Three weeks in and the Seattle Seahawks remain undefeated. Sitting atop the NFC West (3-0), the Seahawks extended their win percentage margin over division rivals with another victory this past Sunday. They blew out the Miami Dolphins, 24-3, in an effort that was primarily led by the defense and several offensive players.
It wasn’t a perfect game though. While Seattle did sizzle with two touchdowns and a field goal in the first quarter, the next 30 minutes of play were quite stagnant. Plagued by penalties and drives that mostly resulted in punts, the Seahawks had trouble regaining their groove until a Zach Charbonnet touchdown in the fourth quarter righted the ship once more.
Luckily for the boys in blue, Aden Durde’s unit continues to shine. From the rushers to the secondary, the Seahawks were a well-oiled machine on defense yet again. They made sure Miami would never find the endzone the entire evening, which was rather impressive considering how the Dolphins have very dangerous weapons on offense. Yes, the Dolphins did encounter more quarterback issues during the game itself — as Skylar Thompson suffered an injury just after Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion last week — but the likes of Tyreek Hill. De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle were still present on Sunday.
With plenty of momentum on their side ahead of Week 4, here are some overreactions for the Seahawks after their third victory of the season.
Overreaction #1: The Seahawks finish the year with a top-five defense
Guess who has the second-best defense in the entire NFL right now? Yup, Mike Macdonald’s squad. The Seahawks have given up just 248.7 total yards per game, placing them at the number-two spot behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, it remains a question whether or not they can sustain this the whole season, but a strong case can be made for that right now.
Seattle leads the league in passing defense, allowing 132.3 yards per game. In fact, their pass rush and coverage has been so good that they’ve managed to hold opponents to under 150 yards in each of their first three games — a feat that hasn’t been done since 1970. Against the Dolphins, the Seahawks tallied a total of six sacks, five of which were on Skylar Thompson. Their pass disruption was a big reason why Miami’s duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were held to just 66 receiving yards (combined). The secondary can also be credited here, as Tariq Woolen, Reyshawn Jenkins and the rest of the defensive backs made life difficult for Miami’s pass-catchers as well.
While the Seahawks’ rushing defense does rank in the middle of the pack (15th – 116.3 yards allowed per game), Sunday’s outing showed upside, as the team held the Dolphins to 65 yards on the ground. Miami RB De’Von Achane tallied just 2.7 yards per carry on 11 rushing attempts.
Overreaction #2: 2024 is Derick Hall’s breakout season
Two of the Seahawks’ six sacks came from Derick Hall, a second-year edge rusher out of Auburn. He also had four QB hits, five tackles (four solo) and a tackle for loss to end his evening on a high note. Last year, Hall appeared in all 17 games but he finished his rookie season without a sack. He recorded his first against the first Denver Broncos in Week 1. And on Sunday, he took down Skylar Thompson twice, with his second sack causing the quarterback to fumble the ball out of bounds, per NFL on CBS.
Hall — along with teammate Boye Mafe — now lead the Seahawks with three sacks apiece. Assuming this level of play continues, Hall will certainly have a campaign to remember once it’s all said and done.
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Overreaction #3: Zach Carbonnet shows leaps in improvement
When Kenneth Walker III went down with an oblique injury during the Seahawks’ season-opener, it was up to Zach Carbonnet to shoulder majority of the carries moving forward. While Carbonnet did have a touchdown against the New England Patriots in Week 2, he couldn’t seem to find any rhythm in terms of yardage. In 14 carries, he only put up 38 yards as the Patriots’ stingy defense held the Seahawks to 46 yards on the ground.
This past Sunday, Carbonnet stepped up. Scoring two of Seattle’s three touchdowns, the second-year running back tallied 91 yards and 5.1 yards per carry. He found open gaps and broke tackles constantly, as seen in how he spearheaded the fourth-quarter drive that led to Seattle’s third (and Carbonnet’s second) touchdown of the evening.
Naturally, Carbonnet will return to his RB2 spot once Walker returns from injury. Regardless, Carbonnet’s performance against the Dolphins indicates forward strides in terms of development. As long as he continues to step up when called upon, the 23-year-old could be granted more carries (as RB2) in the near future.
