What's up, South End?
I hope y'all are enjoying the holiday weekend. However you celebrate, if you celebrate, my favorite part of this weekend has always been the extra time I get with friends and family. And what I love to do with this long weekend is the same every year: Sea … hawks!
Yes, the Seahawks are looking good this year. Despite that recent loss to the L.A. Rams, we've been taking care of business. This Sunday, we take on the Minnesota Vikings, the former team of our quarterback Sam Darnold.
To get us prepared for this weekend of football, I reached out to my favorite expert. Glenn Nelson formerly covered the NBA for The Seattle Times, so I was surprised to learn he also had a run covering the Seahawks. Well, he covered them for one year. Before I was born.
But Glenn is a die-hard Seahawks fan and a friend of the Emerald (fun fact, he's also the husband of our executive director, Florangela Davila!) — be on the lookout, he has coverage of Rainier Beach basketball coming up soon. So, I reached out to talk about the Seahawks game this week, how far he thinks we can go this year, and where Jaxon Smith-Njigba ranks on our all-time list of wide receivers.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
MD: I saw Sam Darnold melt down in the playoffs last year after having a great season. How far can the Seahawks go this year with him at quarterback? Is this team for real?
GN: I think they are. Sam Darnold aside, the Seahawks have elements of their game that are going to travel. Their defense is for real. Their commitment to the running game, and the way they play out the running game, that's for real. And that recent punt return for a touchdown notwithstanding, they have pretty high-level special teams. So you throw in. You don't even need a superstar-type quarterback at the helm to push that team into the postseason.
But I would argue that it cracks me up, because I've watched for so long, that people judge a person's ability or their career based on a game or two. He was 14–2 going into that final game. He has 22 wins in two seasons and that second season isn't even done yet.
MD: Yes … but some of us saw him play for the [New York] Jets.
GN: I remember when Geno [Smith] played for the Jets.
MD: Fair. That could just be a Jets thing. He did throw four interceptions in the Rams game even though we kept the score close. Do you think we can win the division?
GN: Yes. That's what I'm saying. If Darnold is just passable, you know, not four picks, I think they beat the Rams, especially at home. I think that's the big takeaway from that game.
MD: Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the talk of the town. Especially when national pundits say any other guy is the best receiver in the league. I've seen a few Twitter beefs sparked from that situation. I know it's still early in his career, but how good is he?
GN: He certainly passes the eye test. I covered one season of the Seahawks and that was Steve Largent's last year. And it seems like a Seattle thing. If you list their best receivers of all time, it would be Largent, [Doug] Baldwin, [Tyler] Lockett, and I don't think DK [Metcalf] played long enough to make the list, but they're smallish, fast, with tremendous body control. That's JSN. If that's the culture of Seahawks receivers, he's logically next in my mind.
MD: As we all watch the Seahawks over this long weekend, what are you looking to see? What's your prediction for the game against the Vikings?
GN: I'm hoping [J.J.] McCarthy comes out of concussion protocols so we can see him play and see how wide the margin is between him and Darnold. I mean, the Vikings, skill player to skill player, you go with them. But, they don't have a quarterback to get the ball to anyone. I feel like the Seahawks defense will swallow them up. I don't think it's going to be a runaway, but I think they take the Vikings by a couple touchdowns.
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This is an abbreviated version of The Roundup newsletter. To get the entire newsletter, including a weekly list of events to check out and my shout-out to South End Gems, subscribe here. See you next week!
Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.
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