Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks finally got themselves a quality win – and they needed it big time.
With a surprising 34-14 blowout of a red-hot Falcons team that had won three straight, the Hawks avoided the dreaded four-game losing skid that might have been the death knell for any playoff hopes (just one team out of 15 in Seattle history had overcome a streak of four or more losses to make the playoffs).
And now the question is whether they can sustain it.
“It was inevitable that (adversity) would happen, so you want to see a rebound,” Julian Love said. “We’re still learning how to win as a team. … We’re still building; we’re still learning who we are as a team.”
They seemingly learned a lot in the week of preparation, which helped them overcome their ongoing injury adversity (a league-wide epidemic) and get a big win against a team with a really good offense.
With the 49ers losing to the Chiefs, the Hawks (4-3) moved back into first place in the NFC West and gained plenty of confidence that they should have a chance against AFC power Buffalo, which comes to Seattle in Week 8.
Of course, it wouldn’t be another week without another notable injury: DK Metcalf has a sprained knee that will have him questionable for Buffalo.
“It doesn’t look like it’s a long-term injury,” Macdonald said. “And you guys know DK. We know DK. He’s gonna probably do anything humanly possible to be able to play in this game, I would imagine. And we’ll assess it as the week kind of unfolds here.”
Before that happens, let’s look at some of the reasons for optimism and some of the lingering concerns about this Seahawks squad.
What if DK can’t play?
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is still used incorrectly and to little effect. He is averaging a putrid and paltry 8.6 yards per catch – he gained just nine yards on three catches in Atlanta. So this would be a chance to expand his usage, if Ryan Grubb could figure it out.
Meanwhile, Noah Fant has started to emerge, with 10 catches in the past two games.
“We have a huge amount of confidence in our guys,” Macdonald said. “We’ve got a deep crew. Like, Jake (Bobo) stepped in yesterday after DK went down. And then the way that we’re built, all three (receivers) can kind of play all three spots where you can mix and match. … And then you can go to two-tight end packages. There (are) things you could do with Ken or two tailbacks. There (are) lots of options at our disposal that are in the system. … You’re never gonna fill the shoes of a DK Metcalf, but you can kind of work around it in certain ways.”
Right tackle spot on the mend
Rookie RT Michael Jerrell, a rare Division II draft pick by John Schneider, was pretty solid as he filled in. Smith certainly helped him by stepping up and away from pressure. Jerrell had a key block on Kenneth Walker’s 20-yard TD run.
Macdonald said George Fant could return in Week 8, and Abe Lucas could start his 21-day practice window at any time now. That spot is getting stronger.
Walker’s ‘sick’ game
Walker played ill on his birthday but still scored twice. Smith quipped the double entendre: “That was sick.”
Walker reminds us a lot of Curt Warner. He’s a cutback king. And he did it several times against the Falcons because the interior line was once again ineffective.
The Hawks rank toward the bottom of the league in blocking win rate for both the pass and the run, and the run part showed up yet again. Walker got a nice hole on his 20-yard scoring dash, thanks to Jerrell and Christian Haynes. But he made most of his 49 other yards on his own.
We’re now 41% of the way through the season, and it seems unlikely that the interior is going to get much better.
Backup DBs picked up the slack
The defense has taken the bulk of the injuries so far this season. Just as the line got back together, the secondary fell apart. With 60% of the top five out, three backups started alongside Love and Devon Witherspoon in Atlanta.
Coby Bryant, rookie Nehemiah Pritchett and practice callup Josh Jobe all held their own against a pretty solid group of receivers that had put up some big numbers at times this season. Bryant picked off a pass and led the team with 11 tackles. Love played a great game as well, getting a pick and finishing with nine tackles.
“No flinch,” Macdonald said. “I thought they played a great game, and they’ll learn from it and keep growing.”
Love said, “You need the guys who are called upon to step up and not drop below the standard that we’re trying to set. And so just a great, all-hands-on-deck game for us.”
