Grading the Seahawks in their Week 3 loss to the Falcons

The Seahawks defense was once again not good and Seattle fell to 1-2 in 2022 with a loss to the Falcons in Week 3. Here are the final grades.

One of the biggest concerns coming out of Week 3 was that this was a game that this year’s version of the Seahawks should have been seen as winnable. There aren’t too many other games like that on the schedule.

There is plenty of blame to go around, of course. The offense scored just 3 points in the second half after looking really good in the first half. But the defense was especially bad the whole game.

There were at least a few good things to come out of the game. One is that a couple of the rookies made some big plays. Another is that DK Metcalf was used more correctly. A third is that Rashaad Penny got the ball a bit more, if still not enough.

How did the Seahawks grade in Week 3?

Quarterback

Can we just put to bed the notion that Geno Smith is the problem with the offense? Yes, he threw an interception at the end of the game on 4th down a very long but he had to try something. Otherwise, Smith was 32 of 44 for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns. Many of his throws were darts in tight coverage. The offense overall needs to be better but Smith doesn’t.

Grade: B

Running backs

Rashaad Penny got stuffed a few times but also broke some decent runs. He got the ball three out of the first four plays and that is what should have kept happening. He averaged 4.7 yards on 14 carries. Ken Walker broke off an exciting run for 21 yards but was stuffed his other two carries. Pete Carroll after the game, though, said Walker missed assignments and alignments on a few plays, one of which resulted in Smith having to take a 3-yard loss.

Grade: B

Wide receivers/tight ends

The Seahawks still haven’t found a third option at receiver. Smith completed 3 passes to wideouts not named Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf and should have had 4 but Marquise Goodwin dropped the ball. Metcalf had a drop as well but otherwise caught what he should have including his first touchdown of the season. Lockett caught 9 of his 11 targets.

The tight ends overall were very good catching the ball. They were targeted a combined 9 times and caught every one of them. Will Dissly caught his second touchdown pass of the season.

Grade: B

Offensive line

The Seahawks averaged 6.1 yards per play, so that is solid. But the line got no consistent push in the second half. Left guard Damien Lewis had two drive-killing penalties, one on the final drive after Seattle could have been set up at the 10-yard line of the Falcons. Lewis also gave up a sack. On the positive end, right tackle Abe Lucas continues to be a beast.

Grade: C

Defensive line

I am not sure where the line would be this season without 35-year-old Al Woods. He was good again and had 5 tackles. Poona Ford was credited with a quarterback hit. But otherwise, Seattle was gouged running the ball once again. The Falcons averaged 5.8 yards per carry which is atrocious. Sure, the linebackers are supposed to clean up but the D-line is supposed to take up blockers and they aren’t, other than Woods.

Grade: D+

Edge rushers/linebackers

The good part? The Seahawks had 3 sacks. Oh, wait. One of those was by a cornerback on a blitz. Seattle had 6 quarterback hits but the pure edge rushers had just 2 of them. Seattle’s linebackers also still have coverage issues this year. The Seahawks needed to release Bobby Wagner because of the size of his contract but they definitely miss him on the field.

Grade: D

Cornerbacks

Mike Jackson. Oof. He had a terrible game and almost on his own kept Falcons drives alive in the first half with two bad pass interference calls. That’s when he wasn’t giving up completions. Coby Bryant had a nice sack and didn’t seem to have his name called too much, so that’s good. Tariq Woolen got the first interception of his career at the end of the first half. But Jackson alone was enough to get Seattle beat.

Grade: D

Safeties

Seattle needs to try to sign Landon Collins. He would be a natural fit at strong safety in place of the injured Jamal Adams. Josh Jones, like Jackson, was an easy target for the Falcons. Plus, Jones took some horrible angles on attempted tackles allowing the Falcons to gain more yards on runs than they should have. Seattle simply can’t win with Jones and Jackson starting.

Grade: D

Special teams

Nothing to dislike here. Jason Myers made all of his field goals and has done a much better job on kickoffs this year by getting the ball into the opponent’s end zone for touchbacks. Michael Dickson punted twice and each one was inside the Falcons’ 20.

Grade: A