The Seattle Seahawks play the Commanders from Washington, D.C., in Week 10 of the 2023 season. Seattle is 5-3 but coming off a bad loss in Week 9. The Commanders are 4-5 but coming off a victory last week.
Still, this should be a matchup that favors the Seahawks. Seattle is playing at home in Lumen Field (Washington does have a better record on the road than at home, though) and the team should be ready to make amends for the awfulness that happened in Week 9. Seattle must get a victory against Washington because the Seahawks schedule begins to get a lot tougher in a couple of weeks.
The Commanders ranked second-worst in touchdown passes allowed (19) and are 23rd in yards allowed per rushing attempt (4.3). Seattle should be able to be productive no matter if they are running or passing. Should being the key word there. And speaking of throwing the ball, let's start with DK Metcalf.
DK Metcalf feels the team needs to basically start over
So, forget what you saw, 12s. In fact, we probably should. Every team ever is going to have an atrocious game every once in a while. Seattle's 34-point loss to the Baltimore Ravens was only the second time Seattle has lost by that margin in the Pete Carroll-era. That is 14 seasons. Seattle has been more successful than most other NFL teams in that time and the Seahawks are still 5-3 even after getting blown away by the Ravens.
So what can Seattle do to fix the issues in Week 9 and get a victory in Week 10? DK Metcalf says it's simple: Wash out the loss, focus on the small things, and get a win this coming Sunday. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Metcalf said the team "gotta face the truth of what really happened...The move right now is come in here and fix our mistakes. Getting back to square one and the basics of football."
Honestly, while that is simple, that is also the correct way to refocus. What is a team supposed to do? Get down on itself and pout? Of course, not. Hopefully, the Seahawks will prove they are good at refocusing and turn the Week 9 beatdown into a Week 10 victory over the Commanders.
More Boye Mafe respect and the Seattle offensive line
Boye Mafe simply shows up and does his job well every week. He is currently on a six-game run of getting a sack in each game. Mafe is in the top 20 in the NFL with 6 sacks and many of the players with more sacks have played two more games. He missed Seattle's second game with an injury and Seattle has already had its bye week.
So why is Mafe better in his second season than his first? According to three Seahawks via Michael-Shawn Dugar of the Athletic (subscription required), it's because Mafe works harder than most. Safety Jamal Adams said, "(Mafe is) just consistently doing what he does best. He’s getting better." Pete Carroll said, "He’s come such a long way, you can see him so comfortable and so assertive now, it’s just different." And quarterback Geno Smith said, "You can tell he really hit the weights in the offseason."
Seattle is going to need Mafe to maintain his level of play. Many times he is Seattle's best defensive player and that could continue for the next five years.
What might be better in five years is Seattle's offensive line. Not that the problem for the unit is all inability. The Seahawks have been without right tackle Abraham Lucas since Week 1, for instance. Most other players have also missed time with injuries.
But Seattle still isn't ranked as the worst offensive line in the league, per Pro Football Focus (paywall alert). In fact, Seattle is ranked 27th entering Week 10. While that isn't great, the unit could be much worse with all the injuries they have had. Plus, Lucas should be back by Week 11. Once he returns then we can reexamine just how good the Seahawks offensive line really is.
National media makes their Seahawks vs. Commanders picks
So Seattle has to win in Week 10, right? A loss would drop the team to 5-4 and they would have lost to both the 3-6 Los Angeles Rams and the would-be 5-5 Washington Commanders at Lumen Field. Plus, depending on how the Seahawks were to lose to the Commanders, things could be really ugly. If Geno Smith has a bad game, lots of 12s will have very not-nice things to say.
But let's try to be positive. Yeah, Week 9 was ugly, but Seattle is the same team that defeated the Lions in Detroit and beat a tough Browns defense that shut out the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9. The NFL is a week-by-week business, though the Seahawks definitely cannot afford a repeat of what happened in Baltimore.
I think Seattle gets the victory over Washington, though the score might be closer than some want. Washington isn't awful and they are well-coached. Seattle gets the win 28-20 with a solid performance from Geno Smith and a breakout game by running back Zach Charbonnet. Boye Mafe will get 3 sacks. Here is what the national media thinks:
- Mike Florio of NBC Sports: Seahawks 30 Commanders 20
- Chris Simms of NBC Sports: Seahawks 30 Commanders 21
- Ali Bhanpuri of NFL.com: Seahawks 24 Commanders 17
- Tom Blair of NFL.com: Seahawks 27 Commanders 20
- Brooke Cersosimo of NFL.com: Seahawks 26 Commanders 21
- Gennaro Filice of NFL.com: Commanders 26 Seahawks 23
- Dan Parr of NFL.com: Seahawks 24 Commanders 20
- Every ESPN expert picked the Seahawks