Macdonald said Bryant is “just this guy who just keeps playing at a high level. And the game (is) slow for him and he just sees how plays progress. … He’s such a smart player.”
Remember, Bryant forced four fumbles as a rookie. As Love said, “The guy is always around the ball.”
Rising stars
Boye Mafe, Derick Hall and Witherspoon were involved in a stellar play that put the game firmly in Seattle’s hands early in the fourth quarter.
After Mafe smothered Kirk Cousins and knocked the ball loose, Hall picked it up and rumbled toward the end zone. Atlanta lineman Kaleb McGary had an angle on him, but Witherspoon sped from out of nowhere and launched himself into McGary, knocking him down around the 10-yard line and enabling Hall to finish the 36-yard runback.
Macdonald called Spoon’s play a “shocking effort” that exemplifies everything he teaches Seattle’s defenders.
“Just this shocking effort, man, and just this spirit and enthusiasm to go make a play for your teammate and be excited for it,” Macdonald said.
As for Mafe and Hall, Macdonald said he thinks both could be All-Pros: “The sky’s the limit.”
Rush, rush
We have resigned ourselves to this fact: As long as the 3-4 Seahawks do not have a standout nose tackle, they are going to struggle to stop the run.
Bijan Robinson ran all around and through them in the first half, rushing for 80 yards and a TD. He and Tyler Allgeier combined for 117 yards on 15 runs (7.8 per carry). The Hawks adjusted at halftime and held the talented duo to 22 yards on 11 carries.
“Just stop running lateral,” Leonard Williams said of the adjustment. “At one point in the game, they tried to get our D-line running sideways. We finally got to a point where we checked in with each other and were just like, ‘Let’s get vertical, let’s knock blocks back.’ The running backs were really good at trying to stay alive, so we’re always talking about that second, third and fourth man in.”
It helped that the game script made the Falcons feel like they needed to throw the ball in the fourth quarter. The Hawks took a 24-14 lead late in the third quarter, and that big play by Mafe, Hall and Spoon opened the floodgates with about 12 minutes left. Cousins got real skittish and ended up throwing two interceptions when pressured by Byron Murphy and Co.
“We knew from the film (that) Kirk didn’t like pressure, so we knew there’d be so many (opportunities) if we could put pressure on him — picks, turnovers, strip sacks, whatever,” Murphy said. “That’s what we did.”
The entire line got in on the act, with Williams and Dre Jones each getting a sack and new trade acquisition Roy Robertson-Harris being a big part of it from the get-go. Jones actually had his best game as a Seahawk, which included four quarterback hits and a pass deflection. And Murphy was very active in his first game after missing three (he is 4-0 in games he has played).
Was this a turning point?
Was this big road win enough to catapult the Seahawks on a new winning streak? Buffalo and the Rams are next, then the bye, then the 49ers, who are as battered as the Rams. If the Hawks can win all three, they would be 7-3 and in complete control of the division.
“We grew as a football team this week, and now we have to keep it going,” Macdonald said. “We have to keep stacking these days, keep stacking our prep, take what we need to learn from this game and keep moving forward.”
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 
Re the run game, MacDonald seems satisfied with the DTs. He gets suddenly vague talking about the ILBs and safeties, which leads me to believe that the problem lies with them. Anyway, Bijan Robinson is awfully good and will put up numbers against even good run Ds. Nonetheless, the Hawks settled down in the second half and kept him and Allegeier in check (something like 11-22). Macdonald is a Coby Bryant fan—I look for CB to get more playing time.
As for the interior line—the guards, really—we’re seeing the fruits of Schneider’s myopia in refusing to “overdraft” and eventually—as he sees it—overpay guards. I like Zach Charbonnet, but was the point of using a second-round pick on a backup RB when plug-and-play guard O’Cyrus Torrence was there for the taking? A left side of Cross-Torrence-Williams would actually be credible.
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