Join our LIVE Seahawks-Patriots chat with us tonight to talk with other fans during the game. I’ll post a link here to join the chat if this is your first time, and you can get the Substack app if you’d rather talk to me on your phone.
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!
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.
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!
I had a dream two nights ago where Spoon lined up in a two high safety set. My dreams seem quite real many times.
My biggest concern is the extreme noise level aimed at their Offense, making it necessary for our Defense to use hand signals to communicate adjustments. I think this explains why we do so well on Road Games. New guys and rookies will be unfamiliar with most of it all, which is Key to how we baffle their play designs.