Seahawks report card: Defense shines in Week 6 grades

The Seahawks defeated the Cardinals in Week 6 19-9 to move to 3-3. There is now a three-way tie atop the NFC West with Seattle somehow being one of those teams. But the way Seattle won their third game of the year was different than in the two previous victories.

Basically, the offense was stymied by a good Arizona defense but Seattle’s defense had its best game of the season. The Seahawks did allow 315 total yards (still, not a lot) but 133 of those yards came on Arizona’s first two possessions. Seattle also stopped Arizona on the Cardinals last 11 third-down conversion attempts.

So is Seattle capable of making a run at the postseason this year? The answer to that changes week-to-week. But there are a bunch of teams hovering around .500 at this point so anything is possible.

How did the Seahawks grade in Week 6?

Quarterback

Geno Smith wasn’t perfect in Week 6 but didn’t turn the ball over. Several passes looked like they were being forced to DK Metcalf that missed their target, but only one of those seemed like it could have been intercepted. Smith also didn’t have a lot of time to throw and was sacked 5 times. He still managed to run 6 times for 48 yards, however.

Grade: B

Running backs

The first start of Ken Walker’s career was a good one. Arizona clearly wasn’t ready for his speed early in the game and in the second half, Walker had a phenomenal run where he broke what seemed to be a sure tackle and picked up a first down. Walker finished with 97 yards rushing and 13 receiving. Only DeeJay Dallas had any carries (only 2) besides Walker.

Grade: A

Wide receivers/tight ends

Finally, some receivers stepped up besides Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Dee Eskridge had 3 catches for 39 yards and Marquise Goodwin caught 2 passes as well. Metcalf and Lockett combined only for 51 yards receiving. Noah Fant wasn’t explosive but caught 6 of his 7 targets and picked up needed first downs.

Grade: B

Offensive line

The Seahawks offensive line had its worst game of the year. While the 49ers were much better than Seattle in Week 2, San Francisco didn’t get the constant pressure on Smith as the Cardinals did. The Seahawks averaged just 4.5 yards per play.

Grade: D

Let me pause here for just a second to remind everyone that the Seahawks never punted and scored on every drive but the last one when they ran out the clock. If some unit of the offense gets a B by anyone, they are simply being nit-picky and not fair.

Defensive line

Well, goodness. This group had by far its best performance of the season and that was even without Al Woods. The Seahawks had 6 sacks in the game and 3 of them came from the D-line. Poona Ford had 3 tackles for loss plus one of the sacks. 4 of Seattle’s 7 quarterback hits came from D-linemen as well. And while Seattle allowed 144 yards rushing, 62 of those yards came on a Kyler Murray run on the first drive of the game.

Grade: A

Edge rushers/linebackers

Steady if not spectacular in Week 6 for the linebackers but even this is an improvement. Plus, Jordyn Brooks seemed to play faster than in previous weeks. But Darrell Taylor finally had a solid game with a sack and a tackle for loss. Uchenna Nwosu also had a sack and a TFL.

Grade: B+

Cornerbacks/safeties

Ryan Neal showed again why he should have been playing most snaps after Jamal Adams was injured in Week 1 and not Josh Jones. Neal had a sack, a pass defended and a tackle for loss. But goodness are Seattle’s rookies good? Coby Bryant forced another fumble – his fourth forced fumble of 2022 – and Tariq Woolen recovered. Woolen also had another interception – his fourth in four games – and this one basically iced the game. Some of the sacks on Murray should be attributed to the tight coverage Seattle had in the secondary too.

Grade: A

Special teams

Jason Myers made all four of his field goal attempts and proved his worth once again. The kick and punt return teams didn’t really get a chance to do much. But the blocking on punts simply must be fixed. The Cardinals only got 9 points because Michael Dickson fumbled in his own end zone after a missed block and Arizona recovered it for a touchdown. Dickson averaged 48.8 yards a punt on six punts so he wasn’t the issue, the blocking was again.

Grade: C