The Seahawks finished the first quarter of the 2026 season -- OK, OK, it's not quite a full quarter thanks to the 17th game, but close enough -- with a 3-1 record, which all things considered is a pretty fair representation of where the team is at so far this season.

The Seahawks have done some things really well -- they allowed the fewest yards and passing yards and the fifth fewest points in the NFL while also being tied for fourth in turnover differential -- but they also have areas in which they can get better, as is evident in the fact that they are among the league leaders in penalty yards, and in have some inconsistencies on offense, particularly the run game.

But overall, the Seahawks have put themselves in good position to again be contenders in a tough NFC West while also knowing there is still growth for them still out there as they continue to form the identity of the 2026 version of the Seahawks.

"I love our team," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said on his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710AM. "I think this is a great reminder that this is a new team. So we're four games into this new team's journey of where we're going. I love our team. I love our attitude, I love how we work every day, I love how we treat each other in the building, I love the relationships, I love going to work, and I'm really looking forward to getting better, because I really believe we can. I think everybody agrees there's a sense of urgency to get it done now."

With four games in the books, it's time to hand out some first quarter honors.

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: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

MVP is often a quarterback award, and Seattle has gotten good quarterback play this season, but due to an injury suffered by Sam Darnold early in the opener, he and Drew Lock have pretty evenly split playing time this year. And even if Darnold had been healthy and played the first four games, it would still be tough to top what Jaxon Smith-Njigba has done this season.

The reigning AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Smith-Njigba appears to have somehow gotten even better after his record-setting 2025 season. Through four games, Smith-Njigba has a league-high six receiving touchdowns and 481 receiving yards on 32 catches. He joined Hall of Famer Jerry Rice as one of two players in league history to start a season with at least 120 receiving yards and a touchdown in each of his first three games, and joined Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison Sr. as one of two players to start a season with 400 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his first three games.

Defensive MVP: DL Leonard Williams

The way the Seahawks play defense under Macdonald, there are always going to be several worth candidates for defensive MVP honors. On any given day, a different player can be the one getting sacks or tackles for loss or takeaways in the secondary, and the unselfish nature of the defense, particularly up front, means one or two players aren't piling up huge stats -- for example, the Seahawks had one of the best defensive fronts in the league last year, but no one had more than 7.0 sacks, with Uchenna Nwosu, Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II all sharing the team lead.

But with that caveat out of the way, it's hard to go wrong with picking one of the NFL's best game-wrecking interior defensive linemen, Leonard Williams. At 32 years old and in his 12th season in the league, Williams somehow seems to still be getting better with each passing year, and he's off to a great start in 2026. In addition to all the work Williams does that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, which is significant, he is also off to a very productive start, recording 3.0 sacks and five tackles for loss, both of which lead the team, as well as six quarterback hits, which is tied for the team lead.

Special Teams MVP: P Michael Dickson

Nine years into his NFL career, Dickson remains one of the very best in the NFL at his craft, and is a big part of his team's success. So far this season, Dickson has a 42.9 yards-per-punt net average and has had eight of his 18 punts downed inside the 20, a 44.4 percent rate that is his best since 2021. Dickson is also great at unleashing different styles of punts to make life difficult on returners, very likely a factor in the Chargers muffing a punt in Week 4, a turnover that led to a touchdown. Perhaps most impressively, the Seahawks have yet to allow a punt-return yard thanks in part to Dickson's wizardry, not to mention great play by the coverage team, making them the only team in the league to have not given up punt-return yardage.

Top Newcomer: S Rodney Thomas II

Thomas, a free-agent signing this offseason, opened the 2026 season on Seattle's practice squad, but thanks to a hamstring injury that sidelined starter Ty Okada, Thomas found himself in the starting lineup in Week 1. That stint in the starting lineup has now extended to four games, and Thomas has more than held his own on the back end of Seattle's defense.

Individually, Thomas has recorded 12 tackles and three pass breakups, one of which led to a Nehemiah Pritchett interception, but what really stands out is the way the defense, and the secondary in particular, has continued to thrive despite the loss of a starting safety. The Seahawks have allowed the fewest passing yards in the league through four games, and have allowed only five completions of 20 or more yards, tied for the fewest in the league, two stats that don't happen without quality safety play.

