The Seattle Seahawks might rue losing to the Washington Commanders in Week 3, as otherwise Seattle would be undefeated entering Week 5 and facing the undefeated San Francisco 49ers. Now, with a loss to San Fran, Seattle would be two games down in the NFC West after five games. But for now, let's worry about what happened in Week 4.
Head coach Mike Macdonald's team won an ugly game against the Los Angeles Chargers. If you lost count of how many 15-yard penalties the Seahawks had called against them, you would be forgiven (the answer was seven, and the team had 14 called against them in total).
That is unacceptable, just as Seattle led 30-13 in the second half and allowed the Chargers to get within seven points in the fourth quarter. Still, a win is a win, which means there is some good and some bad to take away from Week 4.
What we learned from the Seattle Seahawks' Week 4 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers
Beau Stephens might be the right guard of the future
Stephens once again split reps with Christian Haynes at right guard as starter Anthony Bradford is on injured reserve with knee and hip injuries. Haynes continues to get a bit more reps, though one wonders if that might flip in Week 5.
Against the Chargers, Stephens, a rookie from Iowa, was involved on 25 snaps and didn't allow a quarterback pressure, though his run-blocking wasn't pristine. Haynes played 35 reps and allowed four pressures. Neither allowed a sack. Fans shouldn't be surprised if Stephens gets his first career start against the 49ers.
Elijah Arroyo might not be a good player
Rookies should get a break for not immediately being productive. Many will be, but many more will not. In 2025, the Seattle Seahawks chose Arroyo in the second round, but he didn't accomplish much in his first season. He is presumed to move like a wide receiver but is big enough to play tight end. So far, he's done more of the latter, traditionally.
Instead of catching passes, Arroyo seems not to be able to separate in coverage. He wasn't targeted by quarterback Sam Darnold, even though Arroyo was on 19 snaps. In four games, he's been targeted only once. He certainly isn't trending toward getting a lot better in his second season.
Rylie Mills hasn't yet taken the next step
Mills is another second-year player who missed much of his rookie season after hurting his knee during his final year at Notre Dame. He was terrific in limited reps in the Super Bowl, and his teammates raved about his progress this past offseason. That hasn't developed into success in real games, though.
Mills saw his snap-count increase to 20 in Week 4, but the only statistic he had was one quarterback pressure. He whiffed on his only tackle attempt. After having four tackles in Week 2, he hasn't done anything since. That is concerning.
DeMarcus Lawrence is still really good
On the other hand, Lawrence is well past 30 years old and still playing at an elite level. The Seahawks' edge rush rotation is really just three deep currently, with Lawrence, Derick Hall, and Uchenna Nwosu, but Lawrence might be the star of the bunch.
Against the Chargers, Lawrence had four quarterback pressures and three run stuffs. He made an impact in every aspect, just as he has done since he joined Seattle in the 2025 offseason.
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