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Game Day
Nick Emmanwori Got Two Fines and One Strike
The NFL sent Nick Emmanwori two bills for the Chargers game, $14,648 apiece. One was for headbutting guard Cole Strange, which helped hand Los Angeles a short field goal before halftime. The other was for an uncalled hip-drop tackle on Oronde Gadsden II, and that’s the one that matters.
$29,296
Nick Emmanwori’s combined fines from one afternoon against the Chargers.
A new rule this season makes three fouls from a list that includes hip-drop tackles an automatic one-game suspension, per Field Gulls. Emmanwori now has one. The most fun player on the defense is officially on a strike count.
He wasn’t the only one paying. DeMarcus Lawrence got fined $17,911 for going low on Justin Herbert, the exact same $17,911 he was fined a week earlier for a hit on Marcus Mariota. Same number, back-to-back weeks. Somebody in accounting should just set up autopay.
And now the unbeaten 49ers are at Lumen. A Yahoo Sports preview expects Kyle Shanahan to test Emmanwori’s coverage with George Kittle, citing doubts about his feel for zone and pre-snap motion. Shanahan, explaining to the San Francisco Chronicle why Seattle is so hard to read, put it this way: “all of a sudden a DB is a linebacker, and then all of a sudden, a DB is a D-end.” Yes, Kyle. That’s the idea.
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The most fun player on the defense is officially on a strike count.
So here’s the plan, and it isn’t complicated. Do what he did last week (56 snaps, a sack, two tackles for loss) and leave the hips out of the tackle. Emmanwori is worth a lot more on the field than he is to the league office.
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Roster
Trevon Diggs Gets a Real Roster Spot
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Diggs made his Seahawks debut last week on a practice-squad elevation and played nine defensive snaps against the Chargers, several of them on third-and-long, per Seattle Sports. That’s the gig. When the other quarterback has to throw, send in the guy who once led the league with 11 interceptions.
The catch is the knees. Diggs played just 22 games from 2023 to 2025, around a torn ACL and two more knee procedures. Nobody needs 2021 Trevon Diggs. Nine good snaps a week will do nicely.
22
Games Trevon Diggs played across 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined.
Neal, the third-rounder, hadn’t taken a defensive snap in three of four games, so this is a tough break more than a depth-chart crisis. The better news is behind the corners: Julian Love and Ty Okada are set to play together for the first time this season. Five weeks in, the secondary is almost the secondary.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
When Seattle beat the 49ers 41-6 in January, maybe the only two San Francisco fans still in the building at the end were Vinod and Neal Khosla, then 49ers minority owners. They now own the Seahawks. Greatest fan conversion in the history of the rivalry. Spokesman-Review
Seattle has scored at least 30 points in three straight games and allows the fewest total and passing yards per game in the league. Somehow we spent all week acting like they’d lost. FOX Sports
George Kittle on Seattle’s defense: “I don’t know what their weak link is.” His plan for beating it: “no dumb penalties.” Bold strategy. Seattle tried the opposite last week, 14 flags’ worth, and still won. Heavy
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Aaron Donald missed the Rams’ last game with a bad back and says he’ll play Monday against Buffalo. Through the first two games of his comeback he played just over half the snaps, and it’s the middle of October without one snap of the Donald-and-Garrett line everybody bought tickets for. Donald called Josh Allen “a futuristic Big Ben.” The Rams built a futuristic defensive line this summer. So far it mostly exists in the past.
NINERS
Dre Greenlaw got fined $11,941 for taunting toward the Broncos sideline after a tackle in Week 4. That same week, Kyle Shanahan praised Greenlaw’s passion and said he generally has a knack for avoiding post-whistle penalties. Generally. The league office graded the knack separately. Feel free to bring it to Lumen, Dre. We hear the officials here throw flags.
CARDINALS
Arizona ruled out guard Isaiah Adams (ankle) and safety Andrew Wingard (knee) for today’s game against Detroit. With left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. already done for the year, Jacoby Brissett is down two starting linemen before the Lions rush anybody. Jeremiyah Love is good to go, which is nice. Brissett will want someone back there with him. He’ll have company either way.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
The Houston Oilers drafted this Tulsa receiver in the fourth round in 1976, then traded him to Seattle before the season for an eighth-round pick. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Steve Largent. He played 14 seasons in Seattle and became the first Seahawks player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which makes that eighth-rounder the best investment in franchise history.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2009
October 11, 2009
Seattle Shuts Out Jacksonville, 41-0
Matt Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes at Qwest Field, two to T.J. Houshmandzadeh and two to Nate Burleson, and Nick Reed added a 79-yard fumble return for a score as the Seahawks blanked the Jaguars 41-0. Jacksonville never scored in any quarter. A good omen for an October 11 at home, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Got a Question for The Rooster?
Fines, strike counts, roster moves, or a burning need to know how much autopay costs the league office. Send it in and I might answer it, honestly, possibly against my better judgment.
Keep your hips to yourselves today. — The Rooster