1. Do the Seahawks get more production out of their run game against a defense that was susceptible to the run last week?
Heading into the 2025 season, the Seahawks made no secret of the fact that, when it comes to their offense under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, they plan to run the ball often and run it well. Training camp and the preseason only backed that up, particularly the offense’s showing the second preseason game against Kansas City, the one in which the starting offensive line saw its most playing time.
But in the season opener, going against a talented 49ers defense, the run game, and the offense as a whole, struggled to find consistency as the Seahawks were held to 13 points and 230 yards of total offense.
When it came to the run game, there were some good moments, including a first-half touchdown drive on which the Seahawks rushed for 30 yards, including a 1-yard Zach Charbonnet touchdown, a 2-yard “quarterback” sneak by tight end AJ Barner to convert on third-and-one, and five runs that gained at least four yards. The Seahawks also ran the ball well late in the game on the drive that ended in a Jason Myers field goal to give the Seahawks a 13-10 lead, but between those drives, it was tough sledding in the run game, with the Seahawks finishing the game averaging just 3.2 yards per carry on 26 runs.
“I saw flashes of some good things, but we have to be able to sustain it throughout the entire game,” said Kubiak.
Said Macdonald, “Just stick with the process. There’s a handful of runs that didn’t go our way on Sunday, and a handful of runs went our way. Sometimes it goes like that, we want them to go more in our favor than not. It’s not for a lack of effort, and we’ve done a lot of great things throughout the preseason, which you saw in all three games. Let’s stick with it, we’re doing a lot of great stuff. Let’s just keep getting better.”
While NFL teams know better than to overlook any aspect of an opponent’s game, or to read too much into a single game, especially early in the season, the Seahawks had to have seen some opportunities to run the ball when they studied the Steelers’ Week 1 tape. In their win over the Jets, the Steelers allowed New York’s offense, led by running back Breece Hall and quarterback Justin Fields, to rush for 182 yards on 39 carries, including three rushing touchdowns.