It wasn’t fun to see that, was it?

The Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins refused to play anything resembling clean football for most of the game. It was still a 24-3 victory, and the Seahawks were never really in danger of losing, no matter how many self-inflicted wounds they inflicted on themselves. Luckily for them, Miami was in self-immolation mode from the start, giving the Seahawks plenty of room for error.

Let’s get to the winners and losers!

winner

Zach Charbonnet

After taking a lot of criticism for his ineffective day on the ground against the New England Patriots, Charbonnet played by far the best game of his career, rushing for 91 yards on 18 carries and scoring two touchdowns. Adding three catches for 16 yards, Charbonnet was the best of any Seattle player in offensive yards from scrimmage. When he had gaps to run through, he broke through contact and showed nifty cuts in the open field.

DK Metcalf

For the first time in four years, Metcalf has recorded 100 receiving yards in back-to-back games. The majority of his yards came on a 71-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter. Jalen Ramsey was in zone coverage, so safety Javon Holland, considered one of the better players at his position, was the main culprit for his loss. DK finished the game with four catches for 104 yards and his second long TD of the season.

Noah Fant

The absence of Pharaoh Brown may have affected Fant’s targets the first two weeks. After a few drops last week, Fant was perfect, catching six balls on six attempts for 60 yards. Statistically, it was one of his best performances in a Seahawks uniform.

AJ Barner

Barner is better known for his blocks and caught the first three passes of his NFL career for 13 yards. Two of his catches resulted in first downs.

Derick Hall

That sophomore jump could be real. Hall had a forced fumble and two sacks, giving him three on the season. He has generated consistent pressure from the outside along with Boye Mafe (who had a sack of his own) and seems much more confident in the run and pass game compared to his rookie year.

Dre’Mont Jones

Technically he has a sack by Skylar Thompson, who fumbled the ball all by himself, but he might have been done anyway considering how close Dre’Mont was to him. Jones applied crucial pressure in the red zone that helped limit the Dolphins to their only points of the game, and another pressure that took Thompson out of the game and gave us the Tim Boyle experience. Jones needed this performance after two ineffective games to start his second season in Seattle.

Johnathan Hankins

The Seahawks’ run defense had some shaky moments early on, but the Dolphins’ running backs combined for just 59 yards on 17 carries. Hankins was the focal point of that dominance, and Miami struggled to move him in short-yardage situations.

The linebackers: Tyrice Knight, Tyrel Dodson and Drake Thomas

Dodson got his first sack on a well-timed A-gap blitz, Tyrice Knight had a run-stopping TFL on Miami’s opening drive, and Drake Thomas was all over the field despite “only” having two tackles and one pass defensed on the playbook. I thought the linebackers did a very good job, especially providing some variety with Jerome Baker out.

loser

Offensive Line, led by Anthony Bradford

Bradford had some strong run blocks at his best, but at his worst he was a drive-killing machine. If you follow the score, Bradford was penalized six times in three games. You can get away with big penalties if you block consistently well, but he allowed a sack and effectively caused Geno Smith’s second interception by getting thrown out of the building by Calais Campbell.

It’s hard to argue that any offensive lineman was exceptional. Charles Cross was hit for a sack and his pressure led to Geno Smith’s first interception. Connor Williams had a false start and a holding penalty. Laken Tomlinson didn’t seem too bad today for once, but he got another penalty. Stone Forsythe was actually the only one who didn’t seem to have any obvious negative plays, but when that happens, it’s a big problem when he’s the only backup in the lineup.

Dee Williams

Tyler Lockett should probably be back to at least make fair catches or run to the fair catch of the ball. Williams has repeatedly made poor decisions by letting the ball bounce in favor of the opponent. It’s still early, but he’s 99% on this roster for return duties and he’s had more bad moments than good as a punt returner.

Devon Witherspoon’s discipline

I’m a little upset about the two penalties Witherspoon took. His personal foul wasn’t obvious, but it was way out of bounds and not necessary. The pass interference was obvious and not necessary against a fullback. That’s four penalties in two games, although one of them (last week’s DPI) was an easy call because the ball was uncatchable.

Punt return coverage unit

I haven’t liked Jay Harbaugh’s punt return team so far. Last week against the New England Patriots they allowed a notable return that resulted in a short field and a touchdown, and today Braxton Berrios had a 44-yard return of a 61-yard punt by Michael Dickson. Something about the coverage units hasn’t felt right the first few weeks, and the special teams as a whole seem like an early downgrade from the Larry Izzo units. It could have been worse considering the Dolphins didn’t go two snaps without a special teams penalty.

Concluding remarks

• Too many penalties. Too many. Another 11 flags accepted, including four on the scrimmage line and another OPI from DK Metcalf (except this time it was on his own goal). Coach Macdonald is definitely not happy with that.
• Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen and Tre Brown kept Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in check despite recognizing the weaknesses at the quarterback position. We’ll wait for significantly better offenses and receivers to truly test how good this trio is.
• Weird game for Geno Smith, where I think his low points were a little too close to some of his mistakes from 2022 and 2023, but his high points were outstanding. He had only eight incomplete passes, but two deflected interceptions — one of which I think is a bad throw made worse by him holding onto the ball too long, while the other was bad luck — and a couple of trickier throws that were blocked. Smith admitted he was “pissed off” with how he played, which says a lot, given he was 26/34 for 289. It was mostly good, but the bad plays stood out more than the previous two weeks.
• Ryan Grubb can’t call empty formations deep in his own end zone, by the way. There’s no reason to risk that, and the Seahawks were close to getting another safety because of it. That was probably my only real criticism, as the poor execution was largely due to sloppy play by the players.
• Tyler Lockett remains solid with 5 catches for 46 yards and several first downs.
• You wanted Kenny McIntosh? You got him! Three runs for 11 yards, plus another run that was canceled because of a holding penalty for Bradford.
• Kevin Harlan is great, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s name bothered him. He is hereby known as Jaxon Smith-Njengawho had 3 catches for 39 yards. Trent Green called Skylar Thompson “Skylar Murray” twice.
• Jason Myers missed his first field goal of the season from over 50 yards out. I think his nerves would have been calmer if he had converted his kick to make it 20-3.
• Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II both being out is a big deal. Jarran Reed obviously stepped up and got his first sack of the season, but Big Cat in particular is a game changer for the pass rush. Hopefully his rib injury isn’t too serious, while Murphy’s hamstring injury may mean lost playing time. We’ll find out more on Monday.
• I’m excited about 3-0 because the Seahawks haven’t played nearly as great football and yet they still lead the entire NFC West by two games. I’m also a little worried that this could be a false 3-0 win, where our early-season excitement is met with crushing disappointment as the schedule gets much, much tougher. The Detroit Lions will be the first tough test Seattle faces all season, and win or lose, Monday night’s performance will give us all a better idea of ​​how good this Seahawks group can be. And maybe, just maybe, Kenneth Walker and Uchenna Nwosu will be back?