built an offense meant to feature him during a Super Bowl run.

I don’t think Walker would have gotten more (if any) than 10 carries for Seattle in Week 1 if they had kept him. That’s not what the Seahawks do unless they’re forced to do it and certainly it’s not what I’d expect Seattle to do in Week 1 when they’re not forced to do it.

So he’s in a better place for him, and the Seahawks are in the right place for themselves. It’s not that they’re “better off without him”, it’s more that given the nature of the business and the sport, the Seahawks made a calculated franchise move instead of an emotional decision.

Part II: “What kind of day do you see Drew Lock having against the Cardinals secondary?”

Hard to say but I put “what Lock does” lower on the importance list than most people. It’s “Lock vs. Brissett” so if Lock is a concern, so is Brissett. It evens out. I said this before the Super Bowl and before the divisional round against the 49ers: People overrated the importance of Sam Darnold.

He needed to have a great game in the NFC Championship against the Rams. He didn’t need to have a great game those other times.

If Lock doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s as good as Seattle needs him to be.

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zezinhom400: Has the NFC West paradoxically become even tougher than before with a less-convincing Rams team but both Cards and Niners impressing?

Let’s re-visit this in five weeks. I’m not dismissing the Cardinals, and I’m not saying that the Rams will be in the Super Bowl (I was calling the Rams overrated before it was cool, as you all know), but it’s one week. The NFL has no solid form until at least Week 6 and it never stops changing.

Samuel Garfield: Were the chargers much worse than expectations or were the cardinals much better? Or both? Like 40% of my football pool picks were lost in week 1 on that game, Oh also: football survivor pool. Who are your top pick options weeks 2-4?

The Cardinals have posted one winning season in the past 10 years, so a comfortable victory over a team that made the playoffs last season is surprising. However, so many people picking the Chargers (I saw a tweet that said about 30% of people were knocked out of survivor leagues from this one game) in SEPTEMBER seems crazy to me too. They always do this to themselves.

I would hate to be responsible for anyone’s losses. Three teams that looked totally helpless though: Dolphins, Titans, and Browns.

IdahoFred: By QBR and RTG, Stafford is one of the worst QBs right now. Is he washed up? Bad O line? Bad coaching? One game does not make a season so too early to tell?

Every quarterback has bad games, but if you’re 38 and you have a bad game people will assume that one of the explanations for it — the most common explanation — is that you’re “washed”. That’s understandable because every player is eventually “washed”, however people were saying the same thing after every bad Tom Brady game since at least 2014.

And then Brady played nine more years and still retired before anyone felt like he was no longer good enough to be in the NFL anymore.

In the offseason, Matthew Stafford only practices half of the time, and then he sits out the entire preseason. This could be adversely affecting him, and the entire Rams team, with these early season sloppy performances; L.A. has gotten off to a poor start every year since 2022.

And they always finish strong.

So “too early to tell”? Of course. The Rams flew all the way to Australia — and landed less than 24 hours before the game — and basically no important player on offense or defense had played in a real situation since L.A. lost to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship*.

*never hurts to bring that up again.

Stafford was certainly off his game, but Puka Nacua and Davante Adams hurt his stats with their own miscues, and the 49ers are always good against the Rams. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris knows better than anybody what to throw at Sean McVay, as he used to be the Rams DC.

I’d prefer to get three or four more data points before saying if the Rams need to be worried about Stafford. They probably do need to be worried about Adams though.

That’s it for today’s Super Joes Q&A. But there are more questions on deck, so subscribe and you won’t miss everything else left to answer.

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Seaside Joe 2743

We had three separate incidents of fans getting injured while watching Seahawks games, not including broken hearts.

Broken ribs for Tim Drake:

“Per tradition, every time the Seahawks score a TD, we take a shot of Jaeger. This SBLX was a fairly sober game. In all my wisdom, I figured a shot or two to “seed the pot” wouldn’t hurt. Then the TDs came…At the end, I was jumping around so much I tripped over an end table and slammed into the corner of the wall and thought it would be nothing but a bruise to remember.

The next morning I could barely breathe or get out of the bed. I had broke two ribs so bad you could see the ends moving separately under the skin.”

“Popeye” injury for Seth:

“Tore my distal bicep tendon(otherwise known as the Popeye tendon)...trying to high five a friend after the Seahawks first SB victory and missed the high five”

And a broken foot for Sea Hawk Run! that totally changes my understanding of the username “Sea Hawk Run!”:

“Broken foot when going down the stairs too quickly when halftime ended. I didn’t want to miss the first play of the 3rd quarter. Went to the hospital *after* the Seahawks won and the presser ended.”

I would classify all these incidents as a level of fandom I hope to never experience.

I counted over 60 different injuries by Seaside Joe readers on Saturday, each one an experience they’ll never forget and I hope to never have.

These are the 5 worst injuries on the list, as far as I’m concerned.

A lesson first: Skiing sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

Mobilizer is the first and probably last person I’ve ever heard use the phrase “bike accident Brazilian jui jitsu session” before. Spinal cord:

“40 years after a bike accident Brazilian jiu jitsu session popped open an old L4-L5 natural fusion. Normal staph in blood infected the disc, causing discitis, considered one of the most painful medical conditions, fatal if not treated, which it was via a 6 week pic line delivering narrow spectrum antibiotic. Finally diagnosed via MRI after useless/agonizing PT. Then S1-L5-L4 fusion surgeries, then 7 more years of pain caused by surgical scar tissue. 8 steroid facet injections, and finally this month relief via a spinal cord stimulator.”

konatrader78 wins the Seaside Joe Theismann Trophy for his broken leg:

“A severely broken lower right leg, like Joe Theismann’s career ending injury. Hit by a car while riding a bike. It took over two years to get close to normal and it has never fully recovered. Now, a one mile walk is exercise, vs. running a 4:20 mile before. Just thankful to be alive and not paralyzed!”

Signature Seahawks had a laundry list of injuries including ruptured discs, fractured hip, and torn rotator cuff. I think you’ve had it worse than most of the cast of Jackass:

“Ruptured S1 & L5 discs jumping off a 40’ cliff on skis. Took a couple of years to get back “normal,” they never completely heal but got rid of the chronic sciatica. Gave up competitive skiing.”

Blair knows the pain of skiing:

“I was a Downhill ski racer, in my youth. heading for the Jr. Nationals and thought I was bullet proof. Doing some where over 60 miles an hour i went over a bump sailed about 100 feet and crashed, I had just tightened down my bindings to the max setting and they didn’t release. I ended up pulling my hip out of its socket. A dislocated hip creates an extreme amount of pain and suffering and an long period of recuperation. Skiing is still my favorite sport!”

zezinhom400 took the full brunt of a knee explosion but with none of the modern medical miracles:

“ACL/MCL/PCL and meniscus all at once, literally on the kickoff of a soccer match with my back turned to the other guys — overzealous charging opponent took out my entire right knee while I was still in the center circle, never even saw him coming. Was in 1990 so didn’t have today’s technology. 9 mos of intense rehab followed by two yrs playing w/a brace but 36 yrs later still full use of the knee, unbelievably.”

If I gave out “honorable mentions” I could go on for another ten newsletters, so I apologize if you feel left out of the top-five. There were so many worthy ones. Like this one from PhilippRttr that is not a single incident, but a career worth and potentially leading to athletic retirement:

“Your timing is crazy Ken. At the Moment i am thinking about retirement after 30 years of football (the soccer one).

My First injury was 20 years ago and it started a streak of injuries which hit about every part of my body, right knee inside ligament rupture, than left foot ligament rupture, right foot ligament, burned my leg, herniated discs in the neck, left foot bone bruise (the worst injury),...After this one i swore to myself i’ll call IT a “career” If i’ll injure myself again. Then came another foot ligament, i am addicted, i came Back. After every Game i have lower back and hip pain as crazy but i kept going...Then finally in November i ruptured my M. rectus femoris and needed surgery to get it fixed again. Come Back stronger...3 Games Back i tore another ligament in my right foot and know i am sad but am at a Point where i cannot Talk myself into playing Games again. I love the Game but it’s Just Not worth it anymore i guess...”

I’ve never had a broken bone, nor have I ever torn anything that I know of. My worst injuries were all things that could be recovered at home (I did have to get stitches on my index finger when I was 3 because of a deep cut that still hurts to this day if I hit it wrong) and the worst pain I’ve ever felt was a toothache that caused me to lose two nights of sleep.

