While there were some unexpected bumps in the road, Sunday turned out to be a good one for the Seattle Seahawks as they got out of Pittsburgh with their first win of the season, 31-17.
The only negative?
Every other team in the NFC West also won.
That is will change next Sunday, making this a week of opportunity for the Seahawks.
Let’s address four key questions in the wake of Sunday’s game.
Why could Sunday be a good one for the Seahawks?
At the moment, the NFC West can call itself the best division in football as it is the only one in which none of the teams have a losing record — the 49ers, Rams and Arizona are all 2-0 while the Seahawks are 1-1.
The 49ers, Rams and Cardinals were favored to win, and while all three had to deal with some drama, they ultimately got it done.
That’s one reason Sunday’s win was so vital for the Seahawks, to avoid falling two games back of everyone else after just two games.
On paper, this week looks more promising.
The Seahawks return home to host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Lumen Field at 1:05 p.m. The Saints fell to 0-2 when they were defeated by the 49ers at home, 26-21.
By the end of Sunday, the Seahawks were as much as an eight-point favorite against a Saints team that will be playing its first road game under first-year coach Kellen Moore, the former Prosser High and Boise State star quarterback.
The Rams travel to play the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who are an early four-point favorite.
As for the Cardinals and 49ers, they play each other in Santa Clara, guaranteeing — other than a dreaded tie — that at least one will lose.
So, the Seahawks can’t move into first — even a tie would keep the 49ers and Cardinals ahead of them.
But if the odds hold, the Seahawks can at least move into a tie for second at 2-1, showing how much good a win can do — and how disastrous another loss could have been, even at this early date.
Has Kenneth Walker III become RB1 again?
That question assumes Walker had been surpassed by Zach Charbonnet on the depth chart.
There was nothing to ever support that as Walker appeared to always run first in training-camp practices and started both regular-season games.
The Seahawks always said Charbonnet would have a significant role alongside — like Walker, he was also a second-round pick — and that it would at times simply come down to who has the hot hand.
Despite all that, there was speculation that Charbonnet was passing Walker on the depth chart, especially during those times when Walker was sitting out in camp because of a sore foot.
The Seahawks stuck to the plan of getting each involved Sunday and going with the hot hand.
Charbonnet had seven carries for 11 yards in the first half. Walker, who again got the start, had five for 26.
Walker got the first carries to start the third quarter — seeming to indicate where he stands on the depth chart — and immediately ripped off runs of nine and 15 in jump-starting a drive that resulted in a TD that tied the game at 14.
With the running game performing well with Walker, he got the bulk of the work the rest of the way.
In finishing the game with 105 yards on just 13 carries, Walker had 79 on eight in the second half including the improbable 19-yard TD run that sewed up the game on a third-and-goal play.
Charbonnet finished with a somewhat misleading 10 yards on 15 carries.
That included eight for minus-one in the second half. That also included Charbonnet getting three carries for minus-one yards on the final run-out-the-clock drive.
Interestingly, Charbonnet ended up with 36 snaps to Walker’s 23. But that might also have been because of Charbonnet’s role in the two-minute, third-down offense.
Either way, the game seemed to show that there will be roles for both, but that when he’s healthy, Walker remains RB1.
What provided the biggest sigh of relief for the Seahawks?
The play of Cooper Kupp.
When the Rams released Kupp following last season, they did so with worries about whether he could stay healthy and still produce as he turns 32.
Kupp has so far stayed healthy for the Seahawks, never appearing to miss any work because of injury during the offseason program and training camp and entering the season ready to go.
Production was harder to read, in part because of the nature of the preseason these days and teams not playing their starters. Fans simply didn’t see Kupp much during the preseason and in the regular-season opener saw him catch just two passes for 15 yards. While one game is just one game, overreaction is part of what drives NFL fandom, and some wondered already if Kupp could: A, fit in the offense; and B, produce at the same level he always has.
Seven catches on nine targets for 90 yards with 42 coming after the catch seemed to prove that he does and he can.
Two catches for 33 yards came on back-to-back plays in the third quarter to key the drive that tied the game at 14 — a 17-yarder to convert a third-and-four at the 50 and a 16-yarder to take the ball to the 17.
They were the kinds of plays the Seahawks signed Kupp to make.
“I said a couple times in the headsets, when he makes those plays, that’s Cooper Kupp,” Macdonald said. “Let’s remind ourselves who this guy is. I mean, the run after the catch is going to be a really important part of our offense. Timing is critical and you’ve got to take advantage of it when you give him those opportunities.”
And what question did Kupp’s performance help answer?
That there is life for the Seahawks after DK Metcalf.
Not only was the reunion with Metcalf an obvious pregame storyline but also what his presence in Pittsburgh represented — his absence in the Seahawks’ offense.
Week 1 left it unclear if a passing attack centered on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kupp, rookie Tory Horton and tight ends AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo could survive without Metcalf (as well as Tyler Lockett, now in Tennessee).
Guess which of those receivers who played Sunday in Pittsburgh had the fewest yards?
You might not have picked the one who is due to make $131,999,529 through the 2029 season.
While Metcalf was held to three receptions for 20 yards by a Seahawks defense without starting cornerback Devon Witherspoon, Smith-Njigba was getting 103 yards on eight receptions, Horton 32 on two, Barner 26 on two and Arroyo 31 on two, along with Kupp’s aforementioned 90 on seven.
There’s a long way to go before the Seahawks’ decision to move on from Metcalf — nudged by his trade request and realizing signing him to a new contract after this season wasn’t going to be easy, if not impossible — can be properly assessed.
But Sunday showed that maybe the Seahawks’ receiving corps post-Metcalf can get along just fine.