Another newcomer worthy of some early-season praise is running back Emanuel Wilson, who played a big role to close out the Week 2 win over the Cardinals, and who then took over the starting role for an injured Jadarian Price in Week 2, producing 120 scrimmage yards and a pair of touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving.

Best relief performance: QB Drew Lock

Rodney Thomas II would have been a worthy pick in this category as well, but Drew Lock deserves some serious props for the job he did filling in for Sam Darnold for two games. First, Lock was put in the always-challenging position of taking over for an injured starter in-game, meaning he had virtually no first-team practice reps that week, and all Lock did in that season opener was play turnover-free ball while leading a comeback from a 10-point deficit. A week later, Lock was spectacular, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns, including an 82-yarder to Smith-Njigba, to lead the Seahawks to a win over the Cardinals.

Lock no longer has enough pass attempts to qualify among league leaders, but if he did, his 127.3 passer rating would lead the NFL, and he's second in the league in ESPN's QBR metric with an 84.5 grade. Lock is also Pro Football Focus' top-rated quarterback with a 92.1 grade.

No team wants to lose its starting quarterback to injury, but with Darnold missing almost two full games, Lock was able to show that the Seahawks might just have the league's best backup quarterback.

Best play, offense: Jaxon Smith-Njigba burns the Cardinals deep for an 82-yard touchdown.

The longest catch of Smith-Njigba's career also showed off some of his best traits, especially the ridiculous route-running skills that allowed him to smoke his defender at the line of scrimmage, not to mention the speed to run away from the defense. Teams have spent most of the past two seasons trying to limit Smith-Njigba's ability to make big plays, yet he keeps finding ways to do so.

Best play, defense: Josh Jobe's game-clinching interception to clinch victory over the Patriots.

The Seahawks had already intercepted Patriots quarterback Drake Maye twice by the time he and the New England offense were driving for the potential go-ahead touchdown or game-tying field goal. And with the Patriots already in range for the tying field goal to send the game to overtime, Maye elected to take a shot at the end zone and the win. Thanks to a quick win and early pressure from DeMarcus Lawrence, Maye had to make an ill-advised throw while backpedaling and fading away, and the result was an underthrown ball that Josh Jobe was able to pick off with a spectacular leaping grab he finished off with great footwork to secure the catch, as well as the victory.

Best play, special teams: Connor O'Toole recovers a muffed punt to set up a touchdown vs. the Chargers.

Both teams were off to somewhat sluggish starts, offensively, in the Seahawks' Week 4 game against the Chargers when Seattle's punt team came through with a big play. Michael Dickson's high punt was muffed and outside linebacker Connor O'Toole recovered the loose ball, setting up the Seahawks with a short field.  The offense quickly converted with a 23-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Emanuel Wilson.

Trend to continue: Takeaways on defense.

The Seahawks opened their season with three interceptions in a win over the Patriots, and after a four-takeaway performance last weekend, they're up to eight this season, tied for the second most in the NFL. Seattle's six interceptions are tied for the most in the NFL, and thanks to all of those takeaways, the Seahawks have a plus-three turnover differential that is tied for fourth best in the league. And being good in that category is especially significant because the Seahawks are incredibly tough to beat when they're not beating themselves by losing the turnover battle, as evident in their 15-0 record when winning the turnover battle under Mike Macdonald.

Trend to cleanup: Too many costly penalties.

Seattle's Week 4 win over the Chargers, which featured 14 penalties for a franchise-record 150 penalty yards, was an extreme case, and one the Seahawks hopefully won't repeat, but overall, the Seahawks know they need to do a better job of not getting in their own way with penalties. The Seahawks committed four 15-yard penalties on the Chargers' two touchdown drives last week, and have seen other opponents capitalize on penalty-extending drives this season, including New England in the opener, which got both of its scores off of drives extended by penalties. As is the case with turnovers, the Seahawks are very hard to beat if they're not helping opponents out, so cleaning up the turnovers will help the team, and the defense in particular, make life even more difficult on the opposition.