But your stories are unique and in this case I’m happy to say that I can’t relate. I wish you all a quick recovery and a life without pain. I’ve been on the other side perhaps, as my wife Seaside Jay chimed in with her “sports-related” injury as well:

“On a whim, I ate a street dog for lunch at work (that’s what we call bacon-wrapped hot dogs here in Los Angeles). I started to feel a cold sweat and went home early. I threw up for 12 hours straight. SSJ helped me to the bathroom every time I had to puke. I count this as a sports injury.”

Street Dogs smell as wonderful as anything in L.A. (for what that’s worth) but I don’t recommend following your nose in this case.

Did you share yours? Want to chime in on anything else? A Regular Joes subscription at only $5 per month or $55 per year will get you access to this awesome community in the comments section whenever you need a helping hand or a caring ear:

I’d be remiss to overlook the rest of your amazing injury stories, so let’s look at the final 2026 Seaside Joe injury report together, shall we?

Full injury tally

Knees and legs

• 7 ACL tears: five individual tears plus one reader who tore both ACLs in separate incidents

• 1 MCL tear

• 1 PCL tear

• 1 additional medial/inside-knee ligament rupture

• 2 meniscus injuries: one crushed, one torn

• 1 serious knee-cartilage injury

• Both knees repeatedly dislocated while skiing

• 1 kneecap separated from the leg

• 3 major hamstring tears

• 1 ruptured rectus femoris muscle

• 1 hip-flexor strain

• 1 dislocated hip

• 1 fractured hip/iliac-crest avulsion

• 1 hip contusion

• 1 severely broken lower leg

• 1 spiral tibia fracture extending into the ankle growth plates

• 1 burned leg

• Recurring lower-back and hip pain in one player

Ankles and feet

• At least 6 serious ankle-sprain incidents, including 3 identified as high ankle sprains; one report several additional sprains without exact number

• 1 catastrophic ankle injury involving two ruptured ligaments and a third torn ligament

• At least 5 other foot/ankle ligament ruptures or tears suffered by one longtime soccer player

• 1 broken foot

• 1 severe foot bone bruise

Achilles, shoulders and arms

• 3 ruptured Achilles tendons

• 2 rotator-cuff tears: one full and one partial

• 1 torn shoulder tendon that eventually separated and left the biceps retracted near the elbow

• 1 torn distal biceps tendon

• 2 torn shoulder labrums, both work-related rather than sports-related

• 1 dislocated shoulder

• 1 separated shoulder

• 1 partially torn AC joint

• 1 dislocated elbow

• 4 broken collarbones

Hands, wrists and fingers

• 3 major broken-wrist incidents; two also involved dislocation or major joint damage

• 1 broken hand bone

• 1 severe lengthwise middle-finger fracture that required pins, wire and two surgeries

• 1 dislocated ring finger

• 1 jammed and badly swollen thumb

• 8 different fingers broken or dislocated repeatedly by one basketball player, with the exact number of incidents unknown

• 1 additional rugby finger injury

• 1 hand strain from holding tequila, salt, lime and beer while celebrating

Spine, neck and head

• 1 C5–C6 neck injury requiring fusion, a titanium plate and screws

• 1 pair of ruptured L5/S1 spinal discs

• 1 reopened L4–L5 fusion followed by an infected disc, multiple spinal fusions, surgical scar-tissue pain and eventually a spinal-cord stimulator

• 1 case of herniated neck discs

• 1 jokingly reported chess-related neck injury

• 1 confirmed concussion with loss of consciousness and hospitalization

• 1–2 additional football knockouts that were probably concussions

Ribs and torso

• 2 badly broken ribs in one incident

• 1 separate cracked-ribs incident, with the number of ribs unspecified

• 2 dislocated ribs

• 1 pulled groin

• 1 possible exercise-related hernia or abdominal tear that was never conclusively diagnosed

Face, teeth and other injuries

• 4 broken noses

• 2 smashed front teeth in one incident

• 1 incident involving a broken nose and loosened front teeth

• 1 facial puncture plus extensive facial abrasions from sliding down a rock driveway

• 1 painful perineal or “gooch” injury from landing on a lawn chair

• 1 wrestling incident involving torn-open buttocks

• Zip-line friction burns were mentioned as a recurring camp injury, but no exact number was given

• 2 near-drownings while surfing

• 1 broken tailbone from bull riding

• 1 severe bout of food poisoning with 12 hours of vomiting

• Widespread joint pain or possible arthritis

Nicholas Donsky’s “strained hand” while holding a bottle of Patron reminds me of something that didn’t happen to me, but a family member.

At my sister’s wedding, my brother grabbed a few bottles of beer, slipped on the kitchen floor, and landed on top of one of the bottles, which broke off and went into his lower back and he had to be rushed to an emergency room in the Caribbean Islands, which is not where you want to be in such a condition. He immediately flew back to the States in immense pain waiting to get to a hospital for another round of medical care.

I’m not really sure how close he came to dying or having an organ punctured, but closer than anyone wants to get, either at a wedding or anywhere for that matter.

If you had other stories you wanted to share that you forgot about or didn’t happen to you, please do feel free to add them:

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Seahawks-Cardinals

The next Seahawks game is six days away, as they look to get to 2-0 and do no worse than share first place in the NFC West with the 49ers. San Francisco plays the Miami Dolphins, so the Niners are likely looking at 2-0.

I’ve posted a new Super Joes Q&A newsletter for the founding member Super Joes subscribers. If you want to ask your own question this week or next week, upgrade to Super Joes today. It’s $10 per month, but if you’re already a Regular Joes member, you’re halfway there.

There’s PLENTY of Seahawks content to come this week. Thanks for sharing your experiences, and reading about others, as we get to it.

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The Seahawks expect Drew Lock to start Week 2, and it seems as though they will take Sam Darnold’s injury week-to-week.

You know EXACTLY what to do in these Q&A: Ask some Qs. Help me write the next Seaside Joe newsletter!

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Given how poorly many NFL starters have played this week, including Jared Goff, Daniel Jones, Deshaun Watson, and Cam Ward, even a competent backup like Lock will look very attractive to teams as a free agent. So why not control Lock’s future rights now while he’s still going to come relatively cheap, and then have all the outcomes available to you next year: Trade chip, great backup, Sam Darnold negotiation leverage, and more?

In the second season of a two-year, $5 million contract, Lock is making just $2.25 million in 2026 and he will be a free agent in 2027. This means Lock makes less than quarterbacks like Anthony Richardson ($10.8 million on his rookie deal), Davis Mills ($8.1m), Jarrett Stidham ($8m), Marcus Mariota ($7.3m), Gardner Minshew ($5.7m), Tyson Bagent ($4.75m), Mason Rudolph ($4.6m), and Mitch Trubisky ($4.25m), and many others.

Yet in Week 1, he outplayed Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford.

We’ve seen Lock have great games before, and we’ve seen Lock have bad games too. Maybe this conversation will have a much different tone after the Seahawks play the Cardinals next Sunday. I don’t believe players usually change that much after a few years in the league and Lock has proven to be a frustrating experience when he’s had the chance to start. But as a backup who can help keep a Super Bowl team afloat in the absence of Darnold?

That type of confidence isn’t likely to change with Lock next week.

What would Drew Lock cost on a new extension and what would an extension allow the Seahawks to do over the next two years? Let’s see:

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• Sam Darnold (hip), injured on the first drive of the first game

• Robbie Ouzts (neck), practiced but reaggravated injury from last season

• Nick Emmanwori (ankle), didn’t practice, had a delayed surgery on injury from last season

• Jake Bobo (knee), injured in joint practice

• Ty Okada (hamstring), injured in practice days before first game

• Mason Richman (leg), injured in Titans preseason game

• Bud Clark (ankle), injured in Titans preseason game

• Zach Charbonnet (knee), still recovering from 2025 torn ACL

• Irv Charles (unknown), injured early in training camp

• Tory Horton (hamstring), injured midway through training camp

Aside from losing their starting quarterback for at least one game, the Seahawks actually walked away from Week 1 unscathed. No other injuries have been reported from the game. However, Darnold is the ninth Seahawk player to be injured since the beginning of training camp and all nine were expected to make the 53-man roster.

That’s 17-percent of the roster!

That’s not including a tenth player, Charbonnet, who wasn’t expected to be placed on the 53-man roster until after a stint on PUP.

