The Seattle Seahawks improved their record to 2-1 with a strong second-half performance against the Carolina Panthers. As with most games, the Hawks still have some things to work on. Overall, this was a solid win and points to even better things in the future.
I'm going to be upfront about this, gang. The title of this article is a bit misleading. I really can't say there were any duds in this game - at least not on the Seahawks. I'll leave it to our friends at Fansided's Panthers site to perform their own autopsy. We'll just celebrate our team's big win.
Oh, and there weren't just three studs in those sweet Super Bowl XLVIII unis, either. You could easily name a dozen Seahawks for standout performance in this game, and you'd still be missing a few guys. I'll name a few of those honorable mentions before I move on to my selections. Unless you name, oh, let's say McClendon Curtis, I probably wouldn't argue with you. Curtis is about the only O-lineman that didn't play Sunday, if you were wondering.
So let's get to my honorable mentions first. Speaking of the offensive line, at one point in the game, Seattle had exactly one of their five starters on the field. Ben Brown is the Hawks third-string center, and he was in for eight snaps, subbing for guard Damien Lewis. Starter Evan Brown and backup tackles Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe played every snap, along with rookie guard Anthony Bradford.
The Seattle Seahawks had no shortage of studs in Week 3
This unit allowed eight quarterback hits and two sacks. No, that isn't great, but for one starter out of five, it's pretty darn good. They also helped fuel the Seahawks run game. The Hawks running backs averaged 3.4 yards before contact (raw stats from pro-football-reference-com). Compare that to the Panthers RBs, who averaged a minuscule 1.2 yards before being greeted by a white jersey. That qualifies as a stud performance to me.
Staying with offense, how about the man who engendered one of the 12s favorite chants, "More Bobo"? He only had one catch, but it was spectacular. It was critical, too, as it put the Seahawks up by 15 with 4:17 left in the game. Seattle then went ahead by two more, but we'll get to that shortly.
I cannot overstate the importance of what Bobo did on that play and what he brings to this team. He set as if staying in to block, then gave a little shuffle as to adjust his block, and then took off. Geno Smith hit him in stride at the very back of the end zone, and the 6'4" Bobo did his best Tyler Lockett impression, getting both feet inbounds with about an inch to spare. Secondaries seem to forget he can catch the ball, and when they remember, it's too late.
Wow, that was a lot for an honorable mention, wasn't it? Okay, let me get to that two-point conversion and the man who made it happen. Yes, Tyler Lockett made a typical brilliant catch in tight coverage. But Geno Smith - man, oh man. Don't forget this was a two-point conversion, so the play began at the Panthers two-yard line. Smith was under pressure, spun away once, then rolled right. He launched the ball from well outside the right hashmark across the field to the left corner of the endzone, where Lockett hauled the pass in.
It wasn't a desperation throw at all, but a perfect strike where only Lockett could make the play. Smith had one rough stretch in the game when he completed just one of eight passes, true. But he was on fire after that. Smith connected on 12 of 13 passes in the second half, leading the Hawks to 25 points to close out the win.
One more honorable mention, okay? Please? I can't count Zach Charbonnet as one of the three biggest performers in this game, not with what the other standouts did. But for a guy who just had nine carries, this guy made a statement. You know the play, of course. Charbonnet showed exactly why Pete Carroll had been talking all summer about how hard the rookie runs. He looked good on most of his carries, hitting the hole immediately and usually picking up yardage.
But the play that got the ball to the Panthers two-yard line to set up the Smith-Bobo score was special. He served notice to the league that when you play the Seahawks, you're going to get hit, even when you're up against the offense. And you may be separated from your soul, as was safety Sam Franklin Jr.
Of course, stud number one is Kenneth Walker III
We all know K-9 has been running hard all year. He only had 64 yards in week one versus the Rams, but he also got just three touches in the second half. He still averaged over five yards per carry in the game. The Seattle coaching staff stopped him, not Los Angeles. In week two he had a tougher go of it against the Lions. They sold out to stop the run, and rank fifth in the league overall versus the running game. Give Detroit credit, but Walker still scored on them twice.
