Nine games into a 17-game season, the Seahawks are taking a break for their bye week and hoping to not just recharge and get healthy, but also find some answers to the problems that have been hurting them in their recent losses. There have been positives, including three straight wins to kick off the Mike Macdonald era, an impressive road victory in Atlanta over a first-place team, and some standout individual performances, but there have also been several issues that have contributed to a recent slump, with Seattle losing five of six. Despite those recent losses, however, Macdonald has faith that his team is in position to come out of the bye strong and contend with the rest of the NFC West.

"We're on our way," Macdonald said. "It's not where we want to be. It's not where we expected it to be, but I feel like we're resilient as heck. You can just go week-by-week on the adversity that we faced. A lot of it is self-inflicted adversity and great football teams don't do that. They eliminate drag, they go forward fast together. We're going together, we're just not going fast right now. So it's our job as coaches to really eliminate that drag and make it clear for the guys. And like I said last night, you got to go into these things with the mentality that everything's on the table. You've got to go with an open mind, open your lens up a little bit, and go back to work."

With players getting the week off and the season just over halfway over, it's time to look back and highlight some of the players and moments that stood out in the first half of the season with our 2024 Seahawks Midseason Honors.

Important disclaimer: These are very unofficial honors selected by a writer who might not really know what he's talking about, so please take all of this with a grain of salt.

Offensive MVP: QB Geno Smith

Yes, there have been too many interceptions, including three last week, but no, they have not all been Geno Smith's fault. In fact, more of his turnovers than not have been the result of Smith getting hit as he threw, or of the ball being batted by a lineman in his face, or of a receiver running the wrong route.

And while Smith is the first to say he needs to be better, the fact remains that he is one of the biggest reasons why the Seahawks have won the games they have, and is also a big reason why the Seahawks have been competitive in four of their five losses despite some pass protection issues and despite an inconsistent running game and despite, for some stretches, a defense that has struggled to get stops.

None of this is to say that Smith can't get better in the second half of the season, but the NFL's leader in passing yards, attempts and completions has had a ton on his shoulders so far this season, and has handled it very well. And it isn't just those volume numbers, it's also the way Smith has continued to come through late in games, including a game-tying drive at the end of regulation last week, and game-tying and winning drives in an early-season win in New England.

As Macdonald said this week, "We've got all the confidence in the world with Geno."

Seattle's receivers, and DK Metcalf in particular, deserve a mention here as well, with Metcalf ranking near the league lead in receiving yards before missing two games with a knee injury. Kenneth Walker III has also been great, though the run game overall, in terms of both the consistency of attempts and blocking, have not allowed him to put up the type of numbers that show how good he has been.

Defensive MVP: S Julian Love

There have been a lot of strong performances from the defense on all three levels so there's no one obvious pick here, but over the course of nine games, one of the most constantly productive players has been safety Julian Love, who also serves as a leader on that side of the ball.

Love currently ranks first on the team in solo tackles (47), second in total tackles (65), second in passes defensed (4), is tied for the team lead with two interceptions, and has one forced fumble, and a key blocked field goal in an overtime win over the Patriots.

Plenty of other defensive players have played well in addition to Love, including edge rushers Boye Mafe and Derick Hall, interior linemen like Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, linebackers Tyrel Dodson and newcomer Ernest Jones IV, and cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon. With the improvements shown by the defense last week, there's reason to be optimistic that this group can get things going after the bye.

Special Teams MVP: P Michael Dickson

For the seventh year in a row, Dickson has proven to be a weapon for the Seahawks in the way he can affect field position, using his big leg and placement to frequently pin teams deep and flip the field.

Dickson's 49.5 yards-per-punt average is just half a yard off the career high he established last season, and his net of 42.7 is also near his best seasons. Dickson has 14 punts downed inside the 20 so far this year against only four touchbacks. In Week 8, Dickson set a single-game high averaging 61.25 yards per punt, and his 52.5 yards-per-punt net in that game, as well as the 51.3 net in Week 6, are two of the top five performances in his career in that category.

The Seahawks have also been strong on coverage units, led by the likes of Brady Russell, Laviska Shenault Jr.—who also has a kick return touchdown this season—Coby Bryant, K'Von Wallace, Drake Thomas and, just back from the PUP list, Jerrick Reed II.

Best Rookie, Offense: TE AJ Barner

The rookie out of Michigan has a been a reliable contributor on offense, both as a blocker and pass catcher, appearing in all nine games with three starts. Barner's has 14 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown, playing 43 percent of Seattle's offensive snaps, and six of those catches have come in the past two weeks.

Also worthy of a mention here is sixth-round pick Michael Jerrell, who went from playing Division II football last year to starting two games this season, and coming in relief in a third after George Fant was injured last week.

Best Rookie, Defense: DT Byron Murphy II

Murphy missed three games due a hamstring injury, but his play since returning has only illustrated how significant a piece of the defense he has already become. Murphy had a season-best six tackles last weekend as the run defense took a big step forward, but his numbers—20 tackles, half a sack, two tackles for loss—don't begin to show the disruptive impact he makes on the interior line.