The good news:

The Seahawks could get back three players when they face the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.

Although we have no way of knowing the status of these players in a week, Emmanwori and Horton were both listed as “questionable” in Week 1, meaning that there was some slight hope of their availability. Okada was immediately listed as “out”, which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s less likely to be available as it could just be the timing of his injury relative to the others.

Ouzts, Bobo, Clark, and Richman are out for the entire 2026 season.

If it’s any consolation, none of these four were necessarily earmarked for huge roles and the Week 1 returns of their replacements are encouraging:

• Brady Russell’s expanded role as FB1 included the first two catches of his career, gaining 20 yards; Russell was already looking like a key to Brian Fleury’s offense before the season anyway

• If Rodney Thomas II and Nehemiah Pritchett could be considered “fill-ins” for Emmanwori and Clark, then they played like much more. They looked like starters against the Patriots.

• Richman was merely slated for a reserve role who might not get any playing time.

• Bobo wasn’t likely to see many targets on offense and though he is a leader on special teams, Seattle has quite a few of those.

Now if the Seahawks are able to re-integrate Emmanwori and Okada next week or the week after, it gives Mike Macdonald even better depth in the secondary with Pritchett than we thought he had before. Seattle’s only “problem” is that all of their secondary players looked good in Week 1 and now some of them will have to get fewer snaps in the future.

On offense, Horton will give Fleury and Drew Lock/Sam Darnold more diversity in pass-catching weapons moving forward. By avoiding IR-to-return, Horton is likely to come back in the fold by Week 2 or Week 3. Rashid Shaheed was difficult to find, like Seattle’s “Where’s Waldo?” against New England, so hopefully that is not something that continues. Otherwise, Horton could be upgraded to WR3 toot sweet.

Returning Later

It’s not just Sam Darnold who will miss Week 2 but return in the near future.

The Seahawks placed Irv Charles on IR-to-return, meaning that Seattle sees him as a member of the 53-man roster when he’s ready to go. Charles was injured very early in training camp and isn’t a well-known player, but by trading for him and then using a return designation on him, the Seahawks have made it clear that they like him and want to use him extensively on special teams. The loss of Bobo couldn’t have hurt his chances either.

It’s not exactly clear what happened to Charles or a timeline, but it seems reasonable to assume it’s not a long-term injury.

The media has asked Macdonald about Charbonnet incessantly this offseason but the answer never really changes. Usually “he’s making great progress” blah blah blah. I’m sure he’s making great progress, but even an aggressive estimation of his return wouldn’t likely have him back before Week 7. That would be a Sunday night game against the Chiefs.

But Week 8 is a Monday night game against Bears, meaning that Charbonnet would have another eight days after Week 7 to practice and prepare for his return. So Week 8 feels like an acceptable guess for an early, but still logical return date.

Again though, it’s not like running back is a position where Seattle is hurting. Jadarian Price was very impressive in his debut and George Holani is more than acceptable as a third-down back.

Aside from Darnold, it’s really not the injuries of the past six weeks that should concern fans. The Seahawks have managed to survive, and in some cases thrive, through every one of them.

It’s really more of the injuries of the future. And as we’ve seen, an injury can happen any time, any place, and in any manner. It’s not avoiding them that matters, it’s adjusting to them.

What’s your worst sports injury?

I’m opening comments up to ALL Seaside Joe subscribers today, free or paid, because I want to give everyone a chance to share their story:

What’s your worst sports-related (or non sports-related) injury?

How did it happen and what was it like to recover? Oftentimes we’ll hear from Seahawks fans who will share their own experiences with a torn ACL or a dislocated hip. There are tons of interesting tales of pain out there! I want to read about yours:

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Again, all are able to comment. Share your worst injuries, and I promise we have writer-reader confidentiality.

Friday’s Seaside Joe: How the Seahawks DIDN’T mess up the 2023 draft

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As Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon, and Derick Hall helped lead the Seahawks to a win without Sam Darnold, it’s worth remembering how many people would have rather seen John Schneider trade up for Anthony Richardson — or never trade away Russell Wilson — than have these players. That’s not a criticism, it’s just a fact. It’s what many people wanted, or were told they should want by quarterback-obsessed Seahawks writers.

But the Seahawks have rarely acted as a franchise that believes a team only goes as far as its quarterback and that philosophy continues to work for Seattle in moments when the only place their quarterback is headed was Harborview Medical Center.

Instead, the best quarterback performance through two games is not by reigning MVP Matthew Stafford or runner-up Drake Maye. It’s not even by Darnold.

It’s not a stretch to say that most general managers would have caved to Wilson’s contract demands in 2022, not traded him. Look no further than Baker Mayfield, a quarterback with zero career achievements now making $55 million per season (two playoff wins in eight years) because the Buccaneers are afraid of life without him.

If the NFL shuttered tomorrow, Daniel Jones will have made at least $60 million more in career earnings than Darnold.

And I know many of you are fans of these quarterbacks, like Mayfield and Jones and C.J. Stroud, as well as Darnold. I’m a fan of Darnold. I think the Seahawks probably should and will extend Darnold after the season.

But if the results of the post-Russ trade universe aren’t evidence enough to us that Seattle doesn’t have to be strong-armed by a quarterback in order to succeed, nothing ever will convince you of that.

The Seahawks turned Wilson’s contract demands into two first-round picks, two second-round picks, Drew Lock’s allegiance, an immense amount of cap space and spending cash, and a Super Bowl championship. It’s a success story still mostly centered around Schneider’s phenomenal work in the 2023 draft with two picks in the top-20 and four picks in the top-60.

A story of the players who they drafted, but also the ones who they didn’t. Let’s look at just how much differently — and worse — the 2023 draft could have gone.

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The QB School’s J.T. O’Sullivan has already posted over an hour of footage combined between Drew Lock and Drake Maye:

Sam Darnold is expected to miss at least one game, possibly several more, and Lock looked good in his first extended action since 2024. He gets 10 days to prepare for the Arizona Cardinals, which is makes the early-season scheduling for Seattle look even more ideal in hindsight.

I’ve watched most of the Maye film study and several things stood out on the Seahawks’ end, including Byron Murphy’s dominance over center Jared Wilson and Seattle’s ability to take advantage of Maye’s “reckless” throws downfield.

If you don’t want to miss any further Seahawks-related film study posts, make sure you’re a subscriber! We had almost 900 comments in the live game chat on Wednesday night and it’d be great for you to join us next Sunday.

Seaside Joe’s Regular Joes subscribers get 365 days of coverage with bonus content for only $55 per year. That’s basically .10 cents per article.

Charles Cross’s best game in pass protection

Per Next Gen Stats, Cross allowed 0 pressures on 27 pass blocking reps, a career-best night for him.

More Seahawks Defensve vs Drake Maye from “Money Where the Film Is”

I wonder: Is today a worse day for Drake Maye than the day after the Super Bowl? At least back then people were blaming his supporting cast. Now it’s all on him.

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Byron Murphy movement skills:

All-22 Film Study

Our friend the Coach has already posted 2 new videos since last night, including one featuring Josh Jobe in the title.

Mike Macdonald will be torturing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks all year long, it seems. Bill Simmons called Macdonald “the best coach in football” on Thursday. A lot of people had him in the top-5, but has he leapfrogged Sean McVay yet in their eyes?

Rapid Fire: Drake Maye

A lot of the focus is on Maye’s fourth quarter collapse. Let’s not forget how the Seahawks forced him into those situations. New England’s two worst offensive performances since Week 1 of 2025? The Super Bowl and last night.

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Jadarian Price, JSN vs Gonzo

A couple of short “all plays” clips from Hall Highlights. One on Jadarian Price and the other was every Jaxon Smith-Njigba rep against Christian Gonzalez

How excited are you for Jadarian Price after Wednesday?

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Credit to Patriots rookie Gabe Jacas, he was one of the best players on the field for New England. The second round pick was someone who got mentioned a lot for Seattle prior to the draft, but John Schneider went with Price instead. Both rookie had solid debuts.

Another note for Price: He didn’t play any third down snaps. That will likely be George Holani’s role moving forward. Emanuel Wilson and Holani are Seattle’s only short-yardage options right now.

