The Seahawks promised a new offense under Klint Kubiak — one focused on running the ball and misdirecting defenses to create a much more productive unit than Mike Macdonald’s team had with Ryan Grubb last season.
It all looked good in the preseason as the Hawks ran the ball with gusto. But that all disappeared in the 17-13 opening loss to the 49ers as Kubiak’s offense looked a lot more like Grubb’s than the one that was promised this year.
Continue reading What happened to Kubiak’s offense?
“It was our style of football” – Sam Darnold after a 268-yard rushing game in a 33-16 win over Kansas City
When Klint Kubiak arrived in New Orleans last year, he created a surprising early-season juggernaut that probably would have continued in similar style if the Saints’ top offensive players had not started dropping like flies.
That surely is one of the things that drew Mike Macdonald to Kubiak, who is from one of the NFL’s legacy coaching trees.
The Saints scored 91 points and ran for 370 yards in the first two games of 2024. He now has brought his versatile scheme and run-first philosophy to Macdonald’s Seahawks – and the preseason returns forecast a similar explosion for Seattle out of the gate in three weeks.
Seattle’s 33-16 win over Kansas City on Friday showed the very best of Kubiak’s offense. The Hawks followed up a 170-yard rushing performance against Las Vegas with 268 yards vs. the Chiefs.
As Sam Darnold said after his Seahawks debut, “It was our style of football.”
Continue reading ‘Our style of football’: Can Kubiak’s offense hit the ground running?We haven’t seen Sam Darnold and the starting skill players in action yet – that apparently will happen a bit this week against the Chiefs – but the first preseason game showed everything we need to know about what this Seattle offense is trying to do.
If it succeeds, as we expect it to, the Seahawks should be well poised to repeat their 2011-13 ascent and come away with a Super Bowl trophy in Mike Macdonald’s third year (like Pete Carroll did in his fourth year).
Let’s run through the similarities that make us think this is how it is going to go.
Continue reading Hawks are setting up for another 2012-13 runWhile we were enjoying a much-deserved getaway to Cabo, the NFL schedule came out and Vegas decided the Seahawks are going to win just seven games next season. What that means is there is a lot of money to be won by going against the oddsmakers right now – because there is no way the Hawks are going to be under double digits in wins.
Vegas had already released the over/under at 7.5 wins. Then the odds men added game spreads once the schedule was released, and those added up to seven wins, which would be the under. We’d bet big money on the over – the easiest money you might ever find in Vegas.
We project at least 11 wins from a team with a top-five defense, a pro offense with a veteran staff and skill players, and a softer schedule than the one that produced 10 wins in 2024.
Let’s take a look at the schedule and explain why Vegas is gonna get its ass kicked on pro-Seattle bets.
Continue reading Vegas has no clue on the Seahawks, who will win at least 11
The biggest question in the wake of the Seahawks’ highly praised draft is not whether Grey Zabel will become a standout guard or whether Nick Emmanwori will help the defense become elite.
Zabel and Emmanwori were stellar picks who almost everyone expects to become big contributors as rookies.
There certainly are other questions (from us, at least) about this class: Will Elijah Arroyo be able to unlock his physical skills in the NFL? Will Tory Horton also stay healthy and not become a later-round Paul Richardson? Will Rylie Mills (ACL) become what Aden Durde thinks he will?
All valid questions. But the very biggest is this: Will Jalen Milroe develop into Mike Macdonald’s version of Lamar Jackson? If so, how long might it take for that to happen?
Continue reading What are the odds Milroe becomes a star in Seattle?
Relationships make the NFL go round – and that was never more obvious than in all of the Seahawks’ dealings over the past week.
The franchise’s relationship with DK Metcalf soured to the point that he simply wanted to go play elsewhere. John Schneider said he could not work it out with Metcalf, so he traded him to Pittsburgh.
Then Geno Smith forced a trade when he and his agent refused to respond to Seattle’s fair contract offer – $40 million in 2025, per Brady Henderson. Whether Smith intended it or not, he got a reunion with his favorite coach, Pete Carroll, back in the NFL with the Raiders.
That might have left the Seahawks in a bind if not for Mike Macdonald’s preemptive move to hire Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator. Kubiak’s previous relationship with Sam Darnold made it easy for the Hawks to quickly replace Smith with Darnold.
Continue reading Kubiak ties to Darnold & MVS countered losses of Geno & Metcalf
The big question about new Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is very simple: Will he
continue to play like he did in Minnesota last season?
Matt Hasselbeck and others are confident he will.
Darnold struggled early in his career because he had really bad coaching with the Jets and Panthers. To his credit, he got out of that cycle and intentionally took a step back so he could learn how to play quarterback in the NFL.
Now he just needs to find that “clutch gene” to become Seattle’s franchise quarterback, Hasselbeck said.
Continue reading Hasselbeck: If Darnold finds ‘clutch gene,’ he can be a franchise QBThe Seahawks apparently were willing to pay $17 million a year for guard Will Fries but got beat out on guaranteed money.
The Vikings reportedly guaranteed $34 million in a five-year, $88 million deal. The Hawks reportedly were offering a three-year contract similar to what they gave Dre Jones in 2023.
The Hawks also reportedly wanted Fries to take a physical so they could check his broken tibia (suffered in Week 5 last year). But he apparently did not want to wait until today when he had other good offers.
So the Hawks are on to cheaper options. The top guys available all have flaws, but most of them likely would be upgrades over what Seattle has at guard right now.
Continue reading Free agency Day 3: Hawks apparently gave it a good shot for FriesAs expected, the Seahawks quickly agreed to a deal with Sam Darnold.
It was reported as $100.5 million over three years, with $37.5 million in Year 1 and $55 million total guaranteed. So essentially that is a two-year deal worth $55 million — $27.5 million a year. And then they will revisit in 2027.
If he continues to ascend his play under Klint Kubiak, he will merit a new deal. Otherwise, the Hawks set it up as a two-year trial — with many thinking (hoping) they will draft a QB this year or next.
Continue reading Free agency Day 1: Hawks get a good deal on Darnold
While the Seahawks are certainly likely to move on from a few highly paid players, one thing has become very clear over the last couple of days: Geno Smith and DK Metcalf will be back in 2025.
Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak both emphasized Smith is Seattle’s quarterback and said they have big plans for Metcalf.
In an interview with FOX 13, Macdonald said Kubiak will “utilize the entire roster,” Smith can help the Seahawks win the Super Bowl and Metcalf will be the “main focal point” of the passing game.
Macdonald seemed to put all of the scuttlebutt about Smith and Metcalf to rest with his strong words about both. And NFL Network also reported on Super Bowl Sunday that the Hawks plan to give Smith a raise while keeping themselves “flexible” to acquiring a long-term quarterback.
Continue reading Hawks will extend Geno; Kubiak has ‘best vision’ for using DK
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 