In today’s digest: the Seahawks’ offensive line could enter the NFL’s top 10, a powerful thunderstorm with lightning disrupted air travel, and in West Seattle roads are closed due to construction and a parade.
“Seahawks”: getting all five offensive-line players back guarantees a top-10 unit in the NFL by 2026
After years of problems along the Seahawks’ offensive line, last season’s team showed its best play in a long time. Seattle ranked 12th in ESPN’s pass-block win rate standings, allowing just 27 sacks—its lowest mark in two decades and the third-lowest in franchise history. For comparison, in 11 of the last 12 seasons, the Seahawks allowed more than 40 sacks, and in 2024 they allowed 54. At the same time, the team also finished among the league’s top eight for rushing-run blocking success, which helped fuel the ground attack: from Week 10 to the Super Bowl, the Seahawks averaged 138 rushing yards per game with 4.5 yards per carry. And most importantly, the entire line is back in full.
The team kept all 11 linemen who took the field for the 2025 winning season, including the Super Bowl. All five starters are 27 or younger, and the key trio—left tackle Charles Cross (25), left guard Gabe (noted as “Gabe” in the original text: Gre... likely “Gabe” could be a truncation/variant) Zabell?* (24) and right tackle Abraham Lucas (27)—is under contract at least through 2028. Continuity also extends to the coaching staff: veteran offensive-line coach John Benton remains in Mike Macdonald’s staff for a second year, despite rumors that he could leave for the Las Vegas Raiders following Clint Kubiak.
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard, speaking on the Brock and Salk show on Seattle Sports, said the team has a real chance to reach the league’s top 10 offensive lines as early as 2026. “They’re going to be good,” Huard said. “I think they’ll be a top-10 line in the league. They’re bringing everybody back. They’ve got another year in the system. John Benton didn’t go anywhere. A lot of what you do on the line of scrimmage doesn’t really change. There’s a lot of continuity there, and they have a chance to stay together for a long time.”
Huard emphasized that this level of stability is rare in today’s NFL, where teams constantly shuffle rosters and coaching staffs. He also noted that the players’ youth is an added bonus: if they keep progressing, the line could become one of the best in the league over the next several years.
To put it in perspective: pass block win rate is an ESPN metric that measures how effectively pass blockers perform within 2.5 seconds after the snap. It doesn’t account for exactly how many sacks are allowed, but it shows how often linemen win their blocking assignments. The article also notes that the Seahawks, for the first time in years, made real progress in the run game—improved rushing stats are directly tied to the line’s work.
Key takeaways from the analysis: first, Seattle found a recipe for success through stability and youth. Second, Huard’s forecast is based not just on optimism, but on objective data—improved numbers and the return of all players. Third, if the line truly makes the top 10, it would significantly change the team’s status in the league: for many years, a weak offensive line was the Seahawks’ Achilles’ heel; now it could become their strongest asset. An interview with Huard is available in a podcast linked in the original article. The club sale mentioned in the news block doesn’t directly affect the line, but it does point to the organization’s overall stability.
Thunder Thursday in Seattle: lightning, thunderclaps and the rainiest July Friday in four years
Thursday morning in Seattle and the western part of Washington state was unusually stormy. Instead of the sunshine typical for this time of year, thunderstorms with lightning, thunder, and downpours swept over the city, reminding residents that even in a moderate climate, nature can still throw surprises. As KOMO meteorologist George Waldenberger noted, between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. roughly 173 lightning strikes were recorded across the region—from western Washington to northern Oregon. For a city where it averages just seven thunderstorms per year, that morning was a real event.
One moment especially stood out around 10 a.m., when the first wave of storms hit Seattle’s downtown business district. Residents reported a series of loud thunderclaps and bright flashes that woke many people before their alarms. One local resident, Caroline Ann, shared a photo in the KOMO #SoNorthwest group, writing: “Mother Nature woke me up instead of my alarm clock! Car alarms went off from that lightning strike.” After the first system shifted north, about 11:30 a.m. a second wave moved in from the south, and the city was hit again by a powerful thunderclap.
The storm also caused practical inconveniences. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary flight ban out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac), lasting about 45 minutes. In addition, some flights arriving in Seattle from Salt Lake City, Oakland, and several airports in British Columbia were delayed. By 11:14 a.m., the ban was lifted, and air travel returned to its normal schedule.
It’s important to stress that, despite how dramatic it looked, the storms weren’t classified as severe: meteorologists didn’t expect large hail or destructive winds. However, the amount of rainfall was notable. Waldenberger reported that by 11 a.m. Seattle had received nearly a quarter of an inch (about 6 mm) of rain, making Thursday the wettest July day since 2019. For comparison, Seattle typically has very little rain in July, so even 6 mm is significant.
After midday, the weather started to shift: the rains and thunderstorms moved north toward Whidbey Island, the San Juan Islands, Port Angeles, and Forks. In Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Kirkland, only a few brief downpours remained, and by evening even those had stopped. The rest of the night could bring additional scattered precipitation in areas near Stevens Pass and Okanogan County, and in the east near Omak, isolated lightning strikes may continue through early Friday morning.
After this storm episode, the region is expected to return to a more typical summer pattern: thanks to a upper-level cyclone moving north over British Columbia, Seattle will see “morning cloudiness—afternoon sunshine” for a couple of days. The weekend should be pleasant. However, at the start of next week, a hot ridge currently over the rest of the United States will begin shifting west, and in Seattle temperatures could climb to nearly 30°C. The meteorologist hopes that if new systems come in from the Pacific and Canada, the heat wave will be short-lived. Still, this is only a forecast, and the situation should be monitored—especially since last summer’s July heat records in Seattle were only broken a couple of years ago. A more detailed forecast and lightning maps can be found in the original KOMO article.
Seattle’s 14th day of summer: storm warning, road closures and ferry schedule changes
Thursday, July 16, 2026, began in West Seattle with cloudy skies and a forecast for thunderstorms. As usual, the local West Seattle Blog pulled together for residents a roundup of the day’s key information: from weather and transportation to planned street closures. According to the West Seattle Blog post, forecasters are expecting brief showers that will taper off by evening, with temperatures rising to 24–25°C—quite comfortable for mid-July, aside from the possibility of thunderstorms. Sunrise was set for 5:28 a.m., with sunset expected at 9:02 p.m., keeping daylight hours long.
Public transit is operating normally: buses follow the weekday schedule, and the water taxi runs on the summer schedule, with additional evening trips on Fridays and Saturdays. The Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth ferry route is served by three vessels, but passengers are advised to monitor the alert page due to possible sudden changes. Major restrictions are being introduced on area roads: on West Marginal Way SW, construction begins and will last up to seven weeks. That means drivers will need to find alternate routes. In addition, on Saturday, July 18, California Avenue will be fully closed from 8 a.m. through early afternoon as part of the Float Dodger 5K and the West Seattle Grand Parade. Parking along that stretch will also be limited until just before the event begins.
To monitor conditions on the bridges—High, Low, and 1st Avenue—SDOT webcams are available. The low bridge may be raised to allow boats through; that information is posted in what used to be Twitter. Residents are being asked to report any incidents on roads and bridges through a dedicated hotline, after notifying authorities in advance. In essence, this is a typical summer day for Seattle’s suburbs: the weather is unpredictable, normal routes are disrupted by repairs and celebrations, and transportation runs on a schedule that people should confirm in real time. West Seattle residents are advised to plan trips ahead for Saturday and to factor in possible delays from long-term roadwork.