O-Line Committee: Still needs more discipline

Obviously penalties were an issue on Wednesday, and that’s something that could be cleaned up with more reps together and more time for Drew Lock to get on the same page with everybody else. I’m a fan of The O-Line Committee podcast, although I haven’t had a chance to listen to this episode yet. I know that in the beginning they talk a bit about the offensive line and Alex Boone wants to see a bit more out of Abe Lucas moving forward.

Mike Macdonald made his regular appearance on Seattle Sports.

If you have videos or more than you want to share, please do so in the comments.

Don’t miss Thursday’s litany of SEAHAWKS FILM STUDIES including Drew Lock.

If Darnold only misses 1-2 games, it would be a lucky non-break for the Seahawks.

In Drew Lock’s first extended appearance since the final game of 2024 with the New York Giants, Seattle’s backup quarterback went 16-of-22 for 187 yards and a touchdown. Give some credit to the offensive line against an admittedly-weak looking Patriots pass rush, as Lock went 12-of-15 from a clean pocket per Next Gen Stats. Week 1 was cited as a “top-four career game” for Lock.

NGS also noted that Lock is the first backup QB in history to throw a touchdown pass in the reigning Super Bowl champions’ first game back he next season.

For whatever that’s worth. I am planning a longer stats-related post later today, so subscribe to Seaside Joe not to miss anything.

Lock averaged 0.30 EPA per dropback, which would have been the fifth-best such game of Darnold’s 2025 season. He was as good as anyone could have asked for in that situation and now Lock will have 10 days to prepare for his first start in over a year and a half.

In his last three career starts, Lock is 57-of-77 (74%) with 6 TD, 1 INT, and 8.4 Y/A, 1 rush TD, and he’s only been sacked once.

Shout out to Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s YAC on the touchdown pass (which had an expected YAC of 6 yards and JSN took it for 41) but Lock is playing the role of backup better than most backups.

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If reports on Thursday are accurate, he will only need to maintain that for one or two more games.

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Lock entered the game on the second drive and helped lead the Seahawks to a 13-10 win over the New England Patriots on Wednesday night, as he finished 16-of-22 with 187 yards and a clutch fourth down pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba that tied a game that felt like it would never break in Seattle’s direction. It wasn’t an earthquake, but you could feel a collective sigh from the crowd as the Seahawks escape the first game with a 1-0 record.

Lock wasn’t a player that anyone expected to see tonight, but the result is just as sweet.

Sam Darnold’s indefinite absence

Six plays into the season, the Seahawks lost Sam Darnold to an apparent hip injury and as of this writing are awaiting test results to assess the severity of the damage. In the interest of avoiding speculation, the only thing that felt “good” about it was Darnold’s ability to walk off of the field under his own power, but he was immediately ruled out and had to leave the stadium to get tests done off-site.

If Lock isn’t starting against the Cardinals in Week 2, it would come as a major surprise. If Seattle’s offense, defense, and special teams play as well as they did on Wednesday — minus the penalties — the Seahawks shouldn’t have much to worry about.

Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 122 yards. He had 10 games with at least eight catches last season, six games with over 122 yards. JSN is off to the expected start and this time he proved he’s still an elite weapon with either quarterback.

Brian Fleury strong debut

As if calling plays for the first time in your career isn’t enough pressure, Fleury had to do so with the surprise announcement that Lock was going to play 95% of the game. The score doesn’t do him justice because Fleury passed with flying colors. This fourth-and-1 call to Smith-Njigba is just one example of numerous highlights:

Jadarian Price had a successful debut as well with 10 carries for 52 yards and two catches for six yards. George Holani had eight carries for 29 yards.

Brady Russell had two catches for 20 yards, the first touches of his career, which is what I predicted would happen. Sure enough, Fleury plans to use Russell as his “Kyle Jusczcyk” for the time being.

Nehemiah Pritchett, Rodney Thomas II pick up the slack

It was a star turning night for Pritchett, coming up with two huge pass breakups (including one against A.J. Brown that resulted in an unlucky ankle injury for New England’s top receiver) and a concentration interception.

Pritchett was a strong tackler also, stopping the Patriots late in the fourth quarter to force a third-and-1 instead of giving up a first down.

Thomas assisted on the interception and was flying around the field in his Seattle debut, elevated from the practice squad just hours before the game.

Finally, Josh Jobe intercepted Drake Maye on the final play, sealing the 13-10 win. It was called a “bad decision” by everybody and I’m not too surprised that it happened. I like Maye, but he finished last season as the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. Not that he’s bad, he’s just not as good as “second in MVP voting” and “second in the Super Bowl”.

If you think that I’m underrating Maye, and that’s fine if you do, then the Seahawks defense is even better than they were last season: Maye had 178 yards, 5.4 yards per attempt, one touchdown, and three interceptions with a passer rating of 54.9.

They did that without Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada.

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Elite run defense

The Seahawks were better against Maye because they were ELITE against the run. Seattle held New England’s running backs to 62 yards on 24 carries (2.58 YPC), as Maye had almost half of the Patriots rushing yards. That kind of run defense moving forward will keep the Seahawks atop the defensive standings, and will be key against Arizona’s duo of Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier.

Uchenna Nwosu was Seattle’s most obvious front-seven player, snuffing out New England’s plays practically before they even called them.

Nwosu had five tackles, one TFL, and one batted pass. Ernest Jones led the team with 13 tackles. Drake Thomas had a tackle and a sack. Julian Love had two tackles for a loss. Derick Hall and Leonard Williams each had a sack. Rylie Mills and Byron Murphy each had a tackle for a loss.

Michael Dickson gives Patriots a show again

After a field-tilting performance in the Super Bowl, Dickson was just as good on Wednesday, punting five times with an average of 45.4 yards per punt and three punts landing inside the NE10. In a low-scoring game in which Seattle’s offense had to rely so heavily on Seattle’s defense to give the Seahawks a chance to win, the importance of an elite punter and coverage unit can’t be overstated.

Jason Myers shook off the preseason, making all three kicks, including a PAT.

Cooper Kupp is quality, not quantity

Midway through the third quarter, it wasn’t hard to notice the players we weren’t noticing, specifically Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed. Both players had zero catches at that point. Then Kupp did this and it was huge:

Kupp had two catches for 35 yards. Shaheed had one catch for four yards. A.J. Barner had two catches for 13 yards. I don’t think I saw Elijah Arroyo one time.

Penalties a problem

10 penalties for 98 yards. If the Seahawks had lost, penalties would have been a big reason why. I’m not the type to call for conspiracies and I won’t start tonight. I just think some of the calls on Seattle, and non-calls on New England, were wrong. It would have sucked to lose after feeling that way, but I don’t think there’s a conspiracy behind it. I just think some of the questionable calls hurt the Seahawks more than they hurt the Patriots.

Ultimately, there were some sloppy penalties on Seattle that they deserved. Possibly related to Lock being inserted into the game unexpectedly, and because it’s Fleury’s first season/game. If Fleury installed some new pre-snap motion plays, those are the kinds of calls that get the most flags because they require so much discipline.

I do expect fewer penalties next week. But based on tonight, expect the unexpected.

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The live chat for the game will be created 30 minutes before kickoff, so if you go there now and think “What do I do?” just wait until tonight it’ll be there!

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We’ve had tremendous activity in the game chat in season’s past, so I hope to see you there!

Seahawks rule out Ty Okada

Okada’s injury was the latest one to creep up, which always feels like the one that will end up forcing a player to miss the game. As such, Okada has been ruled out, while Nick Emmanwori and Tory Horton are both listed as questionable. I’m sending this newsletter out only a few hours before we get official word on Emmanwori and Horton, so the story may be updated by the time you read this.

If that’s the case, check the comments for updates.

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The Seahawks have no “official” safety on the depth chart behind Julian Love and Okada, making this loss one of the more unpredictable outcomes for Seattle’s defense. Of course, Emmanwori is a safety too but has not really been used in the same capacity as Okada, nor would he be. And even so, Emmanwori hasn’t practiced since training camp started and may not get a full workload if he’s active, which seems unlikely.

The wild card on the 53-man roster would be the recently-acquired Avery Smith, but he’s primarily a cornerback and he’s barely had a week to practice with the Seahawks. Plus, if Emmanwori is out, Smith’s role may largely come in the slot.

