The Seattle
Seahawks were the most dominant team in the league last year, but it wasn’t
because they played easy opponents. Obviously they play in the NFC West, which
most considered to be the strongest division in the entire league, with 3 teams
totaling over 10 wins. They went 4-2 in the division, 13-3 overall, and earned
the top seed in the loaded NFC.
In the playoffs
they ousted the Saints by a score of 23-15 and the 49ers 23-17 en route to the
Super Bowl. Then, of course, they embarrassed Peyton Manning and his Denver
Broncos 43-8.
Pete Carroll’s
disciplined squad put up 417 points last season, which was the eighth most in
the NFL. Even more importantly than that, they only surrendered 231 points, a
league best.
What was
impressive about Seattle last year was their composure and solidity. Second
year starting quarterback Russell Wilson led the team at 25 years old, and
threw 26 touchdowns without a hint of an elite receiving core. Not to mention
he produced one of the most efficient offenses in the league; only the Saints,
Panthers and Colts gave the ball away less than Seattle. They also took the
ball away 39 times, mostly in thanks to the Legion of Boom.
I could ramble
about stats all day, but it would bore you. So bottom-line, the Seahawks were filthy,
and most importantly young. Now I raise the question to all of you; what
happened?
They’re 5-3
through the first half of this season which isn’t bad by normal standards, but
the wins haven’t been impressive. They dominated Green Bay in the opening game
of the year, but were outplayed by the inconsistent Chargers in week 2. They
followed that up with an overtime win against the Broncos in a Super Bowl
rematch. Then they lost a close game to Dallas and the Rams in consecutive
weeks. Two weeks ago, they barely snuck past the struggling Panthers, and last
week they almost blew a 21-point lead against the winless Raiders.
Granted, they do
have the fourth toughest NFC schedule to this point, but it’s no excuse to
getting dominated by the Rams in the first half of their game and the second
half against the Raiders. We didn’t ever see any slip-ups like that last year,
so it came as a shock to most of us when they were in danger of going 3-4.
Wilson is doing
an admirable job at QB this year, throwing 11 scores and just 3 picks in
addition to rushing for 3 touchdowns. As a team, they rank eleventh in scoring
and tenth in defense. They’ve forced 10 turnovers, and have only given the ball
away 3 times.
All of that
sounds fine and dandy, but I think there are hidden mines in the Seattle
organization.
At the front of
the minefield is Percy Harvin; why did he really
get traded? I think it had something to do with his ego, but we have way of
knowing for sure. Carroll said that he had been given enough chances, but what
has he done in the past?? This is the first time we got news of Harvin
disrupting the team, so one would have to imagine that whatever he did was
behind closed doors.
Obviously I
can’t say for certainty, but I think there are only 2 possible reasons for the
sudden trade.
1) Harvin wasn’t
happy with his role on the team. This is generally the reason for
out-of-the-blue trades, but Harvin played a huge role on this team whenever he
was healthy. He was the focal point of the wildcat offense, and every trick
play in the book revolved around him. They designed a multitude of plays
specifically for him, so this appears to be the lesser of the two
possibilities.
2) The second,
and more likely possibility is that Harvin had a feud with at least one player
in the locker room. Seattle wouldn’t want anything to interrupt the chemistry
they had retained from last year, and if Harvin was stirring up trouble, I
imagine they would move quickly to prevent it from becoming a lasting issue.
That would explain the quick deal to a team who’s out of playoff contention
(New York Jets, 1-6 at the time). The other eye-opener was that in return,
Seattle acquired a conditional draft pick that can range from the fourth to the
sixth round.
I know buying
into Harvin is a gamble, but the 26-year old, 22nd overall pick is
significantly more valuable than a conditional sixth rounder.
This leads me to
one of their other “problems”. Trade rumors have been swirling around 28-year
old running back Marshawn Lynch recently, and again, no one knows why.
You have to give
credit to Seattle’s front office and coaching staff; they really know how to
keep the media out of the locker room.
Lynch is one of
the key cogs to their mechanism, and has proven his worth time and time again.
He is a workhorse on and off the field, and seemingly adapts the body of a bull
whenever he touches the ball.
Despite that,
there was talk of shipping the veteran back to a team like San Diego for a
younger and more agile back along the lines of Branden Oliver. This situation
is easier to dissect but it still worried fantasy owners and Seattle fans.
After Harvin was
traded, there was uproar from some of the players. Wilson lobbied to the front
office to pull the trade off the table. Lynch even more furious than Wilson; he
was visibly angry about the deal that sent his good friend and comrade away,
and was refusing to travel with the team to Saint Louis.
I think this is
where the rumors started. Somehow, somebody escalated the story into “Lynch is
refusing to play and wants to be traded” or “Lynch is refusing to play and they
are going to trade him too.” Fortunately for Seattle fans, these rumors proved
to be insignificant. Carroll came out and said that Lynch isn’t going anywhere,
and this past game against Oakland proved that statement. The tailback bullied
his way to a 143 total yards and 2 scores, and looked to have a renewed fire in
his heart.
The locker room
issues appear to be under control now, but who am I to say that all is well in
the rainy city?
They’ve only
skated by some of the worst teams in the NFL, and there is a noticeable
difference in the potency of their offense from last season. It’s safe to say
that Beast Mode is slowing down, averaging just 68 yards a game, opposed to 78
last year and 99 the year before. He’s still effective, but he might be the
biggest reason for Seattle’s offensive slumber.
Now take a look
at the wide receiving core. Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Kevin Norwood,
Ricardo Lockette, and Paul Richardson. How many of those names stand out to
you? How many are capable of making a big play? There answer to those questions
is yet to be revealed, and it’s playing a huge role in the Seahawks poor third
down efficiency this year.
The defense
would be the best in the league, but they’re battling injuries to key players.
Stud cornerback Byron Maxwell hasn’t played since October 12th,
which that the Legion of Boom hasn’t been together since the first quarter of
Seattle’s week 6 loss to Dallas. In addition to Maxwell, linebacker Bobby
Wagner has been out since week 6 as well, and Malcolm Smith is out of action
for the next couple weeks.
The NFL fan
base, along with myself, might be jumping the gun on Seattle. However, there
are issues than cannot be avoided this year, and it might be taking a toll on
everybody.
They currently
sit on a 5-3 record, which is good for the sixth seed if the playoffs were to
start today. But there are a handful of dangerous teams behind them including
division opponent San Francisco, and if they aren’t careful they can easily
slip out of a playoff spot.
Considering
they’ve kept everything on the down low this year, there may be even more
issues within Seattle than we are aware of. They might be over the hump now,
but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on in the latter half of this season.
