A year ago at this time, Klint Kubiak had turned the Saints into the surprise of the NFL – leading an offense that had scored 91 points in the first two games.
He did not have nearly the same fortuitous start with his Seattle crew, but the Seahawks finally seemed to find their stride in the second half at Pittsburgh. Now, as Kubiak’s old team comes to town, we will see whether they can put together a full game.
Continue reading Can Kubiak and Co. keep it going now?
One of the most head-scratching things about the Seahawks’ loss to the 49ers in Week 1 was Klint Kubiak veering away from the formations we saw so much in the preseason, which had enabled a strong running game.
It led to a lot of failed early downs, which led to too many third-down failures and resulted in just 13 points off a 38-22 deficit in time of possession. While Kubiak kept his run-pass balance to a good ratio (26-23), he ran a lot of 11 personnel and the fewest play-action snaps in the league in Week 1 (just two). And Sam Darnold’s reads continually led to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so the Hawks had a very one-dimensional offense.
They cannot do any of that in Week 2 at Pittsburgh if they are going to avoid an 0-2 start, a hole that typically means just an 11% chance of making the playoffs.
Continue reading The real offense needs to show up in Pittsburgh
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?
The Seahawks have been plowing through the preseason, ramping up a running game that they plan to make the focal point of their offense in 2025. And it is looking more and more like the guy leading that ground attack – at least in the season opener vs. the 49ers — should and probably will be Zach Charbonnet.
Mike Macdonald seems frustrated that Kenneth Walker III (sore foot) has not been available, and he seemed to drop a huge hint that Charbs is probably the Week 1 starter when he said of Walker: “At some point, you’ve gotta do it on the field so you feel confident to go out there and execute at a high level and play your best football. So that’s something that we’re working through. He’s doing the best he can, and we’re doing the best we can as a coaching staff. We’ve just gotta work together on this thing as it unfolds.”
The way it is unfolding is for Charbonnet to be the main ballcarrier and Walker to potentially be the changeup – a home run back on a snap count.
Continue reading Charbonnet should start over Walker“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 run
Summer is still going strong in Seattle, which means there are more good times to be had before football season starts. But, for the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL, the preparation for football season starts this week.
It’s Year 2 of the Mike Macdonald era – with high expectations after his 10-win rookie season. The Hawks have a playoff-amenable schedule and an odd juxtaposition on offense and defense. The latter unit – a top-five defense — returns entirely intact, with two or three additions on top of that. The offense, meanwhile, is being rebuilt almost from the ground up – with just four definite returning starters (after Noah Fant was released this week) and a completely new staff.
It likely will take a while for the offense to jell. It starts with the line, which thankfully has a very solid left side in Charles Cross and rookie Grey Zabel but also has work to do at center and right guard. In the passing game, Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp need to get synced up. Ideally, Klint Kubiak and his familiar staff can work some magic with the running game early on, to take pressure off Darnold.
The schedule lines up for 11 or 12 wins, by our estimation. That would mean a playoff spot and a shot to do even more.
Continue reading Year 2 of Macdonald era starts — with playoff expectationsWhile 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 Seahawks have put together the most interesting quarterback room since Matt Hasselbeck and Super Bowl-winning QB Trent Dilfer came along in 2001.
Back then, Mike Holmgren – then in his third year – added Hasselbeck and Dilfer to replace Jon Kitna and Brock Huard. Hasselbeck came in a trade with Green Bay and Dilfer came from Baltimore after stepping in as the starting QB there and winning the Super Bowl the previous year. It took a year or so for Hasselbeck to fully claim the job over Dilfer, but then the Hawks went on a five-year run of playoff seasons that included their own Super Bowl appearance (and controversial loss).
Pete Carroll and John Schneider also cleaned house at the position in 2012, when Russell Wilson and Matt Flynn replaced Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst. Wilson won the job as a rookie and went on to become the best QB in franchise history, overtaking Hasselbeck for that honor, while leading the Hawks to their only Super Bowl title and another Super Bowl that should have been a win.
Now the Seahawks have wiped the slate clean again, with the hope that it will lead to more Super Bowl wins under Mike Macdonald, now in his second season.
Continue reading With Darnold and Milroe, QB room is most exciting since 2001The Seahawks are stoked about their 2025 draft and are getting rave reviews from fans and media as well. That’s great, but is this really the transcendent group so many seem to think it is? Will these guys help this team become a Super Bowl contender?
The Seahawks obviously aimed for explosive athletes — they apparently put together the most athletic Day 1-2 draft since 2003. But there is a lot more to playing winning football in the NFL than just being a great athlete.
Continue reading Will this class be as good as the excitement around it portends?
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 