This helps explain why the Seahawks have four safeties on the practice squad:

• A.J. Finley

• Rodney Thomas II

• Maxen Hook

• D’Anthony Bell

It is presumed that Bell would be one of Seattle’s two allotted practice squad elevations because he’s spent so much time filling in for Emmanwori in training camp. Of the other three, Thomas has by far the most experience. Thomas has almost 2,000 career snaps, while Finley only has 75 and Hook has zero.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Thomas is the preferred option, but if you had to make a bet on the tiebreaker then experience would be one of the most important variables.

It could also be that Bell is not elevated—especially if Emmanwori is active—in which case maybe it’s Finley or Hook with Thomas.

Losing any starter is not good, and safety was already the thinnest position, but as long as the Seahawks still have their advantage in the trenches and key players like Devon Witherspoon and Ernest Jones, Seattle’s defense should be in fine shape against the Patriots.

We’ll see about it—and talk about it—tonight. Hope to see you in the chat!

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You may hardly recognize the Patriots who show up on Wednesday night in Seattle.

Offense (Super Bowl) vs (Week 1 2026):

• Seahawks bring back top 9 players in snaps

• Seahawks bring back 13 of 14 top players in snaps

• Patriots bring back 6 of top 7 players, 9 of top 11

• Patriots lose 4 of top 14 players in snaps*

*If Treveyon Henderson doesn’t play (he probably won’t) that’s a fifth player who played in the Super Bowl who won’t play in Week 1.

Most of the attention has gone to New England’s efforts to get Drake Maye better weapons, replacing Stefon Diggs (45 snaps in the Super Bowl) and Kayshon Boutte (52 snaps) with A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. But that’s not even half of the story.

The Patriots will have one new offensive line starter, but have changes at two positions: Alijah Vera-Tucker is the new left guard, and Jared Wilson has moved from left guard to center.

Tight end Austin Hooper played 31 snaps in the Super Bowl, but New England’s new TE2 is rookie third-round pick Eli Raridon. He’s someone to watch in the red zone as early as his first career game. Also, I wrote about how 22 and 21 personnel and Brady Russell could have a surprisingly increased role in Week 1 for the Seahawks, and similarly the Patriots brought in fullback Reggie Gilliam this year, suggesting increased snaps for a role that didn’t matter to New England that much in 2025.

Henderson is a player we probably won’t see in the backfield, as he has not practiced in two weeks. That would leave Rhamondre Stevenson as the Patriots’ lead back (both were irrelevant against Seattle in the Super Bowl) and Corey Kiner, an undrafted free agent in 2025 who was just traded from Arizona to New England.

If that were not enough, Mack Hollins had a huge role in the Super Bowl, playing 51 snaps and leading the Patriots with eight targets. That’s not likely to be his role on Wednesday, as Demario Douglas and Kyle Williams will challenge him for that WR3 role and a surprise name, Efton Chism III, could move up the depth chart as well.

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Tally up the Patriots’ offensive changes:

• Offensive line: 1 new player, 2 “new starters”

• Wide receivers: 2 new starters, reformation of depth

• Tight ends: Hunter Henry still starts, depth is completely changed

• Backfield: Henderson probably out, Gilliam increases FB role

In comparison, the Seahawks bring back the exact same starting offensive line, the exact same 1-2-3 at receiver (only losing Jake Bobo as WR4 due to injury), the exact same 1-2-3-4 at tight end, and they even have the same RB2 they had in the Super Bowl because George Holani played 24 snaps.

We don’t even have to address the loss of Robbie Ouzts for the purposes of this exercise because he was out of the Super Bowl.

That makes just two notable changes on the Seahawks offense: Kenneth Walker will be played by Jadarian Price, Klint Kubiak will be played by Brian Fleury.

Yet the narrative has painted the Patriots as a team who overhauled their offense to “get better”, whereas the Seahawks simply “couldn’t keep the band together”. In reality, Seattle’s offense has continuity, experience, and chemistry.

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Defense (Super Bowl) vs (Week 1 2026):

• Seahawks bring back 14 of 17 players who played in Super Bowl

• Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen, and Boye Mafe are gone; Nick Emmanwori is likely out

• Patriots bring back only 11 of 20 players who were in the Super Bowl

• Totally overhauled the linebacker positions, depth

The Seahawks let go of a starting safety, Bryant, who was essentially created by Mike Macdonald; Bryant was a backup corner prior to 2024. Woolen and Mafe were rotational players at their positions, but the media has framed these losses as “huge”.

There’s no question that Seattle is thin at safety with injuries to Emmanwori and Ty Okada. They’re still on the Seahawks, however, whereas the Patriots felt they needed a complete do-over at certain positions:

5 linebackers who played in the Super Bowl are no longer on the Patriots.

Along the edges will be new starters Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder, the latter being an undrafted free agent in 2025. The backups are rookies Gabe Jacas (round 2) and Quintayvious Hutchins (round 7).

The Patriots have also replaced safety Jaylinn Hawkins with 33-year-old Kevin Byard. New England will have the same corners and defensive line as they had in the Super Bowl, but still had far more turnover than Seattle. It’s just that nobody wanted to frame it that way for some reason.

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Special Teams (Super Bowl) vs (Week 1 2026):

• Seahawks coverage unit: 7 of top-10 are back

• Patriots coverage unit: 9 of top-13 are gone

I’ve written in the past how Seattle had phenomenal retention of their elite special teams unit from last season. Their only hit there was Dareke Young, prior to the loss of Jake Bobo. They were in the top-10 for special teams snaps in the Super Bowl, as was Velus Jones, and he’s on the practice squad so technically he could be elevated and play.

The Patriots are much different. The highlighted players are gone:

And Ponder has a starting role on defense. Will he play on special teams?

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“New” England, but Better England?

Change isn’t a bad thing, and continuity isn’t always a good thing. The Patriots clearly did have problems at receiver and along the offensive line in the playoffs last season (which is why I didn’t think they were a worthy Super Bowl rival, even though so many in the media picked “Drake Maye” to win) and addressing those needs with A.J. Brown and Alijah Vera-Tucker makes all the sense in the world.

Maybe New England will prove to be a bigger threat to Seattle’s defense than they were in the Super Bowl.

But when the media has been caught desperately seeking reasons to doubt the Seahawks, they’ve only managed to come up with “losses” like Walker, Woolen, and Kubiak. Whereas in the Patriots case, when they can only cobble together Dre’Mont Jones and leftovers at edge rusher, somehow that story never crossed my desk? Despite New England also being a Super Bowl team from last season.

Will the Patriots be better or just different? Will the Seahawks be better for the sake of being mostly the same? One thing is for certain: Seattle’s recent injuries have been far more “taxing” than any salary cap.

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Seaside Joe 2736

Now 97-percent of you believe that the Seahawks will comfortably beat last year’s AFC Champions. That’s progress.

The average score, as explicitly stated already, was 27.4 to 15.5. Just six people boldly went over 40 points, and zero Seahawks fans believe the team will fail to reach double digits. Basically 2/3rds of you landed in the 20s and 1/3rd in the 30s.

On the Patriots, the answers were much more consistent, as 30% of you predict that New England will score exactly 17 points. Another 17% predict 13 points. I think it is probably more likely that the Seahawks will hold the Patriots to single digits than it is that Seattle will score over 40.

This should not be an easy game, so any final with the Seahawks ahead will be satisfactory.

What I’ll monitor after the game:

• Did the Seahawks score more or less than 27.4?

• Did the Seahawks allow more or less than 15.5?

Of course, I’ll also track the individual predictions:

Sam Darnold, 251.8 passing yards

Jadarian Price, 77.5 rushing yards

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 101.4 receiving yards

I won’t track these just to see if we were right or wrong, but to monitor how expectations change during the season as new data points are created in real time. If Darnold struggles on Wednesday, how much could that impact expectations of him going into Week 2? If Price rushes for 120 yards, how does that change the way fans think of him?

Obviously, if George Holani or someone else were to have a big game, the names on the survey would have to change as well.

Speaking of, here were your answers for Offensive and Defensive standouts:

Offensive Player of the Game:

• QB Sam Darnold, 43.3%

• WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 36.7%

• RB Jadarian Price, 9%

• WR Rashid Shaheed, 5.7%

• TE AJ Barner, 3.7%

• WR Cooper Kupp, 1.7%

Ironically, Kupp had a better Super Bowl than JSN and Shaheed combined. It doesn’t mean that he’ll do the same against the Patriots this time, but if we were betting on this, I’d like those longshot odds.

