Tag Archives: Uchenna Nwosu

#HOUvsSEA

Defense dominates; Mike Mac dreams of ‘all three phases clicking’

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“Just imagine when it’s all three phases clicking.” – Mike Macdonald to his team after a mistake-filled 27-19 win over Houston

If you had told us the Seahawks would score 27 points and beat Houston by eight on Monday night, we would have taken that. Heck, we still will – since the Hawks moved to 5-2 and kept pace with the NFC leaders with a 27-19 win.

But, as the quote above shows, even Mike Macdonald was dreaming about the blowout that should have been – and the day his team plays a complete game.

Early on, it looked like this might be one of those. The Hawks jumped to a fast 14-0 lead and kept threatening to blow the game wide open in the first half. But they kept turning the ball over, committing penalties and having other odd things happen. What should have/could have been a 24-0 halftime lead instead was just 14-6. And despite their dominant defense, the Hawks never could put away the Texans until the final seconds.

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#SEAvsJAX

The formula for winning: Darnold, JSN and D-line

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The Seahawks’ most reliable factors so far this season have been their QB1-WR1 connection, their defensive front and their special teams. They lost to the Bucs last week largely due to a rare bad game by the defensive line.

They won 20-12 in Jacksonville today because that unit returned to dominance and helped out Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who continued to play as well as any QB-WR duo in the NFL.

Last week, Mike Macdonald said Baker Mayfield had too many “Mississippis” (a reference to the old backyard football pass rush rule). Well, the Seahawks got to Trevor Lawrence after one “Miss” on half of his dropbacks today.

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Training camp

10 days in, what are the Seahawks doing and saying?

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The first 10 days of Seahawks training camp have been full of a lot of excitement, but also not without their disappointments.

John Schneider received a big extension, Sam Darnold has taken command of the offense, a couple of rookies – Nick Emmanwori and Tory Horton — have really stood out on both sides, and the defense appears to be in midseason form.

The latter is despite the absence of Uchenna Nwosu (PUP) and Ernest Jones IV dealing with the death of his father. The biggest injury loss has been at running back, where Kenny McIntosh suffered an ACL injury.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 15: Green Bay

Hawks renew Packers rivalry

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The 49ers were unable to knock off the Rams, who are hot on Seattle’s heels for the division title – which seems destined to come down to their Week 18 game.

The Seahawks (8-5) face the Packers (9-4) in a big Sunday night matchup, the first of two huge games against NFC North playoff teams. Both Green Bay and Minnesota (11-2) have excellent teams (top seven by EPA), and these games will show just how serious of a postseason contender the Seahawks might be.

The Seahawks and Packers have a rivalry that dates back to 1999, when Mike Holmgren was traded from Green Bay to Seattle. But they have not played for three years, so most of the faces in this rivalry are new.

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Coaches, State of the team

Players: Macdonald and ‘right coaches’ bring ‘urgency’

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Amid the hullabaloo by some overly nostalgic fans about Mike Macdonald’s rearranging of the VMAC, his players seem to get it. They know Pete Carroll’s missing hoop and the temporarily blank walls are a metaphor for a clean slate, a new beginning.

They also know the expectations are much higher now and being delivered in a more defined, exacting way than Carroll and his staff were doing over the last few years.

It’s all as it should be, and the smart ones – players and fans – understand that. The players who don’t won’t be around very long. And that’s as it should be, too.

The core leaders of this defense – Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu and Julian Love – sound bought in.

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State of the team

After 3-1 start, Hawks need to become more than just survivors

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The Seahawks spent the first month of the season merely surviving — overcoming a decimated offensive line, injuries in their secondary, big passing numbers from opposing quarterbacks and poor third-down performance on both sides, among other things.

They managed to hit their bye week at 3-1, thanks to an OT win in Detroit and victories over Carolina and New York, which are a combined 1-9 after both lost yet again in Week 5.

The Seahawks used a stunningly stout run defense, some big takeaways and some great offensive coaching to make it through the first month. Now they need their offensive line and secondary to get healthy so they can fix issues that otherwise will cost them against the good teams they are about to face.

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Contracts, NFL draft

How will Hawks make cap room for rookies and the rest?

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Upon completion of a draft that added 10 players to Seattle’s cap-strapped roster, John Schneider was asked whether he needed to make any contract-related moves to sign the rookies.

Schneider’s answer: “We’re OK right now.”

“Right now” is the operative phrase, as the Seahawks definitely will need to create about $4 million in space to sign the rookies before training camp. By the time the season starts, they also will need about $6 million for practice squad and injury moves. And they probably are budgeting about $2.5 million for Al Woods or another veteran D-lineman – which they need very much.

All told, the Hawks need about $12.5 million in added cap space.

So where do they get it?

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Week 1: Denver

Don’t write off Geno & the Hawks so soon

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“They wrote me off; I ain’t write back though.”

That was Geno Smith after winning his first opening-game start in eight years, against Russell Wilson’s Broncos on Monday Night Football.

It also could be the entire Seahawks team, which felt a measure of vindication after beating the highly favored Broncos and Wilson, Seattle’s longtime franchise QB.

Smith was nearly perfect in the first half and then fizzled in the second thanks to DK Metcalf’s fumble and the Broncos owning the ball for over 20 minutes. But the defense rose up and showed how improved it already is — and signs of how very good it may become as this season goes on.

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Free agency, The roster, X's & O's

Hurtt’s talk of 3-4 foreshadowed recent moves in front seven

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Clint Hurtt was not kidding when he said the Seahawks’ defense would be different in 2022.

After he was promoted to coordinator, he said, “The 3-4 system is something that I’ve really embraced and obviously Vic Fangio is a big influence. … There’s going to be some element of that. I will say we’re going to be multiple. …

“You have to adjust along the way,” he said, “and sometimes that means you have to adjust your scheme. That’s where we’re going into a transition right now.”

That transition has been very clear in the personnel moves the Seahawks have made in the first week of free agency. Gone are Carlos Dunlap, Kerry Hyder and Benson Mayowa – replaced by Uchenna Nwosu and former Seahawk Quinton Jefferson.

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Free agency, The roster

Hawks focus on familiarity, fit

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While the spotlight on the first day of the league year understandably was on Russell Wilson’s official departure from Seattle and arrival in Denver, the Seahawks were busy building back their roster.

By the end of the first day, they had seen five players depart, five return and six newly arrive (including the three they got in the Wilson trade) — leaving them with just four positions to fill (QB, LT, RT, RB).  

They are focused on their typical traits: familiarity, scheme fit, rehabilitating former high picks.

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