Can you believe it was 0-0 after one quarter? Seattle shared the field with another football team Sunday, but only one team played a game. The Baltimore Ravens toyed with the overmatched Seahawks like a cat with a mouse. Except, that cat was a 900-pound liger. There will be plenty of talk about the players on the field. What stood out most was the coaching on both sides of the ball, where the Ravens coordinators employed inventive and adaptive schemes that left the Seahawks players reeling. It was reminiscent of the read-option and Cover 3 days early in the Pete Carroll era, where teams did not know how to combat either one, and were often faced with a choice of how to be beaten rather than how to win. This was particularly evident when the Seahawks “offense” was on the field. They barely could muster a yard, let alone a first down, let alone a touchdown. Seattle exited the game 5-3, and without the surging confidence they had gained on defense in recent weeks.
If you want good news, the best there is to offer is there is only one Baltimore, and Seattle won’t see them again unless they reach the Super Bowl. The Seahawks defense started strong, forcing a punt on the first two Ravens possessions. Baltimore would go on to score on every subsequent possession, except two that ended in a turnover, and one that ended in a kneel down at game’s end. It was the variable run game that killed the Seahawks defense.
It appeared Seattle came in trying to limit Lamar Jackson as a runner, and did a reasonably good job on designed runs. He scrambled a time or two for most of his rushing yards, but even that was in the acceptable range. What killed the Seahawks were running backs gashing them up the middle and evading tackles down the field. The defense did not tackle with authority, and saw Ravens players drag them or pull away from them multiple times.
Two forced turnovers in the first half should have given the offense what it needed to make the game competitive. Not only did the offense not take advantage of the turnovers, they managed to move backwards and turn the ball over themselves in field goal range for the Ravens. In other words, even the Seahawks offense was moving the ball against the Seahawks defense Sunday.
I believe there is a game plan the Seahawks could employ to be more competitive on defense against the Ravens. I am not sure I can say the same for the offense. Shane Waldron had no answers for the Baltimore defense at any point in this game.
Ravens players are excellent at every level, and also disguise their calls as well as any team in the league. Blitzers were rarely detectable before the snap, and timed their attacks perfectly. Their defensive line physically dominated the Seahawks offensive line at every position. When Seattle managed to get a throw away, almost always under duress, coverage was tight and the timing had to be exquisite.
Seattle could not run or throw, largely due to an offensive line that collapsed in on itself. This was the first time since the first half of the first game of the season that the Seahawks had 4 of their starting 5 offensive linemen on the field. It was a massacre.
When Jake Curhan was responsible for over 40% of the pressures, scheme changes and personnel changes were pretty straightforward. When the pressure is coming from every single spot on the line, there is no scheme that will help.
That is the most concerning aspect of this game. Charles Cross and Abe Lucas felt like fixtures at tackle for a decade when they started nearly every game last season. Cross has looked mostly mediocre this season, when on the field, and Lucas is dealing with a chronic knee issue that leaves his durability in doubt. Damien Lewis had a quietly strong year last year, but has battled injury this season and been far from good when healthy. Phil Haynes has been mostly injured and often overmatched. Evan Brown has been good, but not great. At this point, none of the Seahawks linemen look like they have Pro Bowl upside. Lucas is the closest, but who knows at this point.
It is extremely difficult to have an effective offense with a mediocre offensive line. It is almost impossible to win a Super Bowl without at least some Pro Bowl talent on your line. Seattle will not be replacing Cross or Lucas anytime soon, and will need to make some decisions on Lewis and Haynes this offseason. I am not comfortable giving either one a large multi-year extension.
Anthony Bradford is fine, but be careful of rose-colored glasses there. He is a flawed pass protector, that we have to hope develops as he gets more experience and coaching. Nothing is certain.
Waldron did not help his players in this one. So many of his plays involved intermediate-to-deep routes with few outlet options. It was if he did not respect the Ravens front, or got overconfident from how the line held up against the Browns. Either way, you would expect some adjustments as the game went on, but we saw few.
If there was ever a game to run-run-pass a few times, this was the one. This team had no chance against the Ravens if they could not establish some sort of running game and stay out of 3rd and long. They seemed to start with that in mind, but quickly reverted to heavy passing as they fell behind.
There also seems to be a stubborn lack of recognition for when to deploy Zach Charbonnet. He is the bruiser. He is the one who hits the hole as designed and limits negative plays. Yet, Kenneth Walker continued to get the bulk of the carries. That was a mistake.
Geno Smith was not good. He was fooled pre-snap multiple times, made the wrong read, and forced a few throws. As much as I believe Smith is a quality quarterback when leading a functional offense, he is not the guy to play behind a suspect offensive line with no running game. If this is the offensive line they are building, there is a ceiling to what this team can do, and their best chance to reach that ceiling is with a scrambling, off-script quarterback. That will never be Smith.
There is a reason both Smith and Jared Goff got embarrassed in Baltimore. They are both pocket passers. Notably, the Lions have a terrific offensive line. This is also just a very tough defense to read. They give away almost nothing pre-snap, and often do a great job of making it seem certain they are running something that they are not.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a costly drop at the beginning of the game, but had some of his best moments the rest of the way. His adjustment on a deep ball up the right side was one of the first glimpses of what makes him special.
The discourse will largely focus on how Smith is not the guy. Honestly, he is not the guy if this is the way this offense is going to operate. Drew Lock is more mobile and would have likely moved the ball more often than Smith in this type of game with a few scrambles and off-script plays. Seattle would have still struggled to score 10 points in this game.
Seahawks fans can fixate on the quarterback position all they want. My focus on the offensive line and the run game right now. I believe this team can score if they get those two things going. I don’t believe they will be relevant no matter who is behind center if they do not.