Defensive Player of the Game:

• DT Byron Murphy, 35%

• DE Leonard Williams, 27.7%

• LB Ernest Jones, 17.3%

• CB Devon Witherspoon, 16%

• S Julian Love, 4%

We know that the answer could end up being someone not on the list, such as Josh Jobe or Drake Thomas. There are plenty of worthy options. But of these ones, fans are expecting it to be someone on the defensive line.

Interestingly, there’s a heavy burden on Love now as the only healthy safety on the 53-man roster now that Ty Okada is missing practice as of Sunday. It’s “iffy” that Nick Emmanwori will play, putting D’Anthony Bell in position to possibly start just days after he was added back to the practice squad.

Most Receiving Yards Among These Options Only:

• WR Rashid Shaheed, 51%

• TE AJ Barner, 40.3%

• WR Cooper Kupp, 8.7%

Shaheed led the Seahawks in receiving once (Falcons) and was second once (Colts) and wasn’t even close in any of his other games with Seattle. Expectations are sky high going into this season because of Shaheed’s chance to get a full offseason in with the team, so fans are looking forward to seeing results. If that doesn’t happen immediately, like Shaheed has one catch for 10 yards or something, I expect there to be some panicking about his contract.

Even if it’s rational to be patient.

Special Teams Player of the Game:

• P Michael Dickson, 64.3%

• RET Rashid Shaheed, 20.7%

• K Jason Myers, 15%

Hard to believe a kicker’s stock could tank from the preseason, but we’d be foolish to think that’s having no impact on Myers here. Dickson was phenomenal in the playoffs last year however and pinned the Patriots at the 6 or better three times in the Super Bowl, so that doesn’t hurt his score.

Patriots Stats:

• QB Drake Maye, 216.5 yards

• WR A.J. Brown, 67.7 yards

• Patriots rushing, 85.1 yards

One person left the comment “Who cares?” on A.J. Brown’s stats, which could be a fair question without context. The context is that fans usually care when the Seahawks shut down the other team’s number one receiver. When Richard Sherman was the best corner in the league, it mattered to go back and see that he didn’t allow anybody to get 100 yards on him.

If we get to Week 6 and nobody has had 100 receiving yards against the Seahawks, that will become a narrative to track.

Maye had over 217 passing yards in 14 of 17 games last season, and two of four playoff games. He had 295 passing yards in the Super Bowl, but a lot of that came in garbage time.

The Patriots were held under 85 rushing yards six times, including the Super Bowl (79 yards). AJ Brown had over 67 yards eight times last year and that was with Jalen Hurts.

What other predictions do you have? Do you agree with these results?

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Based on how this week goes, we’ll decide how to form these Pack-12 questions in the future. You’ve submitted hundreds of ideas, so I have plenty of changes to consider already.

Seaside Joe 2735

A special teamer whose only career “touch” is a fumble recovery, Russell could be offensive coordinator Brian Fleury’s one chance this season to mold a player into Seattle’s version of Kyle Juszczyk. Given that no offense was even close to as dependent on using two running backs in tandem as Fleury’s 49ers were last year, the odds that Russell will become the most unexpected first down weapon in the NFC West went up tremendously when Ouzts went down.

In one player, the NFL could get the most famous “Brady” and the Seahawks could get their most famous “Russell” in the history of both organizations*.

*no disrespect intended to Russell Okung or Kyle Brady

Is Wednesday’s game against the Patriots going to be the birth a new Brady Russell?

Take the Seahawks-Patriots Pack-12 Survey if you didn’t already!

Seahawks vs 49ers personnel tendencies

A recent podcast about the Seahawks from The Athletic Football Show highlights that although Mike Macdonald is the mastermind of Seattle’s success, it’s the changeover from Klint Kubiak to Fleury that will probably determine how far Seattle goes this year as compared to last.

I think most people are afraid to criticize the hire because of his association to Kyle Shanahan (imagine how much vitriol there would be if Fleury had the same lack of experience but with the Browns instead of the 49ers) but also wary of supporting the move because he was just an analyst only a few years ago.

The tenor isn’t excitement or panic, it’s just curiosity. “What’s this guy going to do?”

If replicating Shanahan was easy, everybody would do it, to some degree or another. The problem is that calling offensive plays is chess, or poker, it’s not like playing a video game. There’s no way to guarantee success by gaining experience or using a cheat code. Fleury’s either going to have the brain for it or he isn’t, and nobody’s going to know how they feel about the hire until months from now — and even those initial first-season reactions could prove to be totally off-base three or four years afterwards.

John DeFlippo was once the hottest coaching name in the NFL after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017. Now he’s an offensive analyst at the University of Kansas.

Fleury’s arrow isn’t point up or down, it’s just looking straight ahead of his first career game as an offensive coordinator on Wednesday. Where he goes from there is anyone’s guess, but most are looking for clues through San Francisco’s 2025 play calling tendencies, when Fleury was Shanahan’s run game coordinator.

That’s where Brady Russell comes in.

(Before I forget to do it, I’ll post a link to a new Jalen Milroe film breakdown video by J.T. O’Sullivan in today’s comments)

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Where the Seahawks and 49ers differed

As I wrote on Friday, I’m very optimistic about Seattle’s chances to be a legitimate top-10 offense and not because they’re buoyed by Seattle’s defense and special teams.

But that analysis was heavily based on players:

• Continuity with the offensive line

• Additional practice time for Rashid Shaheed

• Sam Darnold’s potential to be motivated and more confident

It was also an ode to offensive line coach John Benton.

There’s also the matter of play calling tendencies and how those players will be used. Defensively, Macdonald’s strength is knowing exactly how to use every chess piece on defense, leaning into what each player is good at and mitigating their weaknesses. It’s implied that whoever Seattle hired as the offensive coordinator, that coach would be able to do the same with the Seahawks’ offensive players.

Is Fleury going to merely copy Shanahan or do things his way? To some degree, it would be surprising if last year’s 49ers run game coordinator didn’t continue to do some of what worked in San Francisco and some of what worked in Seattle.

A lot of what worked for both teams was similar and the main difference comes down to the least expected offensive “starter”.

Low-Use of 11 personnel: Both teams

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For example, when asking fans which receiver on the bubble would be the “ideal” one to make the roster, the answer was practically a three-way tie between Emmanuel Henderson, Irv Charles, and Ricky White III. Of course, all three ended up on the 53-man roster.

Just kidding, none of them did. Montorie Foster, Jr. took that spot.

Which I think is absolutely awesome! None of us knew the answer, so it’s more exciting that it turns out that none of us could predict the real answer.

If it makes you feel better, Bryce Cabeldue won the “bubble OL” vote by a healthy margin and did make the 53-man roster, basically as the final piece. Patrick O’Connell, Connor O’Toole, and Nehemiah Pritchett were the top three finishers in a question about the best bubble defenders and also all made the roster.

I like surveys about the future because it gives us irrefutable context for what we thought before a game or a season, and then we can compare it with the results. Don’t take someone else’s word for it: Take your own word for it!

A lot of people don’t like predictions or making predictions because we don’t know what will happen until it happens. That’s the same reason I encourage harmless predictions like these ones. We can be even more surprised by what happens when it happens.

Worst case scenario? You’re right about everything!

We’re going to try something new this week and if it works, we’ll continue it every week (with improvements along the way). If it’s the first flop idea by Seaside Joe, then we’ll forgive me and pretend it never happened.

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The Week 1 survey

I created a 12-question survey about the first game of the season, which of course is when the Seahawks face the Patriots on Wednesday. Predictions about the score and the players, and then we’ll see how close our expectations are to reality.

A couple of notes:

• Don’t put a number to skew the average, give your honest answer

• Example: Seattle’s franchise record is 58 points. Answers over 58 will be deleted, whereas “57 points” will get a big eye roll, if not worse

• Sam Darnold averaged 238 ypg last season, JSN averaged 105 ypg, Drake Maye averaged 258 ypg, the Patriots averaged 129 rush ypg, the Seahawks allowed 92 rush ypg

TAKE SEAHAWKS-PATRIOTS SURVEY HERE

I’ll post the results in a couple of days. Be sure you are subscribed to Seaside Joe so you don’t miss them!

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Anyone can participate, so share this with other Seahawks fans too.

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Seaside Joe 2742

The Seahawks had a good offense last season, might they have a GREAT offense this season?

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Well, some of them did and not necessarily for long.

For example, Hard Knocks showed running back Justin Jones getting the news that he was not on the 53-man roster, but it didn’t feel like he was getting bad news. However, Jones wasn’t signed back to the practice squad and he’s still a free agent.

