SEATTLE — The good times keep coming for the Seattle Seahawks this season.
Even though the Seahawks needed an overtime period to beat the pesky New England Patriots in Week 2, the Mike Macdonald era has started on a positive note.
Here's what you need to know about the Seahawks' Week 3 matchup on Sunday afternoon.
Game info
- Matchup: Seahawks (2-0) vs. Dolphins (1-1)
- Time: Sunday, 1:05 p.m.. PST
- Location: Lumen Field, Seattle
- Key Seahawks: Geno Smith (QB), DK Metcalf (WR), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR)
- Key Dolphins De'Von Achane (RB), Tyreek Hill (WR), Jaylen Waddle (WR)
Seahawks offensive tweaks
Football is a weird sport sometimes.
These two things are true, even if they seem contradictory: The Seahawks scored more points (26) in Week 1 than they did in Week 2 (23).
AND the Seahawks were better offensively in Week 2.
Make sense? Let me explain. Despite scoring fewer points in the Patriots win, the thesis behind offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's hiring played out.
Grubb unlocked the vertical passing game and allowed Geno Smith to make throws that stretched the field. Smith nearly doubled his passing yardage total from Week 1, didn't throw an interception, and attempted 44 passes as the Seahawks put their foot on the gas pedal and relied on its passing game as its main source of offensive production.
Opening up the passing game manifested in a career day for second-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught 12 passes from of a career-high 16 targets in the win. Smith-Njigba was deployed down the field - like we've mentioned several times in this space - where he was able to shake defenders and create chunk gains. He totaled a career-high 117 receiving yards and didn't even lead the team in receiving yards.
That title would belong to DK Metcalf, who totaled 129 yards and a 56-yard touchdown. For Week 2 at least, the Seahawks were a concentrated offense featuring its best players. What a concept.
Let's see if this trend continues this weekend.
Tua-less in Seattle
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will miss at least the next four games with a concussion from a collision in last week's loss to the Buffalo Bills. After the collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin in the second half, Tagovailoa had to be helped off the field.
The Dolphins quarterback has a history of serious concussions in his career. He missed five games in the 2022 season because of two concussions, needing a stretcher to remove him from the field in one of those instances.
Tagovailoa, who signed a four-year, $212 million extension in July, rebounded from the serious concussions to lead the National Football League in passing yards and starting every game.
Before he was placed on injured reserve, some were calling for Tagovailoa to retire from football for fear of future concussions.
Now the Dolphins will be Tua-less in Seattle, sapping its typically dynamic offense of its facilitator. Backup Skylar Thompson is in line to start this Sunday and nothing in his collegiate or professional profile indicates he's up for the task.
In five seasons with Kansas State, Thompson threw for 42 touchdowns. He threw a single touchdown and three interceptions in seven appearances for the Dolphins in 2022.
The Dolphins offense, which ranked second in scoring last season, will need to resort to a simpler offense to have a shot to win with Thompson at the helm.
But the offensive dynamism that Mike McDaniel loves to scheme will not be there much Sunday, if at all.
Game prediction
Seahawks 24, Dolphins 13.
This would be an entirely game with Tagovailoa, but that's not the world we live in. In this universe, the Seahawks tack on a few touchdowns Sunday and win comfortably to remain unbeaten.
