The Seattle Seahawks have made it through the first quarter of the season and enter their only bye week of 2023 at 3-1. As Seattle has been a pretty injured group, being successful before getting some well-deserved rest is a win in itself.
Seattle defeated the New York Giants 24-3 in Week 4. The Giants only score coming on a 56-yard field goal. While the Giants were also without several key players offensively, Seattle's defensive domination was real.
Now the question is whether Seattle can continue their defensive improvement after the bye week. In 2022, Seattle was on a bit of a roll ahead of their bye week and then went into a stupor after that. If Seattle is to make the playoffs again this season, they cannot afford such a slump. But here are five notable players from the victory over the Giants.
Winner No. 1 - Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner
A week after Bobby Wagner got a bit of hate on social media for "only" having 5 tackles against the Carolina Panthers - here's a hint: the Seahawks defensive line was good enough in Week 3 to get a bunch of tackles so that Wagner didn't need to - the future Hall of Famer was in on 17 tackles in Week 4, and also had 2 sacks. I guess Wagner isn't so washed up yet. He also had 2 tackles for loss.
Fandom can be a weird thing. There is zero reason why 12s should not eternally love Wagner for all he has done for the team and that he plays his butt off in every game. Is Wagner as fast as he was 10 years ago? No, but he is still capable of being just as effective. He was named second-team All-Pro when he was with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he is the second-best graded linebacker in the NFL through the first four games in 2023 as well. Wagner still rocks!
In 2023, Wagner has been in on 50 tackles, third in the NFL, and is fourth in solo tackles with 27. Instead of thinking Wagner is washed up, maybe we should know that Wagner has still been amazingly good this year and has helped make Seattle's run defense immensely better. In fact, if Wagner wasn't on the team, Seattle probably would be - at best - 2-2 and would have lost to the Detroit Lions.
Loser No. 1 - Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
I don't know if rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba's lack of real productivity through four games is his fault, the fault of the design of the offense, or that he is still basically working his way back from a broken wrist that he suffered in the preseason. It might feel like a safe assumption that Smith-Njigba just isn't getting targeted but that would be false. He is the third most targeted Seahawk at 20 and trails DK Metcalf by only 3.
Possibly the routes that Smith-Njigba is running where he is being targeted simply doesn't allow him to have many explosive plays. He does seem t catch a bunch of swing routes where he does not have good blocking in front of him so where he has the ball in his hands he simply has nowhere to go. He is also second in catches with 20 but he is only sixth is receiving yards. Smith-Njigba has an average yards per reception of only 5.2 which is awful.
Against the New York Giants, Smith-Njigba tied for the team lead in targets with 6 and he caught 3 of them but for just 5 (seriously...5!) yards. That is a 1.7 yard per catch average. Most times he caught the ball, he was near the line of scrimmage and near the sidelines and he immediately got tackled. But all that we seeing doesn't not relate to what we saw in the preseason.
In the preseason, Smith-Njigba was running down the seam of a defense and had a few explosive plays. Now the passes thrown his way don't seem to go downfield very far. Maybe Geno Smith just doesn't know how to use him yet. Or maybe Smith-Njigba doesn't know how to get open versus NFL number one defenders after playing against mostly backups in the preseason.
Winner No. 2 - Edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu
My assumption is that Nwosu is never going to get his due as one of the better edge rushers in the NFL. He was much better than any other pass rusher for Seattle last year and he hasn't dropped off in 2023. Per Pro Football Focus, he is the 19th-highest-graded edge rusher in the NFL through four games (and he is second against the run). He already has 12 total pressures, 9 hurries, and 2 sacks. Plus, he has forced 2 fumbles this season.
Against the Giants, Nwosu had 6 tackles, 2 sacks, a tackles for loss, and 2 quarterback hits. He quietly goes about his business and seemingly makes an important play far more than any other Seattle edge rusher. But if Nwosu would just get a bit mouthy from time to time, he might make a Pro Bowl or three.
That's what gets people noticed now, right? The proverbial squeaky wheel gets the grease. Thankfully, Nwosu doesn't seem to care so much about hearing his own voice be louder than other people's but appears to want his play on the field to be the most important thing he does as a football player. This will help Seattle get wins but won't help him get personal accolades.
While Seattle has struggled with having players getting banged up so far this year, Nwosu hasn't been one of those guys. Let's hope he never gets hurt because likely people who watch football will only take notice of Nwosu's absence more than his play when he is actually on the field.
Loser No. 2 - Right guard Phil Haynes
Phil Haynes was a decent player in 2022 when he ended up playing about half of the snaps at right guard for Seattle. He was at least better than Week 1 starter Gabe Jackson. Jackson was released this offseason to make way for Haynes to start in 2023. But Haynes hasn't been any better than rookie Anthony Bradford this year and Haynes, before getting hurt against the Giants, was having an off game with a penalty and a sack allowed.
This year, Haynes has already been penalized four times. He's given up just one sack and, per Pro Football Focus, allowed just one pressure. In almost exactly the same number of snaps (126 for Haynes and 125 for Bradford), Bradford has allowed 3 pressures, but no sacks and he has been penalized twice. Haynes should be much better than Bradford simply by experience, but this is not the case.
After the bye week, the Seahawks might have a decision to make. Should they keep starting Haynes who is only signed to a one-year deal or start Bradford who has at least three more seasons after this one in Seattle? Bradford is a big man and just needs to make sure he is playing with the correct technique in the NFL to be good. Why not give him a chance to learn to be great as he is already playing as well as Haynes?
Or Seattle could go back to rotating snaps at right guard as they did last year. Still, moving forward with Bradford might help the team now and would only help Bradford be better in the future which would help the team as well.
Winner No. 3 - Cornerback Devon Witherspoon
Talk about a coming out party. After missing Week 1 with a hamstring injury, Witherspoon, the Seahawks first pick in the 2023 NFL draft and the fifth overall choice, has been getting a bit better each week. But he's been good since he played his first game in Week 2. But after Week 4, there should be little doubt that the Seahawks made a very wise choice in choosing him at number 5.
Witherspoon was everywhere. He had 7 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown. He tackled with ferocity, played with passion, and looked every bit the kind of player who would have fit perfectly in the early 2010s Legion of Boom. Witherspoon played like a safety from his slot corner spot as he was excellent against the run and the pass.
In fact, though he has played just three games for Seattle, the team might need to ask itself what they would do without Witherspoon's versatility. He allows defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt to be creative in coverages and with blitzes. Seattle hasn't been a blitzing team but mostly because they haven't had the personnel to do so in recent years.
After the bye week, Seattle should get back to being fully healthy. This means Riq Woolen and Tre Brown at outside corners, while Quandre Diggs and Julian Love play safety and Jamal Adams plays a hybrid safety/linebacker. With Witherspoon in the slot, the defense has a ton of overall speed and ability to attack. In other words, once healthy Seattle's secondary will look at lot more like than the LOB since they have since 2015.