On the show we also saw players like Ricky White III, Aidan Hubbard, and Hard Knocks star Uso Seumalo find out that even if their time wasn’t now, they’d be on the “ready squad” and were still valuable members of the “70-man roster” (this irrationally bothered me because it’s actually a 71-man roster with the exception for Federico Marenges) going into Week 1.

I know that getting cut doesn’t mean that you won’t be brought back, but it took less than a week for Seumalo to get released. Seattle took Seumalo off of the ready squad to make room for Bobby Hart, the offensive lineman who the Seahawks released and didn’t sign to the initial practice squad on Monday.

Schneider and company reiterated several times throughout the episode that being cut doesn’t mean you’re off the team for good, that those players should always be ready for a call in the future (just ask Bobby Hart), but there is still a harsh reality (“hard knocks” so to speak) left on the cutting room floor of those claims: As I showed you from last year’s initial Seattle practice squad, most of those players are out of the league, whether they know it or not. They didn’t get another call.

Uso Seumalo isn’t out of the NFL.

That’s something I’m pretty sure about. Seumalo wasn’t drafted and he didn’t make the Seahawks 53-man roster and he’s already dealing with his first release from a practice squad before the first week, but there’s a very good chance he will be signing with a team soon, whether it’s Seattle or someone else.

Hart fills a much more obvious need for the Seahawks because Josh Jones is the only backup tackle on the roster. Seumalo fills no needs. Not right now.

But if Hard Knocks can bring back players who got cut, so can John Schneider.

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Samuel Garfield: Am I too late? I have questions.

No, you’re not too late. Thanks for the question.

(Just kidding. Pulling one of those “three wishes” jokes where the person uses up all their wishes on asking about wishes.)

Samuel Garfield: I already asked you for your “hottest take” earlier, but can we expand it to general “bold predictions” for the 2026 season? I trust Joe’s Bold Predictions more than any ESPN hack.

If I recall correctly, my hottest take was picking the Titans to make the playoffs. Something I already regret.

A quote usually attributed to Yogi Berra: "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

A relationship I’m curious to see develop this season is the one between Saints head coach Kellen Moore and quarterback Tyler Shough. He could soon be the best quarterback in the division, but the loss of Jordyn Tyson for two months has depleted the receivers room to the nth degree.

I’m curious if we might see a team go 0-17. The Dolphins, the Jets, the Cardinals, the Browns, and (sigh) the Titans would all strike me as capable of it. Maybe the Raiders too.

If there’s a “Jaxon Smith-Njigba” leap somewhere, what do we think about Emeka Egbuka being a sleeper to get 1,700 receiving yards? And a sleeper to take a big step forward in rushing yards: Blake Corum. He’s not even the Rams starter, but Kyren Williams has somewhat of an injury history and Corum is just more talented anyway.

I’ve already gone on record with Byron Murphy II as a sleeper to get 15 sacks. It’s a stretch, honestly. Murphy would be going above and beyond if he just reaches double-digits. But we haven’t seen what Murphy is capable of if Mike Macdonald unleashes him like he unleashed Nnamdi Madubuike in 2023 (13 sacks). Jalyx Hunt of the Eagles is another name to watch for potentially doubling his sack total (6.5) from last year.

The hottest coaching name on the market in January? Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker. That’s my prediction for who will be widely regarded as the next Mike Macdonald. Rams offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase is likely to be tabbed as the next branch from Sean McVay.

And a “surprise” contender to be in the AFC Championship? (Since I’ve already been adamant about my belief in the Lions as contenders in the NFC, alongside Seattle and L.A..) Most people would only make a half-hearted step like the Bengals, Jaguars, Chargers, etc.. Meh. We already know which teams are popular sleepers.

I don’t think I really believe this, but how about the Pittsburgh Steelers? I do think that Mike Tomlin was holding them back, if for no other reason than simply having too long of a run, which is exactly what happened to Pete Carroll. The Steelers just won the division last year and nobody really likes them at all. If there was ever a time for Pittsburgh, and similarly Aaron Rodgers, to break out of their playoff funk, it would be when nobody expects it.

What are your bold predictions?

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Samuel Garfield: The Seahawks have their 2026 starting roster. What’s Seaside Joe’s starting all-time favorite players roster? Based on whatever criteria you use to decide who your faves are; doesn’t have to be on the Seahawks!

Well, I can’t do a whole roster but I’d never do a “personal favorites” team without Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback, Walter Jones at left tackle, and Mack Strong at fullback. I’d have to have Marcus Trufant for the double-whammy Seahawks-Cougars at cornerback, so let’s do the same for Abe Lucas at right tackle. Marshawn Lynch at running back, Doug Baldwin as a slot receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the outside and opposite of Joey Galloway. Few Seahawks fans could leave off Kam Chancellor from such a roster, and on that note Kenny Easley.

Leon Washington and Percy Harvin returning kicks. Brandon Mebane and Michael Bennett on the defensive line. Bobby Wagner and Lofa Tatupu at linebacker. Devon Witherspoon as the inside-outside option at corner. I don’t know why, but Chris Gray is the first name to come to mind at guard besides that obvious Hall of Famer. Gray played some center too, so maybe he could slot there and then you’d have Steve Hutchinson and Grey Zabel. Call the middle of the offensive line “The Gray Area”.

A.J. Barner is quickly ascending the franchise’s all-time tight end list. I know I’m leaving off players like Steve Largent, he was just slightly before my time.

I think what strikes me most about the history of the Seahawks is that they’ve always had this blind spot for edge rushers. Aside from Jacob Green, nobody has been very dominant for very long. To the point where DeMarcus Lawrence’s name popped in my head as an option after only one season. Cliff Avril is certainly in the running too, but I got Julian Peterson’s jersey at a Ross once so I could never forget him.

I said I couldn’t do a whole roster, that wasn’t quite true. And you said I didn’t have to only pick Seahawks, but I’m not crazy, I know what time it is.

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IdahoFred: It seems like a bunch of the players we cut are signing with other teams. I seem to recall one or two signing with other teams but this year it seems like more than usual?

Here’s what I’ve seen:

• Jared Ivey claimed by the Falcons (53)

• Noah Igbinoghene signed with the Browns (53)

• Cody White signed with the Raiders’ practice squad

• Jamie Sheriff signed with the Rams’ practice squad

Does it seem unusual? Not really. There were 24 players claimed after final cuts, so that’s something that happened to more than half of the league. Then having a veteran sign with another team’s 53, it happens. White was picked up by Seattle’s former offensive coordinator on a team that might have the worst receivers room in the league. L.A. picked up one of Seattle’s leftovers, which isn’t much different than the Seahawks picking up Derion Kendrick last year.

“Unusual” would be if 3 or 4 players were actually claimed on the waiver wire. That feels like what happened to the Seahawks back in the 2013 era. This is more like the Seahawks didn’t like Igbinoghene as much as they hoped they would, but Cleveland is far more desperate. If the Seahawks had not gone out and signed Trevon Diggs and Terrion Arnold, Igbinoghene might have made the team, even though those other corners aren’t able to play yet.

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Ryan: Should we expect any more contract news for current Seahawks in the next two weeks? Thinking of Nwosu, Darnold restructure (not needed?), Jason Myers

I could be telling tales out of school, I see no need for the Seahawks ($27 million in cap space) to restructure Sam Darnold’s contract. For those who don’t know, a restructure means taking a player’s salary and turning it into a signing bonus in order to save cap space. Seattle would have to take about $11 million of Darnold’s due salary and pay it to him today. They’ve already paid out nearly $400 million in cash in 2026. I don’t know if they want to do that for Darnold when they don’t have any reason to save cap space.

I’m not envisioning an extension for Myers coming off of his worst career preseason. Maybe let him get his confidence back first, if possible? Hopefully not hurting his confidence if they hesitate though.

I think so far I’m the only person who has broached the idea of extending Uchenna Nwosu, but perhaps Schneider reads Seaside Joe; I’m not going to lie, I kept praying that somehow we’d get a screenshot from Hard Knocks of Schneider reading Seaside Joe on his treadmill desk.

Alas…One of you will have to share it with him.

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Under those conditions, Schneider was able to build a Super Bowl winner in only two offseasons.