Linebacker Tyrice Knight also deserves a mention for his play when he filled in for an injured Jerome Baker, and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett did well in his one start at Atlanta, though an ankle injury unfortunately slowed his progress.

Best Newcomer: LB Tyrel Dodson

Dodson has provided playmaking and leadership in his first season with the Seahawks, and through nine games he leads the team in tackles with 71, has 2.0 sacks, five tackles for loss, which ranks second on the team, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. He also is the one communicating Mike Macdonald's calls to the defense and making necessary adjustments, a big part of the "obnoxious communication" Macdonald wants to see from his defense.

Fellow linebacker Ernest Jones IV acquired in a trade two weeks ago, hasn't been around long enough to take this honor, but he has been really good in his two games and very well could get the nod by season's end.

Best Reemergence: S Coby Bryant

Bryant, a fourth-round pick in 2022, enjoyed a standout rookie season, winning the nickel corner role, despite not playing that position in college, where he was an outside cornerback, and emerging as a playmaker on Seattle's defense, recording a team-leading four forced fumbles.

Last season, however, Bryant dealt with toe injuries that limited his availability, and the addition of first-round pick Devon Witherspoon, combined with the injuries, caused Bryant to lose his job as the primary nickel. A move to safety last season allowed Bryant to see some playing time in dime packages, but his role on the defense was still limited despite a level of play in practice that was earning him praise from Macdonald and other coaches. An injury to Rayshawn Jenkins gave Bryant an opportunity, and he seized it, starting the last three games at safety alongside Love, recording 21 tackles, three passes defensed, including a crucial late-game pass breakup last weekend that would have made Kam Chancellor proud, and his first career interception.

Macdonald has cited Bryant as an example of good practice work paying off, and it's hard to envision him not continuing to have a big role this season even when the Seahawks are at full health on the back end of the defense.

Best Play, Offense: Geno Smith's touchdown pass to DK Metcalf to end the first half in a Week 7 win at Atlanta.

Smith and Metcalf have connected for several memorable touchdowns this season, but the 31-yard score at the end of the first half of the team's win in Atlanta just might have been the best. The situation made the play impressive enough, with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb putting faith in Smith and the offense that they could take a shot at the end zone despite not having a timeout and only 10 seconds left. Had Smith been sacked, or had he completed a pass anywhere but in the end zone or at the sideline, the half would have run out before a field goal could be attempted. But what made the play even better was just how impressive the throw and catch were, with Smith stepping up in the pocket and delivering a laser between defenders that Metcalf was able to snag before taking a hit and going to the ground.

Best Play, Defense: Boye Mafe's sack/forced fumble returned by Derick Hall for a touchdown at Atlanta.

One of the biggest plays Seattle's defense has made all season came in the win in Atlanta. With the Falcons still in the game early in the fourth quarter, Mafe chased Matt Ryan out of the pocket and knocked the ball from the quarterback's hands just before he could get a throw off. Fellow outside linebacker Derick Hall scooped up the loose ball, and, with a little help from an impressive block by Devon Witherspoon, Hall took it 36 yards for a score. With that score adding to the lead and forcing the Falcons in must-throw situations, the Seahawks were able to add two interceptions to put the game away.

Trend to continue: The team's ability to be "resilient as heck."

As Macdonald has noted on a few occasions, the Seahawks have plenty to clean up if they're going to be a contender in the second half of the season, but one trait they've shown throughout the year, one that should help them moving forward, is the resilience they've shown. Whether because the offense got off to a slow start in some games, or because the defense has struggled to stop the run and get off the field in other games, the Seahawks have found themselves playing from behind in quite a few games this season. At times, such as the early season wins over the Broncos and Patriots, the Seahawks have overcome mistakes and deficits to win, while in other games, they've fought their way back in, only to fall a bit short. That includes a close loss to the Lions in which the Seahawks were missing several key players on defense and still went toe-to-toe against one of the NFL's best teams, and several other close losses, including last week's in which the Seahawks nearly overcame three turnovers and 12 penalties to win in overtime.

"I feel like we're resilient as heck," Macdonald said. "You can just go week-by-week on the adversity that we faced."

The goal the second half, obviously, will be to play cleaner and better so the team won't need to be so resilient, but that's still a nice trait for a team to have in its back pocket.

Thing to clean up: Struggling at home.

There have been different causes, be it turnovers or penalties or leaky run defense, but regardless of the particular issue in a given week, the fact remains that the Seahawks have lost four straight home games after winning their first two. League-wide trends have shown that homefield advantage isn't as significant as it use to be, but even so, the Seahawks know they need to be better at home, both for the sake of their win-loss record, and also to reward one of the league's best fanbases.

Macdonald alluded to this issue in his opening remarks on Sunday, "I want to say, first of all, thanks to our fans for showing up and being loud. The place was electric, when we started to make some plays at the end of the half, end of the fourth quarter, taking it to overtime, they were right there with us the whole way. I promise you, we're doing everything in our power and then some to create a nightmare at home, and right now we're not doing it. So we've got to go to work."