The last time the Seahawks had a defensive lineman make the Pro Bowl was 2017, when Michael Bennett made it largely on reputation. The last time the Seahawks had a Pro Bowl offensive lineman who was drafted by the team was 2013, when Max Unger made it. He was also not drafted by Pete Carroll and John Schneider. The only offensive lineman to ever make the Pro Bowl (not as an alternate) who Carroll and Schneider drafted was Russell Okung. He made one Pro Bowl in 2012. There is not a single coordinator Carroll has ever hired, who was not already with the organization when he arrived, who went on to become a head coach. This front office has never used a first round pick on a defensive tackle and the only one spent on an interior offensive lineman (Germain Ifedi) was moved to right tackle in his second season. The last eight first and second round picks for this team, dating back to 2021, consist of a CB, two WRs, two RBs, two edge rushers, and an offensive tackle. The highest paid players on the Seahawks this season are two receivers and two safeties.
The last six teams to play the Seahawks have rushed for 136 yards or more, with 5 of the 6 rushing for 162 yards or more. The most rushing yards for the Seahawks in the last seven games is 100 yards. The Seahawks have had one 100 yard rusher this season.
The Seahawks rank 28th in the NFL in stopping teams on 3rd or 4th and short (3 or fewer yards to go) when the opponent chooses to run. They give up first downs in those situations over three-quarters of the time (76.2%). The Seahawks have one rushing touchdown all season when facing 3rd or 4th and goal from the 3 yard line or less. Only three teams have fewer. They have surrendered more rushing touchdowns in that situation than all but one team (Carolina). Seattle attempts a run on 3rd or 4th and short just 39% of the time. Only three teams run at lower rates in those situations.
Seattle will end this season scoring fewer points than last season while allowing more points. They will gain fewer yards and allow more. For the third straight season, they will finish ranked 26th or worse in yards allowed. For the fifth straight season, they will finish ranked 22nd or worse in yards allowed. For the seventh straight season, they will finish outside the top ten in yards allowed and points allowed. This will be their lowest ranking on yards gained (20th) since 2011 (28th). This will be their first negative point differential season (currently -39) since 2010.
Only one player drafted last year clearly improved this season (Boye Mafe). At least twice that many (Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant) took clear steps backward. More, if you want to count Abe Lucas and Dareke Young who battled injuries. The last Seahawks draft pick to be named first team All-Pro was punter Michael Dickson in 2018. The last time the Seahawks drafted a non-special teams player who was eventually named a first team All-Pro was Bobby Wagner in 2012.
Seattle will finish 3rd or 4th in the division for the second time in three years. They had only finished 3rd in the division once in the previous eleven seasons. They have not made it past the second round of the playoffs in nine years.
This Seahawks team is not tough. They are not good. They are not fun or interesting. They have no advantage over any other franchise. They do not scout better. They do not coach better. They do not have a better owner. They have a handful of promising young players. If we are being honest, though, even Devon Witherspoon has not had the same impact after flashing in New York and Cincinnati.
That the Seahawks got pushed around by a mediocre Steelers offense, without a single Pro Bowl player on the offensive line, and with Mason Rudolph behind center, is not a surprise. It was predictable. That they find themselves scratching and clawing to get a 7th seed in a hopelessly awful NFC, and will almost certainly still fall short, is not surprising. It is predictable.
Carroll and the Seahawks stopped surprising us years ago. They stopped delighting us years ago. We were sold on the vision of a big, strong, and fast roster that would be defensive-minded and run-centric. We were sold on the idea that even our positions that are typically small and fast, like cornerback and safety, would be tall and strong. We were going to win getting off the bus. We were going to win on the line of scrimmage. We were going to leave teams with not only a loss in that game, but also in the next as their bodies were so ravaged from facing the fury that was the Seattle Seahawks.
We do not win anymore. At least, we do not win in these ways. When we win, it is through the air. When we win, it is by the skin of our teeth. When we win, it feels fortunate and not foretold.
In a down year for the NFL, where good teams and entertaining games are hard to find, the Seahawks are one of the more bland and hard to watch crews in the league. The 1992 Seahawks had the 28th ranked offense behind Stan Gelbaugh at quarterback, but at least they had the Defensive Player of the Year in Cortez Kennedy wrecking teams like Godzilla knocking down buildings. The 1995 Seahawks had an awful defense, but at least they had Joey Galloway running by every opponent on offense and on punt returns.
If you are going to be bad or mediocre, at least have the decency to be entertaining. Have someone transcendent on your roster. If you can’t have a transcendent player, have a promising scheme, like Jim Johnson’s wild blitz packages in the late 90s or Mike Holmgren’s rock solid resume of developing quarterbacks and building offenses.
I have been a Seahawks fan nearly my whole life. I remember Chuck Knox and Curt Warner. I remember Shawn Springs and Ricky Watters. I know what mediocrity looks like, and what the seeds of greatness look like.
This franchise is going nowhere. This roster is going nowhere. Fans already know this. The stadium is less rabid. The seats are filled with more and more opposing fans. Player introductions are more polite applause or disinterest than guttural screams of support for players that feel like family. Apathy has set in.
It is the job of the owner to understand change is needed. It is the job of the fan to help them with that decision. This franchise, even through the hard times, always had some grit. The moments where that grit became hard to detect were the moments when a new coach was clearly needed. The team we saw yesterday was not in the same zip code as grit.
Changing the coach will not make this roster great. What it will do is change the plan and the scheme. It will create a chance for coordinators who teach things differently. It may very well be painful. It might reset the roster if the new leader does not want tall corners who are trained in step-kick or wants larger 4-3 DEs instead of the lighter edge players Seattle has drafted and signed recently.
I choose pain over indifference. I choose destruction over poor construction. I choose my city and my team over owners, coaches, players, and GMs. Fans are what make a franchise. They are the only thing that endures. I choose to not endure any more of this Seahawks team.