What We Learned in Week 3

1. Special teams is no oxymoron in Seattle

Tory Horton’s 95-yard punt return for a touchdown was the longest in franchise history. It was also the first time a Seahawks had scored on a punt return since Tyler Lockett did it 10 years ago as a rookie. That wasn’t Seattle’s only special-teams highlight, either. D’Anthony Bell blocked a punt and Dareke Young had a 60-yard kickoff return. Add that to the field-goal attempt Seattle blocked in Week 1 and the kickoff the Seahawks recovered for a touchdown in Week 2, and Seattle’s special teams has been one of the team’s biggest strengths this first month of the season. 

2. Horton is no longer a ‘Who?’ 

I know that people have been talking about Horton ever since Seattle drafted him out of Colorado State in the first round. I didn’t disbelieve them. I just have a firm rule about not expecting much from rookie wide receivers. This goes back to 2010 when everyone spent a solid four months talking up Golden Tate only to see him be a healthy scratch in Week 1. So when Horton finished Game 1 without being targeted, I was neither surprised nor disappointed. It takes time for a receiver. Not too much time for Horton, however. Of his five receptions these past two games, two were for touchdowns. Throw in the fact he scored on a punt return and Horton looks like a promising, maybe even potent No. 3 receiver for this offense.

3. The pass rush has teeth

The single most encouraging fact about Seattle’s defense through three games is the ability to pressure opposing passers while rushing only four players. What’s perhaps most telling is that it’s not the edge rushers like Derick Hall and Boye Mafe who are applying that pressure. Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and Jarran Reed have each been credited with five quarterback hits through three games. Murphy has 2.5 sacks.

1. Are the Seahawks a clean team?

Seattle has been penalized 14 times over these first three games, third-fewest in the league.¹ That’s quite surprising consider that Seattle had the fifth-most penalties in the league each of the previous two seasons and ranked No. 6 the year before that. Now, I’m not someone who considers a high number of penalties to be a prohibitively bad thing. Some of the best teams in the league wind up among the most penalized. However, in a situation like Seattle has with an offense that has undergone significant turnover, it has been enormously helpful that the Seahawks are not shooting themselves in the foot. The offense has been penalized a combined total of five times over the three games this season.

2. What the Seahawks put on their Wheaties? 

For the second consecutive week, the Seahawks scored on their opening drive. This is remarkable because for more than a year, the single most predictable thing about Seattle was its inability to reach the end zone on its opening possession. The Seahawks were one of three teams who failed to do so last season. In fact, entering last week’s game in Pittsburgh, it had been 22 games since Seattle had reached the end zone on its opening drive. Now, the Seahawks have done it two games in a row. 

3. Is the Seahawks secondary really this deep? 

Seattle has been missing its best cornerback for the past two games, and was without two of its top three safeties on Sunday against New Orleans and yet Seattle still hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 20 points this season. Josh Jobe is playing like a starter on the outside. Derion Kendrick, whom the Seahawks claimed off waivers at the end of August, has picked off one pass and been in position to intercept two more. With Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori expected back in the next couple of games, that’s a huge bright spot for Seattle.

1  This 14-penalty total does not include the five penalties against Seattle that have been declined.