Seattle, WA
KJ's Seattle Seahawks Takeaways: 'Night and day' without who?
Sunday will be all or nothing for the Seattle Seahawks.
After losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-23 in Week 17, the Seahawks fell to 8-8 on the season, essentially putting themselves in a must-win situation when they go to Arizona for a 1:25 p.m. Sunday contest against the 4-12 Cardinals if they want to make the playoffs.
Playoff Scenarios: How Seattle Seahawks can make the postseason
On Seattle Sports’ weekly K.J. Wright Show during Wednesday’s edition of Brock and Salk, the former Seahawks great shared his thoughts on everything about the team. You can watch video of Wright in studio at the top of this post, or hear the full show in the podcast at this link or in the player below. After that, we’ll detail a few of the more notable observations he shared.
Big missing piece
The Seahawks have been without linebacker Jordyn Brooks since he suffered an ankle injury on Dec. 18 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Wright, himself a one-time Pro Bowl linebacker in his playing days, said it was a clear problem against Pittsburgh. Seattle allowed the Steelers to gain 468 yards of offense, with Pittsburgh running for 202 yards to 88 by the Seahawks’ offense, and the Hawks registering just one sack on the day.
“It was night and day not having Jordyn Brooks out there,” Wright said. “What he’s done since he’s really came on the scene, a guy that’s been a downhill guy, a guy that when he sees it, he shoots it and he takes his shot. And for him just have to deal with that ankle injury – Devin Bush was out there, Bobby (Wagner) was out there, (but) Jordyn for sure was surely missed out there on the football field. And he has to come back this game because the Arizona Cardinals are going to have the same exact game plan.”
What’s wrong with Seattle Seahawks’ run game
The Seahawks have invested in the running back position, drafting Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet in the second round in back-to-back years, yet they rank fourth from last in the NFL with just 90.1 rushing yards per game.
When Wright was asked about the situation, he put his focus on the offensive line.
“I think we can improve in that position – I think we can get better, interior, with the offensive line,” he said. “I look at K-9 (Walker) – I say this every single week, when K-9 is getting north and south, K-9 is a really, really good football player. He’s a really, really good football player. Zach Charbonnet, he’s got to come along. He has to come along way more and be that 1-2 punch that we need him to be. He got taken in the second round for a reason, and right now we haven’t seen the right production out of him. So can we get some big boys up front?”
Is OC to blame for not converting on third down?
Another statistic on offense where Seattle has struggled is conversion rate on third down, where the Hawks are 25th out of the league’s 32 teams at 35.4%. Does that fall on third-year offensive coordinator Shane Waldron?
Wright didn’t put the blame on Waldron. Instead, he pointed out how not being fully in sync can impact just about everything.
“What do you do when you try to run the ball and it’s not effective? When you’re get stalemated at the line of scrimmage?” he said. “And then on top of that, you can’t even get the run game going because you’re (bottom quarter) in the league when it comes to third down. So I look at Shane, I feel like he’s trying to run the ball, but K-9, O-line, give me something. Geno (Smith), I need you to keep me going on third down so I can come back to it. And so I look at football, everything’s connected – the play-calling, the third down, the O-line, the run game. Everything has got to be in sync.”
The K.J. Wright Show airs from 8-9 a.m. live Wednesdays during the football season during Seattle Sports’ Brock Salk. Click here for podcasts of every episode.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Notebook: Pete Carroll updates injuries, laments run game
• What Carroll Said: Seahawks’ run D, tackling, onside kick and more
• Instant Reaction: Seahawks’ loss to Steelers hurts playoff odds
• Rost: Seattle Seahawks are in playoff picture, but story is D’s woes
SEATTLE – Wednesday will be another warm day with highs in the mid to upper 80s for parts of western Washington. Eastern and central Washington will reach near 100F with high fire danger. The coast and north interior will be cooler, only in the 60s to 70s.
Wednesday will be another warm day with highs in the mid to upper 80s for parts of western Washington.
Fire Weather Watch
A Fire Weather Watch goes into effect Wednesday evening through Thursday evening for thunderstorms and gusty winds. Lightning strikes could create new fire starts and, with very dry conditions in place, any new fire could spread quickly.
