The Seattle Seahawks have to be the most inconsistent football team in the National Football League. They will put on a solid showing of football one week, and then display a complete dumpster fire the next. It seems like they have been this way for a handful of years now, but the drastic variations of their performance on the field have never been more prevalent than it has this season.
This is yet another year where the Seahawks are defeating tough opponents, but losing to weak and inept ones. The most prominent examples of this are their win over their surprisingly fierce division rival Los Angeles Rams, who currently have a 6-2 record, and their loss to the injury-plagued and battered Washington Redskins last Sunday. You can never accurately predict whether the Seahawks will win or lose because of this. This is deeply troubling for Seahawks fans like myself because I want the team that I love and support to be consistently successful at acquiring victory.
The week prior to the loss to the Redskins, the Seahawks battled the Houston Texans and their star rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. The defense gave up 38 points to Houston, courtesy of Watson and his receivers’ onslaught. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson led his offense downfield to throw the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Jimmy Graham in the final minute of play, making the final score 41-38. In stark contrast, the offense collapsed the following week while the defense held their ground. Seattle seems to be the only team who does this in recent times. They are, in fact, consistent with being inconsistent.
The aforementioned Russell Wilson is probably the biggest culprit of this team’s contradiction. He throws a perfect football on one play, and then completely misses his open receiver or throws an interception on the next one. Against the Redskins, he did not play strongly until the fourth quarter, while attempting to lead the Seahawks to another clutch win. He struggled mightily in the previous three quarters. Seattle’s defense may have fallen apart in a mere four plays on Washington’s final drive, but the offense could have gotten in field goal range on their final drive and could have secured victory if they had accumulated more points throughout the game. A desperate Hail Mary pass that fell incomplete as time expired was the final nail in the coffin and led to a disappointing loss. It is difficult to figure out why this team, Wilson in particular, cannot keep up their strong play. I understand the complexities of football as a fan, but this does not happen as often with any other NFL team.
This is not to say that the Seahawks are a bad football team this year. They are currently 5-3 and in second place in the NFC West at the halfway point of the 2017 NFL season. However, they urgently need to kick their play into high gear if they want to have a chance of catching up to the Rams and making the playoffs in January.