Seahawks' varied problems create sinking feeling
RENTON, Wash. – Look around the Seattle Seahawks locker room, and so many names and faces are synonymous with a burgeoning NFC dynasty. Russell Wilson. Richard Sherman. Marshawn Lynch.
But watch the Seahawks on the field through the first five weeks of the season, and too often they looked like a completely different group, especially while relinquishing a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead last week to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Where was that defense that used to put a stranglehold on teams in the fourth quarter? Where was the late-game magic from Wilson?
Now that the Seahawks are 2-3 as they head into Sunday’s game against the 4-0 Carolina Panthers, it might finally time to truly be concerned about the state of the NFC champs.
“I would say we're not going to panic. But we know there is some urgency to get our stuff together,” wide receiver Doug Baldwin told Paste BN Sports. “We've been in every game we've played, we've played hard, we've just had some minor mistakes. Easily correctable mistakes.”
It isn’t an entirely unfamiliar situation. Seattle was 3-3 after six games last year, including consecutive losses in Weeks 6 and 7 to the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams. But they rebounded to reel off nine wins in their final 10 games.
“It shows you can do it,” Wilson said. “But the challenge is still there.”
But there are several significant problems the Seahawks must fix, and fix quickly, to make a similar midseason run this year.
Offensive line struggles
Wilson has been sacked 22 times in five games, tied for the most in the league with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It is unacceptable,” left tackle Russell Okung told Paste BN Sports. “We can’t get the quarterback hit that much. I definitely take a lot of blame for it. That’s because I’m the left tackle, and it’s because I’m part of this offensive line.”
Okung, the longest-tenured member of the line, is responsible for two of the sacks and two additional hits, according to stats from Pro Football Focus, so the issues are clearly bigger than just blind side protection. The Seahawks have a line that includes two starters who played defensive line in college (center Drew Nowak and right guard J.R. Sweezy), a left guard who played right tackle last year (Justin Britt) and a former college tight end (Garry Gilliam) at right tackle, and the group wasn’t finalized until late in the preseason.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said this week he thinks that group played its “best game to date” against the Bengals. But they still surrendered four sacks in that game, so plenty of room for improvement remains.
Wilson said Thursday he feels some of that burden himself, to deliver the ball more quickly and to make smart decisions when scrambling and not take unnecessary hits. Even though he has proven to be exceptionally durable, that sort of beating eventually could catch up to him.
“You’ve got to continually trust those guys. You can’t really say, ‘OK I got hit on this last time, I’m going to get hit again.’ You just have to say, ‘I trust them,’ ” Bevell said.
“You have to continually remind yourself that that’s not happening every play, and it’s just communicating and talking about it.”
Legion of Boom lapses
Seattle’s secondary doesn’t seem to be terrifying opponents – at least not the good ones – like it once did.
That was evident last week, when the Bengals found two weak spots in pass coverage to exploit repeatedly: strong safety Kam Chancellor in coverage against tight end Tyler Eifert, and cornerback Cary Williams. Williams proved to be such a liability against A.J. Green early in the game that the Seahawks had to switch their coverage scheme mid-game and assign Sherman, who rarely ever leaves his post at left corner, to shadow Green from left to right and in the slot.
There have been technique issues – defensive coordinator Kris Richard said Williams in particular had some breakdowns last week – and communication problems on the back end between safeties and corners that Richard described as “critical errors.”
“We weren’t really relentless like we’ve been in the past. We weren’t fighting for everything. We weren’t really just giving it everything we had,” free safety Earl Thomas said.
The Seahawks still have the NFL’s No. 7 pass defense, but some of the aura is missing. If Andy Dalton isn’t afraid to fire passes down the seam against Chancellor or target Green even when he’s covered by Sherman, what’s going to scare off future opponents like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals later in the year?
The defensive issues have been especially glaring in the fourth quarter, an issue that dates back to February, when the Seahawks couldn’t close out the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. They also relinquished late leads this year to the St. Louis Rams and Green Bay Packers before last week’s collapse.
“Concerned? It’s disappointing more than concerned,” Richard said.
An ineffective Jimmy Graham
The biggest knock on the offense last year was the lack of a big-time, red zone target for Wilson. It seemed like the Seahawks addressed that issue with the mega-trade for all-pro tight end Jimmy Graham in March. And yet five weeks into the season, he has just 21 receptions and two touchdowns. His catch total ranks him eighth among NFL tight ends, but he’s only second on his own team (Baldwin has 23 grabs) and third in yards (behind Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse) – hardly the transformative effect anyone envisioned for a player with 26 touchdowns in the previous two seasons.
The offense is never going to resemble the New Orleans Saints’ attack that Drew Brees used to run so well and that gave Graham so many opportunities. But the onus is on Bevell to figure out new ways to get Graham involved, rather than just hoping he can fit into the run-first scheme.
“We need to find ways to get him more involved, but not force it,” Wilson said. “He’s a special player. He’s one of a kind, so we’ve got to find that.”
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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