A Fire Weather Watch goes into effect Wednesday evening through Thursday evening for thunderstorms and gusty winds.
What’s next:
An upper level low will move into the Pacific Northwest, bringing scattered showers and a chance of thunderstorms. The heaviest showers will be in the morning hours and will turn more scattered into the evening hours.
An upper level low will move into the Pacific Northwest, bringing scattered showers and chance of thunderstorms.
Looking Ahead:
High pressure will build again Friday and into the weekend, increasing temperatures and sunshine. We will start to see highs reach the upper 80s to low 90s by early next week.
High pressure will build again Friday and into the weekend, increasing temperatures and sunshine.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the FOX 13 Seattle Weather Team and the National Weather Service.
After so many disappointing seasons with the interior offensive line, the Seattle Seahawks made a commitment last offseason to improve the unit. They started one big step at a time by drafting North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel in the first round, 18th overall pick, of the 2025 NFL Draft. This one was one of the last steps for the Seahawks to create one of the most productive offenses in the NFL.
Zabel wasn’t perfect in his rookie season, but he was good enough to validate the decision to draft him in the first round, and he showed improvement. Zabel is already a favorite among some Seahawks fans and some media outlets as they love his determination and spirit. It was a big jump from the FCS collegiate level to the NFL and this season, he has a chance to show why he might be a top-half-of-the-league guard.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Higher?
The Seahawks wanted a determined workhorse when looking for a guard. That’s exactly what they got in Zabel. Last season, he appeared in 1,051 snaps, which is only 10 fewer snaps than right tackle Abraham Lucas, who had the most offensive snaps. Zabel got better as the season progressed. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 81.5 and a run-block grade of 81.2 in Week 14 through the NFC Championship Game.
There were times last season when he looked like a monster against several defenders. He was pushing some defenders completely out of the way on pulling plays and even ran to defenders after the pass-catcher caught the ball. This is the mentality the Seahawks expect him to have going into his second season in the league. He has more experience and the complete trust of the team to be a franchise player on par with Lucas and left tackle Charles Cross. If he continues to improve, he will be another steal for the Seahawks.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Lower?
There were times last season when he didn’t quite catch up to the learning curve of the NFL. Zabel allowed two sacks, four hits and 24 pressures in 2025. The Seahawks expect those numbers to decrease significantly as he is experienced and capable of playing at an efficient level. While Zabel is impressive, he might not be the best player the Seahawks have selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. That honor belongs to slot cornerback Nick Emmanwori, who is stepping up to be the steal of the draft.
Zabel is easily one of the best second-year players and is one of the top offensive linemen, but there are players behind him because they haven’t proven to be consistently explosive for the Seahawks. There is going to be even more pressure on him this upcoming season. The Seahawks hired a more run-friendly coach in Brian Fleury as offensive coordinator. His ranking at the end of the season might be much better if he improves, or worse if he fails to reach expectations.
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SEATTLE – High pressure continues early this week, leading to more sunshine and warmer afternoon temperatures. Skies will be sunny, warm and dry through the middle of the week.
High pressure continues early this week, leading to more sunshine and warmer afternoon temperatures.
What’s next:
Highs today in the low to mid 80s for parts of western Washington, with highs in central and eastern Washington getting close to 100 degrees. The coast and northern interior will remain in the 70s with mostly sunny skies.
Highs today in the low to mid 80s for parts of western Washington.
Fire Risk Levels
The Fire Risk Levels this week will continue to elevate as we see warming temperatures and increased chance of thunderstorms. East of the cascades is already dry and warm, so the increased chance of new fire starts will be something to watch with the storms.
The Fire Risk Levels this week will continue to elevate as we see warming temperatures and increased chance of thunderstorms. (FOX 13 Seattle)
Looking Ahead:
Temperatures will continue to warm for western Washington through midweek, before we see another low pressure system swing inland Thursday. This low will increase changes of showers and isolated thunderstorms on Thursday, and temperatures will be back to normal for this time of year. This cool down is short-lived as high pressure builds again and highs warm back up into the 80s by the weekend.
Temperatures will continue to warm for western Washington through midweek, before we see another low pressure system swing in Thursday.
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To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
The Source: Information in this story came from the FOX 13 Seattle Weather Team and the National Weather Service.
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