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Special Teams
Macdonald Called Special Teams ‘Not Good Enough,’ and the Kickoff Numbers Back Him Up
Mike Macdonald didn’t dress it up Monday. “To put it plainly, it’s not good enough,” he said of Seattle’s special teams, per Seahawks.com. Washington’s average drive on Sunday started at its own 37. Seattle’s started at its own 26. That gap is a lot of free yardage to hand a team that beat you by two.
Most of the leak is in kickoff coverage. Last season Jay Harbaugh’s unit allowed 24 yards per kick return, tied for fourth-fewest in the league. Three weeks into this season it ranks 30th at 30.1, and five of 11 kickoffs have come back 30 yards or more, per Yahoo Sports. The 2025 team gave up eight of those all year. Somewhere in there Seattle also put a kickoff short of the landing zone, which is a penalty that just hands the other team the ball at its own 40.
30.1
Yards per kickoff return Seattle has allowed this season, 30th in the NFL. Last year it was 24.
The whole unit isn’t on fire. Jason Myers hasn’t missed a field goal or an extra point, which feels like a small miracle after the five kicks he missed in the preseason, and through Sunday Seattle was the only team in the league that hadn’t allowed a punt return. Then Field Gulls pointed out that Michael Dickson had one of his worst games as a Seahawk in D.C. Last week I told you the punter tryouts meant nothing and Dickson was perfectly fine. I stand by that. Mostly.
“The standard is higher on special teams here,” Macdonald said. “We’ve proven that.” They have, and that’s exactly why 30th stings. The good news is it’s a fixable problem. It’s about containing the edges and getting off blocks, not about talent. The awkward news is that Jay Harbaugh’s uncle Jim brings the Chargers to Lumen on Sunday. If a Charger runs one back, Thanksgiving dinner in that family is going to be very quiet.
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That gap is a lot of free yardage to hand a team that beat you by two.
SOURCES →
Run Game
Seattle Ran for 44 Yards, and the Best Fix Is Still on PUP
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Before anyone starts a fire on the VMAC lawn, some context: Washington’s front has allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the league, per NFL.com. Locked On’s Bryce Coutts argued that Brian Fleury stuck with the run too long instead of going to play-action and screens. Fair. Hire a coordinator raised on the run game and you get a guy who believes the fourth run will work because the first three didn’t.
Then there’s Zach Charbonnet, who led the team with 12 rushing touchdowns last season. He’s eligible to come off PUP and practice, but he has to miss at least one more game regardless. On Monday Macdonald said, “I’m sure we’ll have an answer by sometime (Tuesday) on whether or not he’ll start practicing this week,” per USA Today. He can’t save Sunday. He might save October. Wednesday’s injury report should tell us whether he’s even cleared to start trying.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Uso Seumalo has now been cut from Seattle’s practice squad twice this month. The Hard Knocks nose tackle from Moloka’i made room Tuesday for Gary Smith III, a UCLA defensive tackle the Raiders released before the opener. HBO made him famous. The practice squad keeps treating him like a revolving door. Seattle Sports
Asked why the Chargers’ offense is stuck, Justin Herbert said, “That’s a great question.” Jim Harbaugh’s public answer was telling his quarterback to be better. The Chargers come to Lumen on Sunday, and our pass rush would be happy to help with the research. CBS Sports
Seattle lost Sunday as an 8.5-point favorite, the most shocking result of Week 3. SI’s betting desk is laying the points with the Seahawks against the Chargers anyway. Gamblers and Seahawks fans share exactly one skill: forgetting last Sunday by Wednesday. SI
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Sean McVay’s Monday injury rundown: cornerback Jaylen Watson dislocated his shoulder in Denver and will “probably” miss Sunday in Philadelphia, tight end Terrance Ferguson sprained an ankle and is likely out, and fellow tight end Colby Parkinson added an AC sprain to the knee he was already listed with. Puka Nacua is still “hopeful.” So the 1-2 Rams are flying cross-country for an early East Coast kickoff with a tight end room held together by athletic tape. We tried the East Coast early game last Sunday. Would not recommend.
NINERS
San Francisco signed Matthew Judon to its practice squad after a weekend workout. Kyle Shanahan’s plan is to put him through individual drills Wednesday “to see what type of shape he is in,” and he added that “hopefully he will be a option to help us.” Nothing says contender like testing your new pass rusher’s cardio in Week 4. Meanwhile, somewhere in Santa Clara, a treadmill has never felt more important.
CARDINALS
Arizona’s defense has four sacks and 20 pressures through three games, bottom seven in the league in both, and the Cardinals have lost 10 of their last 11 going back to last season. Mike LaFleur keeps insisting everything starts with coaching, which is a brave thing for the head coach to say out loud. At four sacks every three weeks, opposing quarterbacks have time to read the whole field and then the stadium ads.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This defensive end out of Eastern New Mexico was Seattle’s sixth-round pick in 1991, and in 1998 he led the entire NFL with 16.5 sacks. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Michael Sinclair. Those 16.5 sacks from 1998 are still Seattle’s single-season record, and they came from the 155th pick in the draft.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2007
September 30, 2007
Seattle Holds San Francisco to a Field Goal
Mike Holmgren’s Seahawks went to San Francisco and beat the 49ers 23-3, letting them score just once on a field goal and improving to 3-1. Nineteen years later, three points still feels like the right amount for that franchise to put up against us.
Got a Question That Keeps You Up at Night?
Kickoff coverage, Charbonnet’s knee, or whether I actually meant it about Dickson: send it in. The Rooster answers the mailbag honestly, which isn’t always the same thing as kindly.
Cover the kick. That's all I ask this week. — The Rooster