Seattle Seahawks: They Are Who We Thought They Were
Andrew Elderbaum
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An unexpected season by the Seattle Seahawks ended on a down note. But 12’s shouldn’t have been surprised.
“They are who we thought they were!” Former Cardinals coach Dennis Green once angrily uttered that phrase about the playoff-bound Bears. I can’t think of a better summation for the Seattle Seahawks season-ending playoff loss.
While last season, as a whole, was a pleasant surprise, no amount of duct tape and magic could hide the Seahawks deficiencies for 48 minutes against San Francisco in the NFC Wildcard Game. It was a valiant effort by a deeply flawed team.
The 2022 Seattle Seahawks are who we thought they were. So just who did we think they were?
Some Truths
Seattle was a team that couldn’t stop the run unless their linebackers were allowed to use tasers. Maybe things would have been different had Jordyn Brooks and Jamal Adams been healthy. But even when Brooks was in the lineup, the Seahawks struggled to contain their opponent’s running backs.
Their offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Geno Smith over the entire second half of the season. Rookie offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas hit a wall as the league’s edge rushers figured them out and made adjustments. The duo will be better in 2023 with a year of experience under their belt.
A bigger concern is the interior line. Damien Lewis was decent and is part of the team’s future. However, the Seahawks other guards, Gabe Jackson and Phil Haynes, ranked 60th and 56th, respectively, among 78 guards last year by Pro Football Focus. Austin Blythe ranked 30th out of 38 centers.
Finally, the offense was consistently inconsistent. While Smith guided the Seahawks offense to surprising results, by the end of the season, they were just as likely to score points as they were to go three-and-out on any given drive. