3 positives for the Seattle Seahawks ahead of Week 7 matchup versus Cardinals
- Seattle gets a key offensive lineman back in Week 7
- The kicker is good again
- LOB 2.0?
By Lee Vowell
![](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1995,h_1122,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/36/01hdbrcem76t6zh79xe3.jpg)
The Seattle Seahawks are off to a 3-2 start. While Week 1 was an ugly loss, Week 6's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals is forgivable. The Bengals have shown themselves to be a good team over the last few years.
Seattle sandwiched three victories between those two losses, and Seattle has an excellent chance to win again in Week 7. The Arizona Cardinals are feisty, but not overly talented, and the Cardinals are 1-5. Plus, Seattle will have their home crowd behind them at Lumen Field.
There are several positives for Seattle heading into the game as well. One is a part of Seattle's defense which suddenly looks good again. Another is that the Seahawks are getting arguably the best offensive lineman back on Sunday.
Seattle Seahawks get left guard Damien Lewis back
Damien Lewis has been the Seahawks best offensve lineman over the last couple of years. He was a top 20 guard in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) and while he is only 33rd in 2023, most of the reason for that is he had a bad first game. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, Lewis allowed 5 quarterback pressures and 4 hurries. In weeks 2 through 4 he allowed only 2 pressures total and no quarterback hits.
Plus, anyone who watched Phil Haynes step in for Lewis in Week 6 - Lewis missed Week 6 with an ankle injury - knows that there is a massive difference between Lewis and anyone who might replace him on Seattle's roster. He will make the run blocking better and protect Geno Smith more. Having Lewis back should mean a better game for the offense overall.
Jason Myers is becoming more like Jason Myers again
Had Pete Carroll managed the clock a bit differently at the end of Week 6, Seattle could be 4-1 now. Seattle had the ball on fourth down with about 2:20 left in the game and down 17-13. Had Seattle kicked a field goal to make it 17-16, they should have still had the 2-minute warning and two timeouts left. The way the Seahawks' defense was playing and how poorly the Bengals' offense was executing, Seattle likely would have gotten the ball back.
I say all that to point out that with two Jason Myers field goals, Seattle might have won the game 19-17. Myers got off to a relatively rough start to 2023 and had as many missed field goals through the first two games of this season as he did in all of 2022. Since then, though, he's been back to his solid self and has made 8 of 9 field goal attempts, including one from 55 yards in Week 6, in his last three games. As Seattle is likely to play a lot of close games the rest of the season, Myers could have a very positive impact on Seattle's push to make the playoffs.
The secondary is still healthy
To begin the year, Seattle didn't have rookie corner Devon Witherspoon or safety Jamal Adams. Then Witherspoon came back in Week 2 but fellow corner Riq Woolen was injured in Week 2 and missed Week 3. Adams returned for nine defensive plays in Week 4 before he was concussed, but he played in Week 6. In fact, Week 6 was the first time this year that the Seahawks had all of the key pieces of its secondary - this includes corner Tre Brown, too - together. And the secondary looked very good against Cincinnati.
As long as Seattle's secondary can stay healthy, the unit should be excellent. The group is likely the most talented unit Seattle has had since the Legion of Boom years. But let's hope I didn't just jinx them for Week 7.
More Seattle Seahawks news and analysis
manual