The Seahawks opened their second season under head coach Mike Macdonald with a tough, down-to-the-wire loss, but they have won three straight games since then, looking very much like contenders in a tough NFC West.

While it hasn't been perfect, the first quarter of the Seahawks season has featured a lot of positives, from a great start by new quarterback Sam Darnold, to dominant play by the defensive front, to a torrid start by receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, to a defense that has shown it is one of the best in the NFL. But the best part of this solid start, as Macdonald sees it, is that the Seahawks can and should only get better from here.

"We're in a cool spot because we've figured out a way to win games, and we also feel like we have a lot of room for growth and the guys feel the same way. There's an urgency there to go keep attacking, keep figuring out ways to get better, improve on the things and the mentality that we have throughout games, and it's exciting. It's exciting to have room for growth and also have some wins in the win column."

With the Seahawks now four games into the 2025 campaign, let's take a look back at some of the players, plays and moments that stood out from the first quarter of the season.

Important disclaimer: These are very unofficial honors selected by a writer who might not really know what he's talking about, so please take all of this with a grain of salt.

Offensive MVP: QB Sam Darnold

With apologies to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is emerging as one of the NFL's best receivers, this one has to go to Darnold, who is off to a fantastic start with his new team, or as Macdonald put it after last week's win in Arizona, “Sam’s playing out of his mind right now.”

Since a close season opening loss, Darnold has been outstanding in three straight Seahawks wins, and for the season he is completing 70.0 percent of his passes while leading the NFL in yards-per-attempt (9.1) and yards per completion (12.9), giving him a 106.5 passer rating. Darnold also led the game-winning drive late in last week's win in Arizona, giving him seven game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime dating back to last season, tied with Patrick Mahomes for most in NFL.

There's still a lot of season left, but through four games, the Seahawks appear to have made a great move by adding Darnold in free agency.

Defensive MVP: DE Leonard Williams

The Seahawks have had one of the NFL's best defenses this season by several metrics, including the league's No. 2 scoring defense, and the fact that it's tough to pick a clear-cut MVP when they've been playing so well speaks to the overall talent and depth on Seattle's defense.

Players at all three levels have stepped up and made big plays, but if we're going to single out one player, it has to be Williams, who not only is off to a good start, statistically, but who is also a leader of one of the best defensive fronts in football.

Coming off a standout 2024 campaign in which he had 11 sacks, 64 tackles,16 tackles for loss and 28 quarterback hits, Williams is again on pace to put up big numbers in his 11^th season, starting the year with 2.5 sacks, 19 tackles, two tackles for loss and six quarterback hits. But just as importantly, he's also creating opportunities for teammates like Byron Murphy II, who also has 2.5 sacks, Jarran Reed and other defensive linemen and outside linebackers.

Special Teams MVP: K Jason Myers

The Seahawks have had a lot of big moments on special teams in the first four games of the season, so there have been plenty of standouts, but over the first four games, this one will go to Myers, whose 39 points rank second in the NFL and lead the NFC, and who last week made a 52-yard game winner in Arizona as time expired.

In addition to his place-kicking excellence, Myers, like all kickers, has seen his job take on added importance due to the league's new kickoff rules, which have caused most teams, the Seahawks included, to try to kick the ball short of the end zone to avoid touchbacks, which now come out to the 35-yard line. Myers has been good at placing kicks in a manner that sets the coverage team up for success, and his short, knuckling kick against the Steelers led to a big play for the Seahawks when Pittsburgh failed to field the kick, allowing George Holani to recover it in the end zone for a touchdown.

So many other players deserve a mention for Seattle's special teams success, ranging from punter Michael Dickson to punt returner Tory Horton, whose rookie campaign already includes a franchise-record 95-yard touchdown, and core special teamers like Brady Russell, Eric Saubert, D'Anthony Bell, Holani, Dareke Young, Drake Thomas, Chazz Surratt, Mike Morris, Ty Okada, Nehemiah Pritchett and others.

Offensive Player of the First Quarter: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

When the quarterback is playing well, it's hard for anyone else to be a team's MVP, but Smith-Njigba has a pretty strong case with how much he has meant to Seattle's offense through the first four weeks of the season. The league's second-leading receiver with 402 yards on 26 receptions, Smith-Njigba has been Seattle's leading receiver in all four games, and has come through with several big catches late in games, including two long receptions last week on Seattle's final two drives, the second of which, a 22-yarder, set up the game-winning field goal.

Best Rookie, Offense: G Grey Zabel

In April, the Seahawks made Zabel the franchise's highest-drafted interior offensive lineman since Steve Hutchinson, and while it's way too early to be comparing a rookie to a Hall of Fame guard, it's not too early to say that looks like one heck of a good pick for Seattle.

Zabel has been outstanding at left guard for the Seahawks, and according to NFL Next Gen Stats, the one pressure he allowed in last week's win was his first and only pressure given up this season. And he has also been an excellent run blocker, with ESPN ranking him first among interior linemen in their run block win rate rankings.

Best Rookie, Special Teams: WR Tory Horton

Horton, who has also been a big part of Seattle's offense as the team's No. 3 receiver, recording a pair of touchdown receptions in his first four games, has given the Seahawks their most explosive returner since a young Tyler Lockett was earning All-Pro honors for his return prowess. Horton has had multiple nice returns this season, but the one that earns him a spot on this list was the spectacular 95-yard return against New Orleans that set a franchise record while also helping the Seahawks build a big lead in an eventual blowout win.

