It looked a little dicey at times, but make no mistake, the Seattle Seahawks earned a great win Sunday. The Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23 to move to 3-1, and it heads into a big NFC West matchup with the San Francisco 49ers riding real momentum.

I’ve got nine winners and two losers from this one. Most of the winners come from a defense that made life hell for Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert all afternoon. Make no mistake though, key offensive players stepped up as well. 

Offensive winners

RB Emanuel Wilson 

With Jadarian Price moved to injured reserve and Zach Charbonnet yet to return from the PUP list, the Seahawks needed Wilson to step up. He did exactly that. Wilson carried the ball 21 times for 81 yards and a touchdown, and he added three catches for 39 yards and another score on a screen pass. He was awesome. Wilson made a lot of plays happen, and Seattle needed every one of them.

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

He’ll probably be on this list every week. Smith-Njigba caught five passes for 76 yards on six targets. By his standards so far this season, that’s a relatively pedestrian day. He still led the Seahawks in receiving by a wide margin and made plenty of good plays.

WR Rashid Shaheed 

The box score won’t jump off the page in the passing game, with just one catch for 20 yards. Look deeper, though. Shaheed also ran the ball twice for 33 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run, and he averaged 27 yards per kick return. Seattle finally showed some usage of him as a gadget guy in Brian Fleury’s offense, and it certainly paid off. Shaheed is a player you just want to get the football to. I’d expect to see more of this.

LB Ernest Jones IV

Jones IV led Seattle with 12 tackles. He also added a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and an interception. I’ll tell you this much, that was one of Jones’ best games as a Seahawk. He was phenomenal. It was such a great move by this team to bring him in and he has delivered ever since. 

S Nick Emmanwori

Emmanwori finished with nine tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. The Seahawks dialed up blitz packages for him, and he generated a ton of pressure. He was outstanding. Nick did have a bad penalty at the end of the first half to ensure that the Chargers would get into field goal range. Other than that, he was rock solid. 

CB Devon Witherspoon 

Witherspoon posted nine tackles and a tackle for loss, but the stat sheet doesn’t tell the whole story. The biggest thing is what happened to Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey. He was targeted only twice and didn’t catch a single pass. Witherspoon and the back half of the secondary did a great job blanketing the Chargers star receiver. Taking away a player like McConkey for an entire game is no small task.

EDGE Uchenna Nwosu

Nwosu had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, and three quarterback hits. He won his matchups off the edge and got after Herbert consistently. You could tell at some point the internal clock in Herbert’s head got sped up. You can thank Nwosu as he had a lot to do with that. 

DT Byron Murphy II

Murphy chipped in a sack, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit. Between Murphy, Nwosu, and Emmanwori, the Seattle front made Herbert’s day miserable from start to finish. Mike Macdonald and John Schneider have built this team to be strong in the trenches. Murphy is one of the anchors to that, each and every week.

LB Drake Thomas

Thomas rounds out the winners with an interception of his own. Thomas made the play on the very first defensive snap from scrimmage today, setting the tone on the kind of day it would be for Justin Herbert. Now, Sam Darnold threw a pick the very next play which made it sting. With that being said, I thought Thomas’ effort on the opening play was outstanding and showed what was to come. 

Losers

WR Cooper Kupp

Kupp caught just one pass for 13 yards on two targets. He was nowhere to be found, which is very atypical for him. Seattle needs him to step up against the 49ers, and I believe he will. A veteran like Kupp doesn’t stay quiet for long. This wasn’t like him. 

RB George Holani

This was a golden opportunity for Holani. With Price on IR and Charbonnet still working back from the PUP list, Holani had the chance to make his presence felt. He couldn’t take advantage. Holani managed just 18 yards on seven carries and caught one pass for two yards. The Seahawks RB disappointed greatly against the Chargers. 

Seahawks have a defense to lean on

Was it pretty? Not always. The Seahawks offense had a couple of quiet spots, and a 30-23 game against the Chargers was closer than it needed to be at times.

But the defense is the story here. When a unit can shut out a receiver like the Chargers have in Ladd McConkey and harass Justin Herbert all day, it gives the Seahawks a real chance against anybody on the schedule. If Kupp gets going and Wilson keeps producing, Seattle is going to be just fine against San Francisco. Next week’s game is for the lead in the NFC West. Seattle has to make it count.