Seattle Seahawks General Manager John Schneider.
As the dust settles from the outhouse explosion that was the 2021 Seattle Seahawkss season, fans are left to soul search. Where did it all go wrong? Why did the beloved Hawks turn into just another mediocre team? Was it a culmination of small slippage that’s been eating away at the core? Was it a fluke run of bad luck and something to be shrugged off? Most of all….did we miss the signs? Well…let’s dive into the post-mortem and see if we missed the symptoms of an implosion in progress.
Chris Carson has proven to be a talented back, and one of Pete Carroll and John Schneider’s best finds. He was a seventh-round pick who became a borderline pro-bowl running back; he epitomizes the Seahawks way. Unfortunately, Carson never managed to make it through a full season and now has a lingering neck injury that clouds his future even more. Add in the fact most backs have about a five-year shelf life, and 2021 was his fifth season, and it was easy to see that his new deal would be an issue.
The other move we all questioned going into the season was not having a single proven outside cover corner. D.J Reed was a slot corner moving to the outside, Ahkello Witherspoon came and went so fast I’m not sure he ever got a jersey, and Tre Flowers proved he wasn’t the answer on the outside. Predictably the pass defense was terrible to open the season.
The corners were such an issue; they made safety Jamal Adams useless as a pass rusher and gave the rest of the Seahawks pass rush no time to get to the QB. One poor decision essentially neutralized the defense’s best weapon and ensured they couldn’t pressure the passer.
The season was already slipping away, but Russell Wilson‘s finger injury helped turn a slide into a free fall. Geno Smith played just well enough to lose a few close games. By the time Wilson returned, there was no margin for error. An upset of the 49ers offered a glimmer of hope, but the season died of natural causes the following week. The ensuing Russ staying or going drama was an added surprise that nobody wanted or needed.
Yes, the defensive scheme neutralized much of what Jamal Adams did well. Once the Seahawks got better play from the corners, he would have adapted back to the All-Pro safety we know. Him going on IR for most of the season, hurt the defense badly.
There was another big surprise. Rashaad Penny met Adrian Peterson, then made himself into the prime version of AP over the last quarter of the season. Peterson received the lion’s share of the credit for Penny’s improvement (which begs the question of what his position coaches have been doing, but I’m trying to stay positive here). Penny showed flashes of brilliance over his first four seasons but always managed to injure himself and never built any momentum.
The other consequence of Penny’s surprise is he’s now made himself an off-season dilemma for the Seattle Seahawks. By declining his fifth-year option, the Hawks granted him unrestricted free agency.
With the already not-great-looking Carson extension looming over their heads, like the sword of doom, will Carroll and Schneider take a chance at having two injury-prone backs taking up cap space and roster spots? Or will they wish Penny luck in his future endeavors and move on? My money’s on the latter pending more information on Carson’s neck situation.
With the Seattle Seahawks’ unexpected implosion, some believe wholesale changes are in store. Carroll says the team just needs to retool, and they will be right back to contender status. The answer is probably somewhere in between. The Seahawks have a playoff-level nucleus, but their philosophy needs to change.
Let’s get one thing out straightaway, Russell Wilson won’t be traded. Unless the Giants reverse course and decide to move on from Daniel Jones, there are no teams with both the desire and trade assets to add Wilson.
Russ is 33 years old and coming off his worst professional season. If we’re really being honest, RW3 has been falling off for almost two years. The market for him isn’t as robust as his leaked list of teams he would accept a deal to would imply.
The changes need to come from Carroll. Seattle needs to fix their secondary and figure out how not to take eight weeks to get their defense going. Defensive Coordinator Ken Norton Jr. may not be the guy to figure these things out, and the Seahawks should move on.
Offensively it may be time to be a little less boom or bust and adopt more of a Rams-style short passing game new OC Shane Waldron was supposed to bring to the team. If Seattle maintains the status quo, they will find themselves here again after the 2022 season. If nothing has changed by then, there’ll be no question about how the Seahawks got there.
Did you see a Seattle Seahawks downturn coming? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.