The Seattle Seahawks have a classic trap game on tap this Sunday. They are playing a winless team that just lost their most important player. Seattle, on the other hand, is cruising along at 2-0.
Despite being without their own starting quarterback, the defending Super Bowl champs have not missed a beat. With the San Francisco 49ers looming two weeks down the road, how seriously will they really take the Washington Commanders?
It should be an easy win, but there are warning signs all over the place. This is the Seahawks’ 2026 incarnation’s first cross-country road trip. That always poses challenges. They will be taking on a desperate team eager to prove they can win without star QB Jayden Daniels. And they will be going up against two brand-new coordinators with no track record to prepare for.
3 matchups that will determine the Seattle Seahawks’ Week 3 battle with Washington
Mike Macdonald has been otherworldly effective at getting his squad ready for road games. I know he will preach the possibility of an upset all week, and I don’t expect Seattle to come out flat. But you never can tell.
In the end, three crucial matchups should go a long way to determining the outcome. Seattle appears to have significant advantages in some of these areas, but could struggle with a few of the others.
The big boys in the middle
Seattle’s single biggest advantage should come right in the middle of the field, when Washington has the ball and the Dark Side defense is standing in their way. This is true in most weeks, but it will be especially noticeable on Sunday.
Washington’s center is Nick Allegretti, a journeyman who has been a backup guard for much of his NFL career. The Commanders’ inexplicable decision to release 2025 starter Tyler Biadasz this offseason continues to haunt them. Next to Allegretti, left guard Chris Paul is another young vet who has been mediocre throughout most of his career.
Leonard Williams, Bryon Murphy II, Jarran Reed, and Rylie Mills should feast on the inside, stuffing the Commanders’ running attack and generating tremendous interior pressure on passing downs.
On the flip side, Washington’s new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones is a disciple of Brian Flores and shares his former boss’s passion for blitzing opposing quarterbacks. He must be drooling over the prospect of overwhelming whichever backup right guard – Christian Haynes or Beau Stephens – is on the field.
Daron Payne, Tim Settle, and Javon Kinlaw are all enormous men who will bull rush the middle of the line, and look for Jones to mix things up by having linebackers and safeties attack the middle from time to time as well.
The fast guys on the outside
Both teams will try to exploit matchups between their wide receivers and their opponents’ cornerbacks. No one has been able to cover Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the past two seasons. If he lines up against Mike Sainristil in single-man coverage on the outside, look for an Ohio State massacre of Michigan. Even if Washington avoids that, their zone coverage has been spotty, and Seattle has plenty of receiving talent to exploit soft defenses and shoddy tackling.
With Marcus Mariota under center, Washington will try to run. As noted above, they will struggle. They may have to lean on their best playmakers – receivers Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs, and emerging rookie Antonio Williams – to carry the offense.
If Mike Macdonald continues to shift Devon Witherspoon all over the field, it could fall to Josh Jobe, Nehemiah Pritchett, Julian Neal, and Avery Smith to stay with the Commanders' dangerous wideouts. They will remain in zone on most plays, but they will have to stay close and make sure tackles if they are to shut down the Commanders' offense.
Nick Emmanwori’s return to form should help this a lot, as it gives Macdonald an extra chess piece to play.
The crazy guys on punt coverage
Rashid Shaheed has yet to break a return this season. That is nothing to worry about. There have only been two games. Seahawks fans were spoiled last year when he was a threat to go all the way on every touch. This week offers him his best early chance.
The Commanders have a solid punter in Tress Way, but the coverage units have been iffy. Former Seahawks mainstay Nick Bellore retired this year, and athletic linebacker Jordan Magee is on IR.
Washington still has former All-Pro Jeremy Reaves, although his special teams play has fallen off since he has been tasked with playing more on defense. The Commanders have other good athletes, but safety Tyler Owens is the only truly dangerous player they put out on the coverage units.
What’s more, with their offense struggling, Way is rarely in position to pin teams deep. Instead of kicking toward the sidelines, field position often dictates that he has to boom the ball as far as he can, which can lead to opportunities for Shaheed.
When Seattle has to punt, Washington’s Jaylin Reed has been reasonably effective as a returner. But unlike Way, Michael Dickson has been sensational at putting his punts out of play deep in opponents' territory. Seattle boasts standout coverage players like Brady Russell, Tyrice Knight, and Chaz Surratt, but so far this year, they haven’t had to do anything because Dickson has yet to allow a punt return.
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