The NFL’s first four weeks are in the books. Seahawks will face the Rams at home to start week five on Thursday night Football. Now that we have a sample size of the team, we can evaluate just where the Hawks stand. Let’s look over the good and the bad and determine what to look for this season.
The Bad
Defense.
Pick any stat you want; minus a couple of stats, the defense will be in the bottom tier of the league. Notable pluses, sacks, which is good compared to last year. The defense is tied for 13th in getting the Quarterback on the ground.Third down percentage is tied 16th at 40%. That is their biggest strength being average at getting pressure. With a six out of 10 chance of forcing a fourth down.
Everything else is abysmal. The Seahawks have given up the most yards on defense. Completely last in rushing defense at 32nd. And not much better with the pass at 28th. Hard to be a threat when one-half of the team is about last in resisting the other team’s offense.
The worry in the pit of Seahawks fans’ stomachs is that word, resistance. The team is also dead last in time of possession being on defense for 36 minutes per game. Giving up first downs at will. the other team keeps it out of Seattle’s hands for almost two-thirds of the game. Third down conversion percentage on the Seahawks is surprisingly middle of the league ranking wise as I mentioned earlier. But that just means teams are converting so much on first and second down.
Seahawks are 2-2 and only one loss wasn’t competitive. However, the reason being is the loss by 13 to the Vikings there were no turnovers to get the offense a chance. The Seahawks will let the opposing offense keep the ball and score at will.
The Good
Russell Wilson.
I won’t even say offense, just Russell Wilson. Offensively it is similar to the Defense just better. Can’t stay on the field. Only converting one out of three on third down. Average with rushing numbers and Passing numbers. So, Why is Russell Wilson getting praise for an average offense?
Efficiency. Wilson is number one in Quarterback Passer Rating at 129.9. Ten points more than Patrick Mahomes at number two in the league. Wilson is doing all he can to keep the team competitive. The offense is boom or bust. They score fast and covert first downs early. Like the opposite of the defense giving up first downs early. The offense can’t sustain drives but make plays to score and be top 10 in point per game.
Wilson and is throwing over 70% and has nine touchdown passes. To add to Wilson’s impressive numbers, he also has no turnovers. Wilson being efficient and keeping the ball safe is the only reason the Seahawks are keeping up with their opponents. Another efficiency in Russ’s game is in the Red Zone. The team scores touchdowns 90% of the time in the RedZone. Four of their ten scores in the rezone come from the air. Add one Wilson’s 16-yard rush and he is thanks for half the scores in crucial moments. The team is scoring, and Wilson is keeping the ball out of the opponent’s hands.
What To Watch For As The Season Goes On?
The problem to fix on offense is sustaining meaningful time-sapping drives. The team is playing near-perfect turnover-wise on offense. If that dips even slightly the Seahawks will end up on the bad end of blowouts. Not driving on the opponents to burn time can wear the defense out. But when you score about 30 points on offense in three of your four games. The defense should do just enough to win.
The worry is that that may not be enough to win. In the Seahawk’s two losses they gave up 30 or more points. The defense is worst in the league in yards and bottom third in giving up points. The hawks are skewing things in their favor a bit with a turnover a game. The offense is playing clean and not giving the opponents the ball apart from a week one fumble. The team has a plus-three turnover differential after a month. The hope is the defense can improve before the offense falters. Offenses slow as the season goes on that is just how weather and adjustments go.
How Can The Defense Improve?
A lot needs to happen for the team to turn the defense around. The defensive line is doing well with sacks. Especially the young ones in Taylor and Robinson. Hopefully, Dunlap can find the version of himself last year and they can be that much better. Rushing wise they were top five in defense last year. That should level out starting last with no noticeable changes on rush defense. Even losing Wright and Jarran Reed shouldn’t drop rush defense that low. Coaching adjustment can get the team back to stopping the run.
Last year the defense improved in their worst area but that took a trade. Looking at Cornerback Seahawks lost starters in free agency this off-season. After Losing Griffin, they don’t have a number one Corner. Reed looks solid if he was second to a lead back. They need to add here if they wish to contend. But with Sherman signed and Gilmore traded, there is no big name targets. Xavien Howard is a name talked about in the fan base to trade for. Though that to me is 100% not happening this season. The Dolphins and Howard restructured his deal before the season and will revisit negotiations in 2022.
What’s At Stake Thursday?
This team right now looks at best average. If Seattle doesn’t improve the questions of Russ leaving happens again. Then it may be rebuild time. The team is losing time to adjust and keep pace in a stacked division. A month in and the team is 2-2 and fear in the fan base is creeping in. This Thursday a critical rivalry game is played to stay afloat in the division and move into second place. If they lose time may be running out on Coach Carroll, Wilson, Wagner. A month in and this decade-long regime of the Seahawks may run out of time this year.
The Rams travel to Lumen Field Thursday October 7th to take on the Seahawks on primetime. We will start month two of the season with a clearer picture of Seattle’s season. Seahawk’s future playoff positioning or even possible spot will be heavily dictated by week five.
Northwest Sports Desk 