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Seahawks Mailbag: Matching Up With An Explosive Offense & More

You had Seahawks questions; we have answers.

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You know what's more fun than a Seahawks mailbag? A the-Seahawks-are-2-0 mailbag, which is what we have today after Mike Macdonald's squad beat the Patriots in overtime last weekend. With that in mind, let's dig into the mailbag and answer some questions from you, the fans. As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions this week, and apologies if we couldn't get to yours this time around. And remember, the mailbag is always open for submissions at Seahawks.com/mailbag.

@hollykeefe06 asks, "In what ways do you think the Hawks will be able to stop Miami's explosive offense?"

A: The Dolphins currently rank fourth in the league in passing yards and eighth in total yards, but that small sample size doesn't illustrate the firepower the Dolphins will bring with them to Lumen Field. To better understand how dangerous Miami's offense is, look at last year when Mike McDaniel's offense, with a lot of the same weapons currently on the team, led the league in yards and passing yards, finished second in points scored, and averaged a league-best 5.1 yards per rush attempt.

Yes, the Dolphins are without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a huge loss, but even without their starting quarterback, they still have McDaniel's scheme, an explosive back in De'Von Achane, and big-play threats at receiver in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, arguably the fastest receiver duo in the sport.

Again, the loss of Tagovailoa hurts the Dolphins, but the Seahawks are still facing a tough challenge in Miami's offense, in all likelihood the biggest offensive test they've faced through three games. Given the way the Seahawks struggled to stop the run last week—New England ran for 185 yards—cleaning that up will no doubt be a priority, but it can't come at the expense of the pass defense. So far Seattle's pass defense has been outstanding, and in players like Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon, they have the speed to contend with what Miami will throw at them, but it's also going to take more good play from the safeties to help take care of Miami's downfield passing attack. The Seahawks will also need what has so far been an effective pass rush to make things hard on quarterback Skylar Thompson. Keeping that Miami offense entirely in check is probably not a realistic expectation, but Macdonald's defensive scheme, along with the talent Seattle has in the secondary, gives the Seahawks a good chance to prevent the Dolphins from doing too much damage.

@Jmac1204 asks, "Do you think Abe Lucas will be back after Week 4?" @akgrl33 also asked about Lucas.

A: The last we heard from Mike Macdonald on Abraham Lucas, there wasn't any firm timeline on the tackle's return, but Macdonald did say Lucas was progressing. As of now, we just don't have enough information—and in case you didn't hear Macdonald’s entertaining Friday press conference last week, he doesn’t plan on being too forthcoming on injuries—to predict if Lucas will return when he's eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list. But general manager and president of football operations John Schneider did say that, while the Seahawks are "going to play the long game" with Lucas' injury, he expects Lucas will play this season, adding the team is "just being as cautious as we possibly can," so while it's too soon to know an exact return date, expect that it will happen at some point this season.

AKJesterNoMore asks, "How did the Seahawks fix the issue of the tight end getting open?"

A: As this question alludes to, the Seahawks did a much better job keeping tight end Hunter Henry in check in the second half after he had a monstrous first half. Henry had seven catches for 98 yards in the first half, but just one catch for 11 yards after the break. Some of that had to do with the fact that the Patriots were able to run the ball well in the second half—something the Seahawks know they need to clean up—so Jacoby Brissett didn't have to throw it a ton, but Seattle also did tighten up their coverage over the middle of the defense after Henry's big half.

"It's just kind of how we were playing them," safety Julian Love said. "We were playing them a little loose, not as aggressive on them inside. But we should have known that (Brissett) was getting his quick game rhythm going, so there were a lot of throws inside, so the tight ends had a lot of receptions. The tight end screen accounted for a lot of the yards, then that kind of loose, kind of slip, I don't know who caught it, but the tight end going the other way. Two big plays by the tight ends, we've got to clean that up, but we will."

And while the Seahawks don't want to let any opposing player have a big game like Henry did, it's also worth noting that Seattle was able to shut down most of everything else New England wanted to do in the passing game, with Henry accounting for more than half of his team's catches and more than two thirds of the receiving yards.

Brissett completed just three passes to receivers, albeit one was a touchdown, and he threw for just 149 yards, numbers a defense will take every day of the week, even if a single tight end is responsible for a good chunk of those.

@PNWDPT asks, "How concerned should we be about the O-line play?"

A: Well, I guess that depends on how optimistic or pessimistic you are when it comes to your football team. The optimist would point out that Charles Cross has looked like one of the best tackles in the league through two games; or that center Connor Williams has a great track record as a center, and has only been with the team for a month, coming off a late-season torn ACL, so he should only continue to get better; or that the eventual return of Lucas would give Seattle a boost at tackle; or that the youth at right guard between Anthony Bradford and Christian Haynes means there should be growth as the season goes along; or that everyone on offense, the line included, is still learning a brand new scheme; and despite all of that, the Seahawks have managed to score enough points to win their first two games.

The more pessimistic view would point out that there has been too much pressure on Geno Smith so far, too many penalties, not enough push up front in the running game in Week 2, as Macdonald noted, that with Lucas currently out and George Fant's status uncertain this week due to a knee injury, there isn't a ton of depth with experience at right tackle behind Stone Forsythe.

I think the most realistic assessment of the line lies somewhere in between. Does the line need to be a lot more consistent and better in certain areas? Absolutely. Have there also been bright spots that give real reason to believe that unit can improve as the season goes along? Definitely.

@michaelpherman asks, "If you leave for a quick getaway and the entire team offered their babysitting assistance, who gets the nod?"

A: Part of me wants to say Devon Witherspoon, because let's face it, any kid raised by me will never be all that cool/have a lot of swagger, but spending extended time with 'Spoon would no doubt up their swagger factor significantly. On the flip side of that, I'm not sure I want my 9-year-old to have that repertoire of smack talk at her disposal.

The obvious answer, however, is George Fant. He and his wife, Chastity, had their fourth child earlier this year, so clearly they know how to handle the chaos of multiple kids.

Go behind the scenes with team photographer Rod Mar as he shares moments from the Seahawks' overtime win against the New England Patriots in Week 2 of the 2024 season.

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