We all entered the 2022 Seahawks season knowing this team would be going through a transition. The offense would likely be limited by career backup quarterback and rookies on the offensive line. The defense would be a little ahead of the offense with some quality coaches hired and some young stars like Jordyn Brooks and Darrell Taylor stepping forward. About all that…

Seattle enters week five with one of the best offenses in football, led by one of the best quarterbacks in football and an offensive line performing better than most Seahawks lines in the last decade. The defense is almost uniformly awful, with Brooks and Taylor far from stepping forward.

Somehow, that formula has led to a 2-2 start to the year and first place tie in the NFC West. Seattle travels east again in week five to face a Saints team that is just 1-3, with their only win against an unimpressive Atlanta Falcons squad, and that was by a single point. They have lost to the icky Carolina Panthers. They stink, right? Not so fast.

New Orleans has some hidden strength on both sides of the ball. This defense is tough, with a decent pass rush and quality coverage. The offense has been efficient, except in two areas: 3rd down and turnovers. The Saints have had at least two turnovers in three of their four games. Their only win came when limiting turnovers to one. That was also the only game where they won the turnover battle.

The Seahawks defense has been dreadful, but they are 12th in the NFL in takeaways, including forcing two critical ones against the Lions last week. The Saints are healthy favorites in this game, and there is some injury mystery about their starting quarterback and running back, among others. Despite the record, beating the Saints would be a more impressive win than last week if Seattle can pull it off. I see this as a toss-up game, with a slight edge to the home squad.

The way this works: Each offense will be pitted against the opposing defense and compared on an array of key statistical attributes based on their respective rank in the NFL. The tables that follow show the rank of each unit for each of these categories.

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Seahawks Offense vs Saints Defense

Saints key advantages on defense

Cameron Jordan remains one of the most underrated defenders in the NFL. He is a dominant defensive end, and will be a handful for the rookie Seahawk tackles. David Onyemata can be a disruptive interior rusher, and Marcus Davenport is a good edge rusher opposite Jordan.

Marshon Lattimore and Bradley Roby are good corners, and Tyrann Mathieu is a quality safety.

This defense gave the Seahawks fits last year, albeit in a very poor weather game.

Seahawks key advantages on offense

Seattle has done a good job protecting the football with a ball control passing attack, and an emerging run game. Geno Smith has diagnosed defenses pre-snap expertly and gotten rid of the ball quickly to avoid the pass rush. There is no reason that same formula cannot be effective against this defense.

New Orleans has had a bit of a tackling problem, with Roby missing 19% of his tackles, Demario Davis missing 15% of his tackles, and Mathieu missing 13% of his. Rashaad Penny is a guy I love on turf, as we saw last week in Detroit. DK Metcalf is gaining more and more confidence and is going to be hard to hold down.

Saints Offense vs Seahawks Defense

Saints key advantages on offense

We do not know if Jameis Winston or Alvin Kamara will play in this game. Andy Dalton has performed as well, or better, than Winston, and Latavius Murray was great last week at running back. There is also some question if Michael Thomas will play at receiver.

None of it really matters if the Seahawks continue to play defense the way they have.

Seahawks key advantages on defense

Turnovers are the thing to watch here. Tariq Woolen now has interceptions in back-to-back weeks, and blocked a field goal the week before that. We could see more Sidney Jones and possibly Artie Burns. We may see more changes at linebacker and it sounds like Ryan Neal will play more at safety. It can’t get worse!