3 Seahawks who need to thrive in Week 3 versus the Miami Dolphins

Well, would you look at Seattle! Mike Macdonald is the only first-year head coach in Seahawks history to start a season 2-0, and the Hawks are presently perched atop the NFC West. Is this a mirage? Are we Super Bowl-bound?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The truth is, the Seattle Seahawks were a team with some talent last year. They earned nine wins and fought for a playoff spot up until the last week of the 2023 season. Coach Macdonald is attempting to take what that group did well and build his own structures and scheme upon it.

This early in the season, the focus should be brick-by-brick development. How can Seattle rise to the next challenge, all while further learning the playbook on the go, as well as their coaches and the men to each side of them in the huddle? It's a small sample size thus far, but the 2024 iteration of the Seattle Seahawks have used slightly different means and strategies to obtain both wins.

Seahawks that need to ball out to give Seattle the best chance at a win over the Dolphins

Against Denver, Kenneth Walker III came out of halftime tearing off chunk gains and waking up the offense. Tyler Locket ended up making a string of clutch catches, as the run and pass were fairly balanced enough to complement the dominant defensive performance. On the road against New England in Week 2, the Seahawks didn't have much of a run game, turning to the dual engines of DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (246 combined yards) to carry them to victory.

Tyrell Dodson, Seahawks inside linebacker

Miami has a dangerous stable of running backs with blazing speed who can all tote the tater to the house at any moment. Tyrell Dodson has speed, instincts, and physicality, and should be expected to leverage those skills to help contain this menacing Miami run game. Jerome Baker is the highest-graded linebacker so far for the Hawks this season, but Dodson is a not-so-distant second (according to PFF (subscription required).

He’s fun to watch, as he beats run blocks to the outside to make tackles and blows up screens and swing passes. The cold reality is realizing that that is a specific ability that it feels like Bobby Wagner lost a bit of heat on over the last 3 years or so. Dodson is now at the epicenter of the defense calling the plays, and he brings the wood. Whether it is a healing Baker joining him, or especially if it's the inexperienced rookie in Tyrice Knight, TD will need to be doing his part to make sure the Fins don't get to the perimeter to turn the corner.

Julian Love, Seahawks safety

This man signed a $33M contract in the offseason, and instead of sitting back on his laurels, it looks like he’s gotten even better since his debut season in navy and action green. He was all over the field in Week 1, racking up 12 tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception in the red zone, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. For an encore, Love blocked a freakin’ field goal that ended up being the difference in Seattle getting to OT for a win in Week 2.

The Miami Dolphins employ a motion-heavy offense, so it will be incumbent upon J. Love to ensure that the edict of “obnoxious communication” is achieved. When you have speed demons who can eat up yards after the catch like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out wide, you want to make sure that you swarm to the ball and that nobody gets behind the defense… even if you’re facing a backup QB

Zach Charbonnet, Seahawks running back

To put it plainly, the offensive line for the Seattle Seahawks is in rough shape at the moment. The top two right tackles are hurt, and the interior is getting beat multiple times per game in pass protection. Seattle took two safeties in the first half against the Denver Broncos in Week 1. They then went on to allow three sacks to the New England Patriots in Week 2.

The difference, as mentioned above, was when offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb came out of the break committed to the run. Ken Walker then recorded 6.5 yards per carry in the back half of the contest, as well as his seventh career 100-yard rushing game (Seattle is 6-1 when this happens). Since K9 is hurt, Zach Charbonnet must step up to provide the pop that allowed the Seahawks to turn the game around.

This offensive line is clearly in their element when they can lean on the defense in the run game. The run game then opens up the passing game if the defense has to respect both as a threat. Geno will pop out and do his thing if given enough support. Can the big man with a name as smooth as white wine make good on his second-round pedigree?

If we wanted to get snarky, we could say something like more than 39 yards in a game might be nice, Zach… but part of his game is his receiving ability as well. If he can't catalyze the ground game, then preseason folk hero, Kenny McIntosh may also get a shot to keep Seattle’s offense multi-dimensional.

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