Best Newcomer Not Named Sam Darnold: WR Cooper Kupp

Kupp's number through four games—15 catches for 162 yards—don't jump off the stat sheet, but his impact on the team has gone far beyond those numbers. As he showed in a seven-catch, 90-yard performance against the Steelers, Kupp is still capable of putting up big numbers, but even if he isn't keeping pace with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and other top receivers, Kupp is still a huge part of what the Seahawks are doing on offense, and really as a team as a whole. Kupp ranks second on the team in targets and receiving yards behind Smith-Njigba, and has played the most snaps of any receiver on the team, slightly ahead of Smith-Njigba. And it's important to also remember his overall impact on the team as a leader and as player who, given his vast experience and overall football smarts, is also a valuable resource to coaches and teammates alike.

"A great football player," Macdonald said. "The unspoken thing is he's been around the block and he's seen it done at a high level, and he's an independent thinker. I love that mentality of, 'Hey, I know we do it like this, but can we tweak it or could we make this a little better? I've seen it like this.' It's always coming through a lens of respect and trying to do it the best way, and as a coach, if you have the same mentality, you can come up with some great solutions. I feel like we've done that several times since he's been here, so he's been an asset to me. He's been an asset to Klint. He's been an asset to our offense, and he's been an asset to our football team."

Best Play, Offense: Kenneth Walker III takes it to the house on third-and-goal from the 19.

When the Seahawks were trying to close out a Week 2 win in Pittsburgh, they faced third-and-goal from the 19-yard line late in the game. The call was a toss to Kenneth Walker III, a play meant to run a little more clock and set up a field goal to extend the lead to 10 points, but instead, running behind great blocking, led by Charles Cross and Grey Zabel, Walker was able to sprint to the end zone untouched to put the game out of reach.

Best Play, Defense: Derion Kendrick's end-zone interception keys second-half surge in Week 2 win.

An injury to Devon Witherspoon forced Kendrick into action at Pittsburgh as Seattle's nickel corner two weeks after he was claimed off waivers, but despite limited prep time, Kendrick made an immediate impact. After a pass breakup on third down that should have probably been intercepted earlier in the day, Kendrick got his pick in big moment in the fourth quarter, diving to catch a deflected pass in the end zone in what at the time was a tie game. Kendrick would fill in in nickel duties again the following week, securing a second interception, and in just two game in that role, he also had five passes defensed.

Also worth mentioning when bringing up Kendrick's interception against the Steelers is the effort play Riq Woolen made to chase down Jaylen Warren on a 65-yard catch and run, keeping Warren from scoring to give the defense and Kendrick a chance to make that game-changing play in the end zone.

Best Play, Special Teams: Tory Horton's record-setting punt return.

In what has been a great season for Jay Harbaugh's special teams units, there are plenty of candidates for this one, from D'Anthony Bell's blocked punt to set up a touchdown, to Dareke Young's 65-yard kick return to set up another, to Jason Myers' walk-off winner, to Julian Love's blocked field goal. But the clear winner here is Horton's 95-yard punt return touchdown, the longest in team history and Seattle's first punt return touchdown since Tyler Lockett had one as a rookie. While Horton gets the most attention for the play, just about everyone on the field contributed in some manner, including key blocks from Nehemiah Pritchett, Chazz Surratt and Bell.

Unsung Hero(es): Secondary Depth

The Seahawks have played without Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon for two games this season, without Pro-Bowl safety Julian Love for one, and without rookie Nick Emmanwori, who was expected to have a big role, for three games. Yet despite those absences, the Seahawks' secondary, and defense as a whole, has thrived. Kendrick, as mentioned above, was great filling in for Witherspoon, recording two interceptions and five passes defensed in two games, while multiple safeties, including Ty Okada and D'Anthony Bell, have also made contributions.

Trend to continue: Elite defense.

The Seahawks rank second in the league in scoring defense, have not allowed more than 20 points in a game, and have yet to allow a rushing touchdown. They're the top-ranked defense in the NFL by DVOA, and have basically been outstanding at just about everything.

After struggling against the run for the first half of last season, the Seahawks are holding opponents to just 3.6 yards per carry this year, which ranks fourth in the league, while their pass defense has seven interceptions, tied for second most in the league, and ranks fourth on opponent passer rating allowed at 76.4. Seattle's 12 sacks, which have come while blitzing at a low rate, rank sixth.

Trend to improve upon: Inconsistent run game.

The Seahawks ran for a season-high 155 yards last week, and averaged 4.4 yards per carry, also a season-best mark, but as has been the case all season, that game was a mix of big runs as well as runs stopped in the backfield for a loss. The Seahawks haven't been a bad running team, by any means, but they have been inconsistent, and for a team that has made no secret of the fact that they want to be a team that runs the ball, they'll want to get more consistent in that part of the game moving forward.

Through four games, the Seahawks have gotten a lot of big plays out of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, but they also are averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, which ranks 28^th in the NFL. Sam Darnold and the passing game have been more than capable of making things happen when the running game isn't clicking, but for the offense to be at its best, the running game will need to eliminate more of those negative plays.