Four Seahawks players who have saved Seattle's season (so far)

The Seattle Seahawks have had the ultimate roller coaster so far in 2024. The team began 3-0, then lost five of six, but have since won their last two games and are back in first place in the NFC West. Still, Seattle is just 6-5, as are the Arizona Cardinals, and the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are 5-6. The division is still anyone's to take.

The positive part for 12s is that in the last three games, Seattle's defense seems much better than it was earlier in the season. The unit looks much more like what 12s hoped it would when Mike Macdonald was hired to be the head coach after the 2023 season. For the team to have any chance at the playoffs, that improved play must continue.

Some players deserve a lot of the credit for Seattle's recent turnaround. The players that follow might be able to lead the Seahawks to the postseason. Once there, Seattle could be a very dangerous team.

Four Seattle Seahawks who deserve a lot of credit for the team's recent turnaround

Linebacker Ernest Jones IV

When Jerome Baker was traded to the Tennessee Titans after Week 7, the news was more that the Seahawks had given up quickly on one of the two linebackers signed in free agency this past offseason in part to replace Bobby Wagner. Jones had been a decent player in his first four seasons, but his move to Seattle did not seem to impact the defense all that much.

Well, he did. After a poor first game after only having a few days to practice with the team, Jones has been excellent in his last three games with Seattle. He still has not been credited with a missed tackle with Seattle, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but he has had double-digit tackles in three of his four games.

Jones also seems to be a perfect fit in Mike Macdonald's defense. He is a free agent after this season, but he might be the top priority for Seattle to re-sign, especially if he keeps stopping the run as well as he has since being traded to the Seahawks.

Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Through the first seven games of the season, even including one game when JSN had 12 catches for 117 yards against the New England Patriots, Smith-Njigba appeared to be trending toward being a first-round disappointment. Not a bust because he had produced some, but he did not look like the player who would eventually take a lot of Tyler Lockett's targets.

How things have changed over the last three games, though. He has 367 yards receiving, 23 catches, and three touchdowns over that time. His yards per catch have increased a great deal as well. Now, JSN not only looks like a steal at pick 20 in the 2023 NFL draft, but he might be one of the best wide receivers in the league.

Safety Julian Love

Love was signed in free agency in 2023 and the assumption was that he would be the third safety in the rotation behind Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs. Then Adams got hurt (of course) and Love took his reps. In the games where Love got at least 44 percent of the defensive snaps, the Seahawks' defense averaged seven points a game less than when he played less. Despite Pete Carroll and former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt not playing Love as much, he still made the Pro Bowl.

He appears on track to make another Pro Bowl this season, too. He has been a consistently high performer and plays the pass as well as the run. According to PFF, he is graded as the tenth-best safety in the league in 2024. He has 21 run stuffs and has allowed just 9.3 yards per catch when he has been targeted. Thankfully, Love signed an extension before the season that will keep him in Seattle through 2027.

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams

After a lull in the middle of the season, Williams' play has picked back up to his previous levels in the last three games with perhaps his best game in a Seahawks uniform coming in Week 12 against the Arizona Cardinals. Williams had seven total pressures, including 2.5 sacks, and a tackle for loss against Arizona.

Some were concerned that Williams was too expensive to re-sign this offseason, especially as he is now 30 years old. That worry appears to be moot, though, as Williams is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He is undoubtedly Seattle's best and most versatile defensive lineman and his presence makes others around him better.

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