Seahawks’ late first-quarter TD drive powered by Charbonnet and Price after 58-yard march

The Story

The Seattle Seahawks leaned heavily on their running back duo of Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price in a decisive touchdown scoring drive late in the first quarter, their offence covering 58 yards on 11 plays in 5:17.

In that drive, the Seahawks credited Charbonnet and Price with 53 of 55 yards both on the ground and through the air. Charbonnet produced 20 rushing yards and one catch for 9 yards, while Price had nine rushing yards and 15 receiving yards.

Seattle’s march continued to put the offence deep into Arizona territory, moving the ball to the Arizona 5-yard line before an encroachment penalty backed it up to the 2-yard line and set up a second-and-1 play.

The Seahawks then ran two consecutive plays described as “Barn Yard” runs—first to pick up a first down and then to get into the end zone.

Tight end AJ Barner said he expected he might score once the team reached the goal line and described the focus as continuing to score with the backs when they got down there.

“When they call my number, yeah absolutely. When we get down there, we've just got to keep scoring and I think having the backs get going today, running the ball down there, is everything. We're going to continue to do that,” Barner said.

Charbonnet finished the game with 77 yards on 16 carries and one catch for nine yards. The team also noted an explosive 25-yard run in the fourth quarter was called back due to a penalty.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said he was pleased with how Charbonnet played, pointing to his ability to break tackles and generate yards, even with penalties affecting where the offence started.

“Really happy for Zach,” Macdonald said. “Definitely felt Zach in his power and the ability to break tackles and own the sideline there, even though we got the penalty to move his back. Really just happy for him to put himself in that position. We're going to continue to get better and with more reps and more experience.”

Price had four receptions for 54 yards, the team’s leading receiving total for the night, and added 24 yards on nine carries. Macdonald said Price was decisive with his runs and effective as both a primary target in certain passing concepts and a late progression option.

“I felt him out there,” Macdonald said. “I thought he was decisive with his runs. Sometimes he's the primary in some of those pass concepts. Sometimes he's kind of at the end of the progression, and when the ball finds him, you know, if you can make a guy miss, it's like a great example. It doesn't have to be some extraordinary play to create explosives, but let's just be efficient with our decision-making and get it in other players' hands and let them do the rest. Again, he's another example. I think he's just going to continue to get better. Now that he's kind of stacking weeks and keeps getting healthier, that will help us.”