The Seattle Seahawks keep winning football games, but recently the offense has been showing signs of regression after a strong start to the season.

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Seattle’s offensive woes were magnified in its 18-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The unit had another slow first half, producing just 80 yards, and didn’t reach the end zone the entire game. The running game also produced just 50 yards on 22 carries. However, the Seahawks able to put together six drives that ended in field goals to squeak by a team they were heavily favored against.

Over its past five games, four of which were wins, the Seahawks have only one first-half touchdown. All four of those wins have come against teams starting unproven rookies or past-their-prime veterans, including a 44-year-old Philip Rivers who was playing in his first game since retiring after the 2020 season. The one loss came against Matthew Stafford and the Rams, who the Seahawks face in a pivotal NFC West showdown on Thursday.

Have Seattle’s recent problems on offense, particularly the slow starts in the first half, become a big concern moving forward? FOX color analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth doesn’t seem to think so. Schlereth explained why the bottom line with the Seahawks team is that it keeps finding ways to win football games during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday.

“Everybody game plans you, everybody’s got really good players. It’s hard to consistently win,” Schlereth said. “I think there’s a lot to be said for finding ways to win.”

Similar to when the Seahawks beat a Vikings squad led by undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer in Week 13 after a slow start on offense, Schlereth saw the victory over the Colts as the Seahawks adapting to an opponent with a good defense but a quarterback who likely wasn’t going to be able to beat them without mistakes on Seattle’s end. And to the Seahawks’ credit, they didn’t have any turnovers against Indianapolis, which entered the game tied for the eighth-most takeaways in the league.

“I talked about the way the Indianapolis approached this game (with) the quick (passing) game, getting rid of it, screens, all those different things. Sometimes when the coaching staff puts a game plan together, it’s not necessarily about scoring 50. It’s about, how do we win this game?” Schlereth said. “And sometimes the best way to win a game is to say, ‘Hey man, we just can’t let our quarterback get hit, or we just can’t take a risk with the football,’ whatever that happens to be that week, and every week it changes.

“Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you lack some efficiency. But the bottom line to me is every week you find ways to win, that to me is the sign of a really good football team, and it’s done in a bunch of different fashions. So I just tip my cap.”

Schlereth added that one aspect that gives him confidence in Seattle’s offense to come through when needed is the connection between quarterback Sam Darnold and league-leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

“I will say this, the connection between Sam Darnold and (Jaxon) Smith-Njigba is special,” he said. “When they’ve got to have a big-time play, when they’ve got to have yardage, they seem to be able to find those yards, those big-time plays. That part to me is special.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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SEATTLE (AP) – Officials ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs Monday after a levee failed following a week of heavy rains.

The evacuation order from King County in Washington state covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila.

Emergency shelters have been set up at the following locations:

• Auburn Community and Event Center, 910 9th St. SE, Auburn, WA, 98002
• Ray of Hope Shelter, 2806 Auburn Way N. Auburn, WA, 98002
• Evergreen State Fairgrounds, 14405 179th Ave. SE., Monroe, WA 98272 (Open 24 hours) – Pets welcomed

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning covering nearly 47,000 people.

“Conditions are dangerous and access routes may be lost at any time,” the weather service said in a post on X.

The levee breach followed a week of heavy rain and flooding that inundated communities, forced the evacuations of tens of thousands of people, and prompted scores of rescues throughout western Washington state

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The Seattle Mariners have emerged as one of two front-runners in trade talks with the St. Louis Cardinals for utilityman Brendan Donovan, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported on Saturday.

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Woo reported a league source said trade discussions between the Mariners and Cardinals have been heating up since the Winter Meetings, and that switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes – two of Seattle’s top-seven prospects, per MLB pipeline – are two names St. Louis has inquired about, among others.

The Cardinals will not trade Donovan unless they are “blown away” by the return, and it’s believed they are looking for at least two prospects, per Woo’s reporting.

The San Francisco Giants were the other of the two front-runners Woo named. She also said that both the Mariners and Giants remain engaged in talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks about second baseman Ketel Marte.

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Donovan, who will turn 29 next month, has two years of club control remaining. He’s played every position except catcher during his four-year career, with the majority of his time coming at second base and left field. He would figure to mainly factor in at second base and third base for the Mariners, who have young players like Cole Young, Ben Williamson and Colt Emerson vying for time at those positions.

Donovan was a first-time All-Star in 2025, batting .287 with a .353 on-base percentage, .422 slugging percentage, .775 OPS, 32 doubles, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 118 games. His 13% strikeout rate ranked in the 92nd percentile of big league hitters and his 13.4% whiff rate in the 95th percentile, per Baseball Savant.

Over four MLB seasons, Donovan has a career .282 average with a .361 on-base percentage, .411 slugging percentage, .772 OPS, 97 doubles, 40 homers and 202 RBIs in 492 games. He won the NL Gold Glove for utility players during his rookie season in 2022.

As for the prospects Woo reported the Cardinals inquiring about, the 22-year-old Cijntje is Seattle’s No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. The unique pitcher had a 3.99 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while holding opponents to a .207 average, striking out 120 batters and walking 51 in 108 1/3 innings pitched over 26 appearances (23 starts) across High-A and Double-A in 2025.

The 21-year-old Montes is considered to be the best power-hitting prospect in the Mariners’ farm system and is their No. 3 overall farmhand, per MLB Pipeline. The slugging outfielder hit .241 with a .354 on-base percentage, .504 slugging percentage, .858 OPS, 19 doubles, seven triples, 32 home runs, 89 RBIs, 83 walks and 169 strikeouts over 131 games across High-A and Double-A this year. Montes finished tied for third in home runs among minor leaguers across all levels.

The report that the M’s are one of the top contenders for Donovan came on the same day as they lost out on re-signing their top remaining free-agent target, second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco, who reportedly agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal with the New York Mets.

More Seattle Mariners offseason coverage

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