4 winners and losers from the Seattle Seahawks Week 3 victory over the Panthers

Rejoice, 12s! After an awful start to the 2023 season when the Seattle Seahawks looked awful in a Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the team is now 2-1 with a really good chance of being 3-1 before the bye week. Maybe Seattle will make the postseason again this year.

Against the Carolina Panthers, Seattle struggled to finish drives in the first half but then adjusted. Seattle's pass defense wasn't great and then got a little better. And Seattle's special teams were studs.

There is a bunch that could be learned from Week 3, like maybe - just maybe - the defense is slowly getting better. But here are some winners and losers for Seattle.

Winner No. 1 - Seattle Seahawks running game

If you throw out the statistics of quarterback Geno Smith and RB3 DeeJay Dallas (Dallas only had 2 carries), Seattle's top two running backs ran 27 times for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers. That's an average of 5.3 yards per rush. This is nearly incredible since Seattle started the game by getting stuffed many times running. It also helps that Kenneth Walker III broke off a run of 36 yards when he ran wide right and burst down the sideline. It was maybe the first time in 2023 we saw Walker be the Walker of 2022.

Zach Charbonnet, however, looks better each week. He ran 9 times for 46 yards and late in the game set up a touchdown run for Walker after Charbonnet powered through the line in run after run. He looks like the kind of back who will get stronger throughout the game and with the more rushes he gets. Walker's speed can create splash plays early in games while Charbonnet takes advantage of tired defenses late in games. That's what the Seahawks hoped for when they took Charbonnet in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft and the thunder and lightning of Charbonnet and Walker appears to be what is evolving.

Plus, how awesome was Chabonnet's blasting of Panthers safety Sam Franklin, Jr. near the goal line? Franklin isn't small as he is 6'3" and 215 pounds, but Charbonnet made him look like a child. Expect more of that kind of run Charbonnet moving forward. Plus, Walker and Charbonnet did what they did with the Seahawks offensive line missing 60 percent of its presumed starters and at times during Week 3 missing four of five starters.