Seahawks-Dolphins: Hot, Medium, Mild performances

The best, worst, and middle performances by Seahawks against the Dolphins: Seaside Joe 2031

On two different occasions in the first quarter, commentator Trent Green accidentally referred to Miami’s quarterback as “Skylar Murray”. Which would have been the worst broadcast offense if the day if not for Kevin Harlan thrice saying ”Smith-Najinga”.

By the fourth quarter of this game, any play by the Dolphins that was going in the right direction started to feel like a Kyler Murray razzle dazzle touchdown. It never was a touchdown—the Seahawks kept Miami from reaching the end zone in Seattle’s 24-3 win at home—but nothing got Harlan and Green more fired up than third string quarterback Tim Boyle completing a pass, any pass, in the fourth quarter.

I have to apologize to you for underselling the importance of Tua Tagovailoa and overselling the potential of Skylar Thompson last week. If the Dolphins could have started Andy Dalton on Sunday, this game would have had a different score, if not a different result.

The Seahawks did not play as well as you’d expect of a team that beats a 2023 playoff team by three touchdowns.

The offense turned the ball over two times and failed to score points on six straight possessions, including an interception at the end of the third quarter that could have given Miami life again. Coincidentally in the Seaside Joe live chat, I sent the message “The Seahawks can’t lose this game unless they turn the ball over” a few seconds before they turned the ball over.

When it was 17-3 in the fourth quarter, Seaside Jay walked into the living room after a long absence and asked, “How is that still the score?” That sums up the mindset I was in between the 71-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf on the first play of the second quarter and the Zach Charbonnet touchdown run with five minutes left in the game that finally made it 24-3.

But it just didn’t really matter because Skylar Thompson did not play well enough to be considered a backup NFL quarterback and then after he left with an injury in the third quarter, was replaced by Tim Boyle, a quarterback with 10 career interceptions in five career starts who was added to the roster

I’m not going to stop writing that the Seahawks beat a bad team if the Seahawks did beat a bad team and the Dolphins have played like one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. However that really does not matter because Seattle’s only goal is to win the most games.

That’s it. There’s nothing in the rules that says you have to have the best wins or that certain wins have different win values.

In the NFL, the goal is not to win every game, it’s to win the most games. It’s not even to win the most games. It’s to win the most games in your conference. And even then, sometimes you can have the same number of wins as three other teams and still get the number one seed in the playoffs. Best-worst case scenario, you just have the most wins in your division and you get to host a playoff game.

It does not matter if the Seahawks look good, bad, or ugly when they win. They just need to stack as many wins over the bad teams, the good teams, and the 49ers as they can and make sure it’s more wins than their opponents.

Now at 3-0, the Seahawks know that going into their toughest test of the season next week, a Monday night game taking them back to Detroit, that no matter what happens they’ll still be in first place in the NFC West in Week 5.

NFC West

Seahawks, 3-0

Cardinals, 1-2

Rams, 1-2

49ers, 1-2

Here are the players who came out as Hot, Medium, and Mild in Week 3’s 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Hot

RB Zach Charbonnet

There were some moments there when I felt like I couldn’t possibly give Charbonnet a “Hot”, there’s no question that the burst isn’t there like it is with Kenneth Walker (getting run down by a DT on a screen play specifically), but how can I not after he had a touchdown run that RIVALS the best ones by Walker?

In the words of Jon Gruden, “There are good burgers and there are great burgers. There are good running backs and there are great running backs.” On that play, Charbonnet looked like a great running back. He also finished with 91 yards on 18 carries, so yeah we can clean some things up but this is his best career game.

WR DK Metcalf

In the vision board preview this week, I highlighted DK Metcalf for his rare ability to “physically dominate” any cornerback in the NFL and that was as apparent in Week 3 as it was in Week 1 and Week 2. His hands must have their own area codes because he holds onto this football like most of us would grip a pen:

Did DK Metcalf get any 10 or 15-yard penalties call on him?

But he also finished with 104 yards, including 71 on one play. I haven’t seen the leaderboards for most 50-yard touchdowns this season. It’s starting to look like with Ryan Grubb he could lead the NFL in 50-yard touchdowns.

With back-to-back 100-yard games, Metcalf’s season is off to the start he’s hoping for given that in many ways 2024 is a contract year. He seems more comfortable and has a higher awareness near the sidelines this year, plus his speed is showing up on those long touchdown plays as none of these NFL-quality athletes can catch him.

Mike Macdonald pass rush

The Seahawks finished with a total of six sacks: Derick Hall had two, while Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, Tyrel Dodson, and Boye Mafe each had one.

The Jones sack, it seemed like Thompson was out of his mind already because he mishandled the snap and was already fumbling after Jones had easily beaten left tackle Terron Armstead. Hall’s sacks, one of them it was like Thompson was blind or paying no attention. The Seahawks got the pressure and then Skylar Thompson helped them finish the play off in a way that Jacoby Brissett wasn’t willing to do last week because he’s selfish.

