All Dolphins

Opponent Breakdown: Week 4 — Seattle Seahawks

The Miami Dolphins will face a tough test on the first Sunday in October against a Seattle team that's averaged almost 11 wins since Russell Wilson became its quarterback in 2012

Alain Poupart

As the Miami Dolphins continue to prepare for the 2020 regular season as best they can during this most unusual offseason, we will be dissecting their upcoming opponents.

Next up will be the Seattle Seahawks, who will come to Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 4.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

2019 Record: 11-5, second in NFC West (defeated Philadelphia in wild-card playoffs; lost at Green Bay in divisional playoffs)

Last Dolphins-Seahawks Meeting: 2016 at Seattle — Seahawks 12, Dolphins 10

The 2016 opener at CenturyLink Field marked the debut of Adam Gase as Dolphins head coach and his team almost pulled off a stunner. The Miami defense held Russell Wilson in check for most of the game, but Wilson pulled off a 75-yard touchdown drive with two fourth-down conversions before throwing a 2-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin with 31 seconds remaining. One of the fourth-down conversion was a fourth-and-4 where Wilson had a 22-yard completion to Baldwin. Ryan Tannehill gave the Dolphins a 10-6 lead when he scored on a 2-yard run with 4:08 remaining. But the Dolphins offense managed only 214 total yards, 50 of which came on a screen pass from Tannehill to running back Arian Foster. The play put the Dolphins in scoring position trailing 3-0 in the second quarter, but the drive ended when Foster was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the Seahawks 17-yard line. The Dolphins defense was led by Ndamukong Suh (one sack, three quarterback hits) and safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, who had a pick.

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Season in Review:

The Seahawks enjoyed yet another successful season, and it again had a lot to do with the play of quarterback Russell Wilson. The 2012 third-round pick was nothing short of spectacular and might have won NFL MVP honors had it not been for Lamar Jackson, who was the unanimous winner of the award. Wilson passed for 4,110 yards with 31 touchdowns and only five interceptions for a tremendous passer rating of 106.3. Seattle made the playoffs for the seventh time in Wilson's eight NFL season, though the Seahawks missed out on a chance to win the NFC West title when they came up 1 yard short in the season finale against the San Francisco 49ers. The offense led the way for Seattle, with Chris Carson rushing for 1,230 yards and Tyler Lockett having 1,057 receiving yards. Linebacker Bobby Wagner led the defense, finishing first in the NFL in tackles with 159 and earned first-team All-Pro honors.

Key Veteran Additions: RB Carlos Hyde, WR Phillip Dorsett, TE Greg Olsen, DE/LB Bruce Irvin

With Carson coming back from a hip injury sustained in late December and Rashaad Penny a question mark after having reconstructive knee surgery, the Seahawks went shopping for running back depth and signed Carlos Hyde after reaching out to former Falcons starter Devonta Freeman. Hyde will be playing for his fifth team in three years after spending 2017 with the 49ers, 2018 with the Browns and Jaguars, and 2019 with the Texans. Hyde is coming off a very good year in Houston, as he had his first career 1,000-yard season, averaged a solid 4.4 yards per rushing attempt and scored six touchdowns. Greg Olsen joined the Seahawks in the offseason after he spent that past nine years with the Carolina Panthers. He's a three-time 1,000-yard receiver, though he's missed 18 games over the past three seasons. Phillip Dorsett comes over after spending the past three seasons with New England and having a career-high five receiving touchdowns in 2019. Bruce Irvin is back for a second stint in Seattle after recording 8.5 sacks for the Carolina Panthers last season. Irvin, who played his first four seasons with Seattle after being a first-round pick in 2012, started 12 games in 2013 when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.

Key Departures: T Germain Ifedi, G D.J. Fluker, DT Quinton Jefferson

The Seahawks lost the right side of their offensive line in the offseason when they released Fluker and Ifedi signed with the Bears as an unrestricted free agent, but they were looking for upgrades over the two former first-round picks nonetheless. Jefferson started 24 games over the past two seasons, but left as an unrestricted free agent to join the Buffalo Bills.

Notable 2020 Draft Picks: LB Jordyn Brooks, DE Darrell Taylor, G Damien Lewis

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks was perhaps the most surprising first-round pick of the 2020 NFL draft, but he's a playmaker who averaged 90 tackles in his four years at Texas Tech and had an eye-opening 20 tackles for loss last season. Second-round pick Darrell Taylor was a defensive end/linebacker who had 8 and 8.5 sacks his final two seasons at  Tennessee. Guard Damien Lewis was the strongest player on the national champion LSU Tigers (635-pound squat, almost 500-pound bench press) and he earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2019.

Prognosis:

The Seahawks have averaged almost 11 wins a season since Russell Wilson became their quarterback in 2012 and made the playoffs in seven of eight seasons. What once was a strong supporting cast has developed some flaws through the years (no pass rusher had more than four sacks in 2019, for example), but Wilson just keeps getting better. It's because of him mostly that Seattle once again is expected to be a playoff team this season, though how far they can get in the playoffs will be determined by the supporting cast.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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