The Seattle Seahawks, our defending Super Bowl champs, took a tough L on the road against the Washington Commanders this past Sunday, dropping their first game since Week 12 of last season. We lost 31-33, and honestly, even with three turnovers gifting Washington 21 points and an ineffective run game, this feels like one we absolutely let slip away. While Sam Darnold showed he can lead this offense even when the ground game isn’t there, the snap counts from this game are screaming some interesting things about our depth, especially on offense.
Offense Had Its Moments, But the Backfield Is Wild
Look, outside of those brutal turnovers, the offense had a solid day. Darnold was doing his thing, but man, the run game was a struggle, and the snap counts at running back are raising some eyebrows. Former undrafted free agents George Holani and Emmanuel Wilson both outsnapped our 2026 first-round pick, Jadarian Price! Now, Price did leave the Week 2 win against the Arizona Cardinals due to injury, so maybe this isn’t a huge red flag just yet. The bigger concern right now is probably ball security, not his snap count.
Elsewhere on offense, the right guard spot saw a pretty clean 60/40 split between Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens. Over at tight end, it’s pretty clear A.J. Barner is the guy. There’s a massive gap between him and Eric Saubert or Elijah Arroyo, who both finished with just 18 offensive snaps. For our receivers, All-Universe Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the undisputed top dog. Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed are seeing snap counts similar to last season, which is solid. Keep an eye on Tory Horton though, he’s still working his way back, but we’ll need to see if he can earn more reps in the coming weeks.
Defensive Playmakers Stepping Up and Special Teams Bosses
On the defensive side, there weren’t a ton of shocks, which is often a good thing! Nick Emmanwori got 36 defensive snaps in just his second game back after offseason surgery, which is great to see him getting back in the mix. But Nehemiah Pritchett playing over half of the defensive snaps? That’s definitely noteworthy. This marks the third time in three games this season he’s played more than fifty percent of defensive snaps, something he’d only done twice in his entire career before this year! That’s a huge jump, and it shows the trust the staff has in him.
And when it comes to special teams, it’s still Brady Russell’s world and we’re all just living in it. He led the Hawks with 28 special teams snaps, just like he has in recent seasons. Mike Morris was right behind him with 24 snaps, which is awesome to see in his first regular season action.
So, yeah, a tough loss, but it’s early. We gotta clean up those turnovers and get the run game figured out. Keep an eye on Price’s snap counts, how Tory Horton progresses, and if Pritchett keeps racking up those defensive reps. The season’s a marathon, not a sprint, and these Hawks are still our champs. Let’s see how they bounce back next week, Emerald City!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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