For Pete's Sake: 5 critical observations from Seahawks Week 3 win over the Panthers

The Seattle Seahawks played something akin to Pete Carroll football today to secure their second win of the season. Geno Smith made big passes, Kenneth Walker made big runs, and the defense made enough big stops to warm the hearts of 12s everywhere.

We had a lot of questions about our beloved Seahawks, right 12s? They completely disappeared in the second half of their loss to the Rams in week one. While the Lions are definitely a team on the rise, it was a bit disconcerting that it took overtime for the Hawks to get the win. The defense had allowed 426 and 418 yards in the first two games. Meanwhile, the offense sputtered on third down versus the Rams. To their credit, they did convert on six of eleven chances versus the Lions. Still, they came into this game with a patchwork offensive line and some key absences on defense. For Pete's sake, what version of the Seahawks would we get?

As it turns out, we got a pretty sweet version of the Seahawks. The Hawks ran the ball and shut down the run. Seattle ran for 146 yards while allowing just 44 yards on the ground. Outgaining the opposition by a hundo is usually a solid recipe for success. Oh, there were plenty of problems, and we'll get to them, trust me. But this was a very satisfying win.

Let's look at what the Seahawks need to clean up

I'd really like to see the Hawks stop committing personal fouls sometime in my lifetime. Just once. Can we get through one game, please? While it wasn't as idiotic as those we've seen in previous games, it would still be nice to see the team play clean football. By that, I mean without mistakes, not that they're playing dirty. The Seahawks committed eight penalties for 82 yards today. They play aggressively on offense and defense, so they're going to commit a few. I'm good with penalties that result from effort. Sloppy penalties, no.

The Hawks reverted to their awful third-down performance in this game. After converting six of eleven versus Detroit, Seattle only managed to pick up the first down three times in thirteen tries. Just as bad, the defense allowed Carolina to move the chains on 10 of 19 attempts. To continue their winning ways, they have to reverse both of these trends. Happily, that's about it for the Hawks problems today. Sure, there were more mistakes than that, but they were rare. On to the good stuff!