I can't say the Seattle Seahawks are in dire straits if they lose their Week 2 contest in Pittsburgh, but they're already one game behind everyone else in the division. For these three members of the team, the situation could be even worse with another bad performance.
Okay, maybe that's a bit of hyperbole. The season won't be over for anyone, no matter how poorly they perform against the Steelers. It is just the second week, after all. 0-2 would not be the end of the world, even though it's quite likely the rest of the NFC West will be 2-0 after this week. Anyone can bounce back from a couple of rough weeks, too. Heck, Anthony Bradford already bounced back from an atrocious season.
But these three Seahawks didn't have the best performances in Week 1. They're already under some pretty heavy scrutiny, and rightly so. The first two were expected to take steps forward to return to their earlier brilliance for Seattle.
The last was expected to return the team to the Seahawks' trademark style of offense. None of that happened. While Week 2 is far too early to give up on anyone, there's no time better than the present to get back on track.
These three Seahawks need to get their game face on in Week 2
The pressure is on for the Seahawks heading into their contest versus the Steelers. The secondary is banged up. We know Nick Emmanwori is out, and Devon Witherspoon may miss the game, too. New addition Derion Kendrick will likely see significant playing time. He may see even more, depending on how the first questionable performer looks in Pittsburgh.
Riq Woolen
Ah, yes, first up is Riq the not-so-Freak. To say he played poorly against the 49ers is the understatement of the young season. His passer rating allowed was a perfect 158.3. When asked if Woolen would start in Week 2, head coach Mike Macdonald rightly stated, "We'll see." Whether he starts or not, Woolen has to play better in Pittsburgh.
Kenneth Walker III
A lot of 12s questioned the one-time undisputed number one back in Seattle. I had those questions as well before the Niners game. Sadly, we didn't get the answers we wanted. Walker hesitated far too often, just as he did last year.
The guy who, at best, was supposed to be running back 1B, hit whatever crease he could find. At this point, Zach Charbonett should clearly be the starting back for the Seahawks. If K9 breaks off a couple of his trademark long runs, he's back in business.
Klint Kubiak
So, as it turns out, there's a big difference between the preseason and the real games. Last week, Seattle didn't run effectively, regardless of who carried the ball. About half the time, they ran gaps, as opposed to the zone-blocking that had been heralded as the key to their success.
Sam Darnold attempted 23 passes and only ran play action twice. I'm not sure how that makes any sense at all. And of course, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was targeted at a higher rate than any other player in the league.
None of that is sustainable. Cooper Kupp was the only wideout to see any targets, and he saw three. The tight ends were only targeted three times. We might as well have kept Noah Fant and Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the team and not throw to them. I don't know what happened, but Kubiak needs to call the game plan we saw in the preseason, instead of the timid mess we saw last week.