The Seahawks might not have won the Super Bowl if not for Sam Darnold, and Sam Darnold would have never been able to sign with Seattle if not for the Minnesota Vikings. It was a decision to let him go that was NOT questioned at the time (I documented the Darnold-McCarthy swap reactions in a newsletter so that people wouldn’t forget that the narrative only changed once Darnold proved once and for all to be the far superior option…if not forever, then for at least 2025) but has since become daily fodder for Vikings fans to wonder:

“Why we do dat?”

As if the Super Bowl and J.J. McCarthy’s disastrous first attempt to be the starter weren’t enough evidence that Minnesota admits they made a huge mistake, the Vikings went as far to fire the GM who drafted him and then replace the GM with one of Schneider’s long-time aides.

Letting Darnold leave in free agency and then being replaced by someone who helped Darnold win a Super Bowl is like being a court jester who insults the king with a bad joke and then the executioner says something funny as the guillotine lops off your head, thereby becoming the king’s new favorite silly man. It’s literally adding insult to injury.

Vikings fans have been in agony since last year.

More specifically, they haven’t been in agony since Darnold was allowed to depart after a 14-3 season — again, most of them thought that move was GENIUS at the time. No, they’ve been in agony since roughly Week 2, when McCarthy threw two picks in a 22-6 loss to the Falcons and subsequently went on injured reserve to miss the next five games.

Week 1 should have been cited as a disaster too, but the Vikings mustered 21 fourth quarter points to seal a come-from-behind victory against the Bears.

When McCarthy returned to the field midseason, he threw four touchdowns and seven interceptions in the next four games, completing 52.5% of his passes for 5.3 yards per attempt, each start worse than the one before it. If you thought Darnold was bad in his Week 10 start against the Rams (when he completed 66% of his throws for 6.3 yards per attempt and still almost beat the second-best team in football), just imagine something far worse…every week.

(If at any point this feels like piling onto J.J. McCarthy, which seems unnecessary given how deep he’s already buried, it’s only because of circumstantial reasons; you can’t tell the story of how dumb it was to lose Sam Darnold without clarifying how bad the 2025 season went at quarterback AND that how was absurd it was to be that confident in McCarthy given his lack of experience.)

As of September 2, the Vikings have named Kyler Murray as the starter and appear to be leaning towards Carson Wentz as the backup, with McCarthy as QB3. The team initially kept Max Brosmer (the QB who some hailed as the next Brock Purdy prior to his start against the Seahawks last year) but they’ve since waived him and gotten him onto the practice squad.

It’s easy to imagine McCarthy falling into the same limbo as Trey Lance, Anthony Richardson, and Zach Wilson — quarterbacks that teams quickly realized should not be on the field until they get more experience, which is the paradox you think it is — and therefore never escape purgatory. (It’s past the point of the NFL needing to work out a deal with the UFL to let these quarterbacks play spring football, because that’s where McCarthy and Richardson belong.)

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Good idea, bad reaction

Former Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah may have had the right idea when he signed Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract and drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick. Although McCarthy, Michael Penix, and Bo Nix were all considered closer to “day two prospects” up until the moment they were picked in the top-12, making him a reach by most standards, it is what happened nonetheless. The Broncos seem happy with their decision, at least.

The problem wasn’t the initial building of the quarterback room to replace Kirk Cousins, it was the reaction to Darnold’s first season with the team.

• The Vikings went 14-3

• Darnold had 35 touchdowns

• Justin Jefferson could be happy

This should have been Minnesota’s opportunity to solidify something with Darnold, especially because it turned out his cost was not as dramatically debilitating as you’d expect from a Pro Bowl quarterback coming off of a career season. The 3-year, $100 million contract that Darnold signed with the Seahawks would even allow Seattle to get out of the deal after one season if that’s what they wanted to do.

Instead, Darnold was used as the scapegoat for the Vikings losing their Week 18 game to the Lions and their wild card game against the Rams. A way for nobody else in the organization to have to take accountability…except the guy who was leaving anyway.

Simultaneously, Adofo-Mensah was able to turn the team over to his quarterback draft pick at a time when he thought the Vikings were too good to fail given that they had Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and a team that just won 14 games.

Some fans are now citing Minnesota’s decision as “one of the worst front office moves in the history of the NFL,” something none of them felt was happening at the time news broke that Darnold would not be re-signed.

On the Vikings Collective podcast, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis cites the Darnold-McCarthy swap as historically-bad process:

“(The McCarthy disaster) is interesting because what goes along with it is one of the worst front office moves in the history of the NFL, letting go Sam Darnold to have him go win the Super Bowl and turning it over to someone who’s having to fight for his life to be a backup in the third preseason game of his third season. That’s why it’s interesting. Otherwise, (drafting a bust) is fairly common.”

It’s still hard to believe that nobody in Minnesota saw this coming at the time.

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John Schneider’s best move?

If we start the timeline at 2024, after Carroll was fired, then Schneider’s best move was arguably his first move:

Hiring Mike Macdonald to be the head coach.

The decision to fire Pete and keep Schneider was largely centered around finding the right coach, and the belief even before firing Pete that Macdonald was that coach.

If winning the Super Bowl wasn’t enough of an endorsement for Macdonald, then certainly Hard Knocks has turned him into a national superstar.

In the 32-33 months since then, Schneider has layered a lot of great moves on top of one another:

• Drafting Byron Murphy

• Drafting A.J. Barner

• Re-signing Leonard Williams

• Trading for Ernest Jones

• Extending Julian Love

• Acquiring Josh Jobe

• Hiring Klint Kubiak

• Signing Sam Darnold

• Signing Cooper Kupp

• Signing DeMarcus Lawrence

• Trading Geno Smith

• Trading DK Metcalf

• Drafting Grey Zabel

• Drafting Nick Emmanwori (trading up for him)

• Drafting Rylie Mills, Tory Horton, and Robbie Ouzts in one fifth round

• Trading for Rashid Shaheed

This is excluding moves we can’t be as sure of yet, but may include extending guys like Charles Cross, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Derick Hall, Shaheed, and Devon Witherspoon. It may include hiring Brian Fleury.

In a way it doesn’t feel like the Seahawks have made as many changes this time as they had to make from 2010 to 2012, but in another way it feels as though Schneider’s had so many more overall wins this time.

Since 2024, does he even have any Ls?

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What is Schneider’s worst post-Pete move?

There are a few, but none are detrimental.

Hiring Ryan Grubb

This feels more like bad circumstances than bad process. The Seahawks couldn’t hire Mike Macdonald as the head coach until so late in the cycle that there were not many qualified offensive coordinators available anymore. Seattle took a shot on Grubb and it didn’t work for them, but he continues to be one of the most successful coordinators at the college level. It won’t be long before Grubb is running a program and he could come back to the NFL eventually.

Bad 2024 free agency

The Seahawks signed Laken Tomlinson, Tyrel Dodsen, Jerome Baker, Connor Williams, Laviska Shenault, Johnathan Hankins, Rayshawn Jenkins, and K’Von Wallace. Some of them were gone by midseason—the linebacker signings in a way still helped lead Seattle to Ernest Jones—and nobody was left by 2025. Hankins was perhaps the closest thing to a good signing that year.

This free agency class also emphasized why Seattle’s free agency process is better than most: No good acquisitions, but there wasn’t some ungodly bill left to pay. The Seahawks were not only able to move on quickly, they had plenty in the bank for Darnold, Kupp, and Lawrence.

In fact, Seattle’s only “bad” free agency move of 2025 was signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a loss of only $3 million.

3rd round—not much yet?

Since 2024, the Seahawks have drafted Christian Haynes, Jalen Milroe, and Julian Neal in the third round. It is, at least, worse than Schneider’s returns in the fourth and fifth round over the same period of time.

We’ll see what happens with these players—I mean, I’m not calling Neal a “fail” by any means before he even get started—and Milroe is coming off his most encouraging NFL appearance thus far.

If it seems like I’m “reaching” to come up with bad moves…I am!

Could you think of any? Or what’s his best move?

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Last night, my wife had to preface a compliment by saying “I’m not trying to glaze you or anything” and certainly I’m not trying to do the same for Schneider either. We’ve got decades of evidence in NFL history that supports the idea that even the best front offices have good years…and bad years.

Hell, we wouldn’t have to look any further than John Schneider. He knows the feeling of a bad streak.

Right now he’s on a hot one. And at the center of that fire is Minnesota’s red-headed stepchild.

Seaside Joe 2739

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