Against the Panthers, he hit his stride, and you can take that any way you want. Walker had 18 carries, picked up 97 yards, and again scored twice. He also picked up five first downs, and kept the Carolina defense honest because of the possibilities on play action. They could rarely sell out with an all-out pass rush because K-9 kept burning them with his slashing runs.
Speaking of passing, Walker caught all three of his targets for 59 yards. He moved the chains twice and led the Seahawks in yards after catch with a sparkling 14.0 average. All told, Kenneth Walker III accounted for 156 of the Seahawks 425 yards, seven of their 27 first downs, and two of their three touchdowns.
I think by now, most 12s would be comfortable if Zach Charbonnet had to step in as the Hawks number-one back, but Walker proved he's in the conversation as the best back in the league. For my money, he wins that argument. Oh, and he's also the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Let's go big for stud number two: the unstoppable Jarran Reed
His stats may not have been flashy. He didn't rack up 19 tackles, like Bobby Wagner did in Week 1. Reed had eight tackles, four of those the solo variety, one for a loss. He also had three quarterback hits and one-and-a-half sacks. Oh, and he broke up a pass, too, because why not? Now let's recast those stats in a slightly different light, and remember Reed is a nose tackle. A nose tackle, whose job is usually to keep blockers off the linebackers to stop the run, and tie up pass blockers so the edge rushers can get to the quarterback.
Look at those stats again, 12s. Four solo tackles with one for a loss, four assists, three quarterback hits, one-and-a-half sacks, and a pass defense. Those are better numbers than Nick Bosa has for the entire season. Bosa's stats: 7 total tackles, 2 TFL, 6 QB hits, 1 sack, zero passes defensed.
Now, Bosa could easily explode and triple his sacks in one game, we all know that, unfortunately. This isn't about throwing shade on Bosa. That's a dangerous, and frankly stupid, game. This is about recognizing what Jarran Reed is doing for the Seahawks.
In the immortal words of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts." So let's look at the one and only Aaron Donald.. You know, the guy who makes the opposition exclaim, "Oh my god." By the way, Geno Smith said it wasn't him, but he's not ratting out his boy. Okay, so far this season the one-man wrecking crew has put up these stats: 11 total tackles, 2 TFL, 4 QB hits, 1.5 sacks, and zero pass breakups. Again, those stats are for three games, not one. And we've had enough of Mr. Donald's smoke in Seattle, thanks. This is just to show how incredible Jarran Reed was against the Panthers.
The third stud of Seahawks game 3: the 12s themselves
A lot of teams like to claim they have the best fans in the world. The Cowboys brag about being America's Team, but their fanbase miraculously shrivels to a tenth of its size after their first loss, every single season. The Eagles have great fans, sure, as long as you like to hear more boos a home than you do on the road. As for the Rams, they get, what, 10,000 people to actually stay through the end of their games?
No, if you want to talk about real fans, you're talking about the 12s. Sure, that sounds self-serving, but how many other teams retired a jersey in honor of their fans? How many other fans have registered their celebration on the Richter scale - the famous Beastquake game? The answer, of course, is there is no other fanbase that compares to the 12s.
Need proof, rando Cards fan that wandered onto the wrong site? Well, let's see. When's the last time you Zona fans accounted for over half the penalties that got slapped on your opponent? Because that's what the 12s did to the Panthers on Sunday. Carolina committed 13 penalties, and eight of those were false starts.
I guarantee you a minimum of six were caused solely by the outrageous crowd noise generated by the 12s. Personally, I'd say seven should be credited to the crowd. Bear in mind that two of those were on back-to-back plays, and in another series, the 12s sandwiched three false starts around an incompletion for the Panthers. Pat yourself on the back, 12s; you're studs.