Seahawks Week 1 - What We Learned

SEAHAWKS WEEK 1 — ADVANCED STAT SHEET Seattle 13 • New England 10 OFFENSE — EFFICIENCY OVER VOLUME The basic box score undersells Seattle's offensive performance. New England ran 67 plays to Seattle's 48, yet Seattle averaged 5.9 yards/play versus 4.1 and finished at +0.063 EPA/play, compared with New England at –0.145 EPA/play. Drew Lock 16/22 — 72.7% completions 187 yards 8.5 yards/attempt 1 TD / 0 INT 113.3 passer rating Best passer rating Lock has posted as a Seahawk with 20+ attempts. Podcast takeaway: Lock wasn't merely a game manager. Considering he entered five plays into the game with virtually no preparation as the starter, 8.5 YPA without a turnover is excellent QB2 production. Jaxon Smith-Njigba 8 receptions 122 yards 15.3 yards/reception 45-yard TD 11th 100-yard game since the beginning of last season, including playoffs Four TD receptions of 40+ yards since the beginning of last season. Here's the remarkable number: JSN produced 42.8% of Seattle's 285 total offensive yards himself. That's WR1 usage and WR1 efficiency. Jadarian Price 10 carries 52 yards 5.2 YPC Long of 13 2 catches George Holani: 8 carries, 29 yards, 3.6 YPC. That supports our preseason expectation: Price should be viewed as Seattle's primary back, even if Fleury uses a committee. Charles Cross — quietly one of the performances of the game This absolutely belongs in today's show. 27 pass-blocking snaps. ZERO pressures allowed. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, this was Cross' third career game without allowing a pressure. Considering Seattle unexpectedly had its backup quarterback playing almost the entire game, Cross keeping the blind side clean was enormously valuable. DEFENSE — THE DARK SIDE DID IT AGAIN Overall 10 points allowed 277 total yards allowed 4.1 yards/play 3 interceptions 3 fourth-quarter interceptions 9 tackles for loss 3 fourth-quarter sacks Seattle accomplished that despite New England possessing the football for 34:17 and running 19 more offensive plays. And here's one of my favorite Macdonald statistics: Seattle is now 14–0 under Mike Macdonald when winning the turnover battle. That includes postseason games. That's no longer statistical noise. THE DRAKE MAYE PRESSURE NUMBERS This is probably the best advanced-stat discussion for Keith. Seattle pressured Maye on 38.1% of his dropbacks. Under pressure: 3/8 — 38 yards — 4.8 YPA His PFF passing grade under pressure was just 28.4. But here's where Macdonald changed the formula from the Super Bowl. Seattle blitz rate Super Bowl LX: 20.8% Week 1: 31.0% Interestingly, Maye actually handled the blitz reasonably well—7/11 for 54 yards. The bigger story was actual pressure, regardless of how Seattle created it. Once the pocket broke down, Maye's efficiency collapsed. And there is an important nuance: Two of Maye's three interceptions came from clean pockets. All three of his turnover-worthy plays came when Seattle did NOT blitz. That's fascinating because it means the turnovers weren't simply the product of Seattle overwhelming Maye physically. Macdonald's coverage structures were affecting him mentally as well. DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS Julian Love may be my defensive player of the game. He finished with an interception plus two tackles for loss—the first game of his career in which he recorded multiple TFLs and an interception. Ernest Jones IV piled up 13 tackles, tied for his second-highest total as a Seahawk. Nehemiah Pritchett delivered the first fourth-quarter interception, which completely changed the emotional trajectory of the game. Josh Jobe delivered the closer—intercepting Maye in the end zone with only 21 seconds remaining. And Seattle's pass rush deserves credit for getting stronger rather than weaker as the game progressed. The Seahawks recorded three sacks in the fourth quarter after Maye had largely avoided pressure early. SPECIAL TEAMS — DON'T SKIP THIS ONE Michael Dickson 5 punts 45.4 net yards/punt 3 punts inside the 20 1 inside the 10 0 return yards allowed And that came against Marcus Jones, one of the NFL's premier return specialists. That's hidden field position that helped Seattle survive a game in which its offense struggled to stay on the field. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.