It finally happened! After seven and a half quarters, the Seattle Seahawks finally managed to score their first touchdown of the season in a 12-9 slugfest over the San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks may have earned their first win of 2017, but it would have been difficult for them to look worse than they did on Sunday.
The offensive struggles that doomed the Hawks in Green Bay last week were on full display for the Seattle faithful, as the offense was stymied by San Francisco for nearly the entire game. Wilson was harassed constantly, even though the Niners were only rushing four defenders for most of the contest. Such pressure resulted in three sacks of Wilson and stuffing any semblance of a run game. At one point all Seattle backs were held to 26 yards on 14 carries. It was starting to appear that the Seahawks were going to squander yet another outstanding performance by the Legion of Boom, who was able to hold opposing Quarterback Brian Hoyer to 99 yards passing with no touchdowns and an interception. The Seahawks offense looked utterly lost and completely out of sync. The line wasn’t able to block, the backs weren’t able to make noise, the receivers kept dropping passes, and Wilson was uncharacteristically inaccurate.
Eventually, Wilson once more was able to find some magic late. Trailing 9-6 midway through the fourth, Russell put the offense on his back… no, that’s not accurate… he put the offense on his legs and carried them to a score late. Wilson ran four times for 27 yards on crucial third downs to make sure the game-winning drive still had a pulse. After snaking his way through multiple defensive linemen, Wilson engaged his clutch gene and found Paul Richardson in the corner of the endzone to give the Seahawks the 12-9 edge.
Seattle got the ball back with four minutes left and rode rookie Chris Carson to a clock-killing finale. Wilson finished 23-39 for 189 yards and the first touchdown of 2017. He also finished with 34 yards on the ground. The Seahawks won their eighth straight versus San Francisco, and Pete Carroll remains undefeated at home in September.
Look, I’m beyond thrilled for any Seahawk win. Any way they come I’ll gladly take them. The thing about winning “very ugly, ugly as hell” (as Doug Baldwin put it), is that it’s still a win. However, the only thing that’s uglier to the Seahawks than a 12-9 win is the ugly reality that they are lightyears away from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Hell, in their current state this might not even a playoff team.
No, that’s not an overreaction. That’s just how horrific this line is. Each season since 2013 the line has managed to get a little worse than the one before it, and this year is no different. It’s worse than ever. Seattle was manhandled by a 2-14 team on Sunday and shut down by a Packers defense the week prior that was just toasted by Atlanta. Two very average-to-below-average units made the Seahawks offense look like worse than the Jets. Imagine what will happen when we face significantly better defensive units. Please, ask yourself honestly, what team worth their salt are you truly picking the Seahawks to beat?
This line will prove to be the Achilles Heel of the Seattle Seahawks once more, as it did in 2015 and 2016. What’s the solution here? Is it finally firing Darrell Bevell? The man who continues to call 5-7 drop backs for Russell Wilson, outside runs that always result in a loss of yards, and refusing to run the hurry-up offense when they’re not down? Is it finally firing offensive line coach Tom Cable? The man who has clearly shown an inability to coach up this line to at least marginal NFL standards? Or is it trading assets like a first round pick or Jimmy Graham to acquire new talent? Whatever the solution may be, whether it’s one or a combination of the three, something absolutely needs to be done. Russell Wilson is in constant danger and so is the season at this point. Please keep in mind that this is not an obituary for the 2017 Seahawks, but they are a few steps away from Hospice at this point. Bold moves and big changes are absolutely needed on the offensive side of the ball if the Seattle Seahawks want to save their season before it even has a chance to get going.
The Good
Despite being bogged down for the majority of the game, seventh-round rookie running back Chris Carson has made the case that he should absolutely be the number one back for Seattle. Carson absolutely took over when the game was on the line, finishing with 93 yards on 20 carries. Most of which came in the final four minutes when he bled the clock out and sealed the narrow victory. With Eddie Lacy being benched for a pathetic performance last week with only three yards from five carries, and Thomas Rawls being basically benched for a similar outing with four yards on five carries, the window of opportunity was wide open for Carson. One he gladly capitalized on. Honorable mention to Paul Richardson in this category, who dislocated his finger but showed grit by playing out the rest of the game and scoring the only touchdown of the contest.
The Bad
There were some absolutely brutal drops from CJ Prosise and Tanner McEvoy. Both dropped touchdowns, and both dropped wide open third and short passes that hit them directly in the breadbasket. It was not a pretty sight to see and left many 12’s lamenting the release of hometown hero Kasen Williams.
The Ugly
Jimmy Graham fell to the ground clutching his knee, giving every fan flashbacks to the 2015 matchup against Pittsburgh where he tore his PCL. Graham returned to the game but was mysteriously absent during the Seattle game-winning drive. Pete Carroll has mentioned that he is dealing with an ankle injury and his services for Tennessee are in doubt. Graham makes this list this week for two reasons: his injury because no one likes to see that. And the fact that this is another low in the roller coaster that is Jimmy Graham’s tenure with the Seahawks.
Looking Ahead
The Seahawks travel to Nashville to face the up and coming Titans, who are fresh off a 27-16 throttling of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The same Jaguars team that beat up a talented Texans team 29-7 in Houston. No one does parity like the NFL. This will be a very difficult matchup for the Seahawks, as the Titans have significantly better offensive and defensive lines than either Green Bay or San Francisco. Not to mention the former Duck, Marcus Mariota, who will be a challenge for even Seattle’s line to corral. The key to a Seattle victory is to find a way to sustain long drives that keeps Mariota off the field and result in points. I know that sounds as basic and simple as it gets, but someone should tell Seattle that because they’ve shown they haven’t exactly been able to do that outside of one example this season.