Field Gulls
We probably should’ve lost, but certainly not like that.
The first half of the 2024 NFL season has been a wild one for the Seattle Seahawks. For every high, there’s been a corresponding low, which has resulted in a perfectly equilibrious 4-4 record after eight weeks. Just a week removed from a dominant road win over the Atlanta Falcons, the Seahawks were embarrassed at home by the Buffalo Bills. It has seemed recently that popular football analysts across the country have started coming to an agreement that Seattle doesn’t have a great football team, but it doesn’t have a terrible one either, falling somewhere just above the median. Many of these rankings seem to come from a place of good faith, but how is that faith holding up after an abysmal week eight performance?
If you ask ESPN, the loss really just solidifies their belief that the Seahawks are just average.
14. Seattle Seahawks (4-4)
Week 8 result: Lost to the Bills 31-10
Week 8 ranking: 12
Best offseason addition: Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II
The rookie first-round pick gets the nod in the absence of any obvious Seahawks candidate. Murphy missed three games with a hamstring injury and has yet to deliver a breakout performance, but he has shown flashes of the game-wrecking talent that made him the 16th selection. In five games, Murphy has a half sack, two tackles for loss and a pressure that led to a Kirk Cousins interception in a Week 7 win over Atlanta. — Brady Henderson
The Athletic gives Seattle just a little more credit than ESPN, but the sentiment is the same.
12. Seattle Seahawks (4-4)
Last week: 10
Sunday: Lost to Buffalo Bills 31-10
Something Scary: The run defense
The Seahawks are 23rd in yards allowed before contact per rush (1.78) and 28th in yards per carry allowed (4.9). Although first-year head coach Mike Macdonald got the job based on the play of his Baltimore defense, run defense wasn’t the Ravens’ strength either. Baltimore was 25th in the league last season, giving up 4.5 yards per carry. Buffalo’s James Cook rushed for 111 yards Sunday, and the Bills had 164 overall. Seattle gained only 32 yards on the ground.
NFL.com drops Seattle from No. 14 down into the bottom half at No. 17.
Momentum from the Seahawks’ rousing win over the Falcons in Week 7 was undone by a tough performance in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Bills. There’s no shame in losing to Buffalo, even in Seattle, but the way it went down — even with DK Metcalf sidelined by injury — was disheartening. The Seahawks badly botched two red-zone possessions on offense and committed an inexcusable, drive-extending penalty to stake the Bills a 14-3 halftime lead. Had they played it right, the ‘Hawks could have gone to the locker room with a lead. Instead, they got their doors blown off,...