I think the Tyrel Dodson sack was the clearest example of “the Mike Macdonald blitz package” so far this season. This is what we want to see four or five times per game:

I give credit to the players and they might just be touching the surface of being comfortable with the playbook and the scheme. I just give the game ball to Mike Macdonald this week.

TE Noah Fant

For the first time in his career, Noah Fant caught every single target in a game in which he was targeted more than four times. Fant finished with six catches on six targets and gained 60 yards. Let the word spread to all the nearby villages: “Seaside Joe doesn’t keep players out of the Hot Zone just because he’s been criticizing them a lot lately.”

We saw all four tight ends get snaps on Sunday and three of them caught passes: A.J. Barner caught all three targets and gained 13 yards, while Pharaoh Brown made his debut and caught one pass for nine yards on two targets. I think Grubb feels more comfortable in his offense with having Brown back, and maybe Fant is better off when Grubb doesn’t have to use him in roles he’s not good at.

RT Stone Forsythe

Seaside Jay predicted that Forsythe would have a great game and I know he was getting shouted out in the Seaside Joe live chat for good play throughout. Can’t wait to find out what the people who talk about offensive line say about Seattle’s offensive line this week.

I’m cutting off the Hot Zone here because I am already behind, so if you think I’m leaving out an egregious and obvious “Hot” here, please tell me in the comments:

Medium

WR Tyler Lockett, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Lockett had 46 yards on five catches, JSN had 39 yards on three catches, which were all three targets he had on Sunday. I was surprised that the Seahawks didn’t lean on JSN more given how he played in Week 2 and that Seattle had such a long scoring drought. Neither of these receivers did anything wrong that I can recall, they just didn’t get a featured play like Metcalf did on the touchdown. Really the difference in how a player is perceived can often come down to just one play.

QB Geno Smith

How could any of us be upset with Geno Smith after watching 12+ quarters of Bo Nix, Jacoby Brissett, Skylar Thompson, and Tim Boyle from the other teams?

I actually was not too mad at Geno Smith for his two interceptions. The tipped pass at the line of scrimmage, that type of stuff happens every single game. With almost any quarterback there are going to be plays that balls get tipped or dropped that are intercepted or almost intercepted. If the ball wasn’t intercepted, we wouldn’t even remember the batted ball probably. The other interception was not necessarily a bad decision because we’d be praising Geno for the play of the day if the toss was accurate, and so the resulting tip and interception was a matter of inches.

If he takes the sack, the Dolphins get two points and the ball probably around their own 40-midfield. I do think that’s preferable to what happened, which was allowing a field goal, but maybe only because the Dolphins offense was so incapable of moving the ball with Thompson that we have to assume they wouldn’t have scored on their next possession.

At one point, Smith dropped a shotgun snap. It’s one of those moments that would turn most average quarterbacks into Will Levis, but Smith was pretty cool about picking up the ball and throwing a near-first down to the king of near first-downs. With so many quarterbacks losing games for their teams this season, Geno Smith is 3-0.

CB Devon Witherspoon

I want to start by saying that one of Devon Witherspoon’s only “weaknesses” as a draft prospect was being too handsy and drawing more penalties than the average. He had at least a couple of them on Sunday and they were earned, from what I could see.

Both teams were penalized 11 times and the Seahawks lost 92 yards on those plays. It was an issue on both sides of the ball and those yards will matter in games against quarterbacks.

LB Tyrice Knight

No matter how the analytics or the film shakes out this week, Tyrice Knight was pushed into a start in his third NFL game and Seattle held their opponents to three points, which came on a 2-yard drive. I had no qualms with how Knight played and he finished with six tackles. Drake Thomas had some snaps on defense too, finishing with three tackles and a pass defensed.

K Jason Myers

Good from 56, not good from 53. That’s not a bad average from 53 and 56.

Who did I overlook for the Medium?

Mild

G Anthony Bradford

From one disappointing Bradford to another. The penalties. The pressures allowed. The role he plays in Seattle’s turnovers and punts. At this point I’m less worried about Anthony Bradford’s ability to play in the NFL than I am about the guards behind him who don’t play. Not to make this a Kyler Murray post but his reaction to Aaron Donald retiring out of the NFC West could never ring more true than now.

P Michael Dickson

He’s been average, at best.

Injuries

These players are not mild, they’re hopefully just marinating. The Seahawks ruled out Byron Murphy II and Leonard Williams following injuries during the game. Williams missed most of the game with a rib injury, while Murphy came out in the second half with a hamstring injury. Macdonald didn’t have any relevant updates on either after the game.

I will post the rest of my post-game comments in the comments section at SeasideJoe.com.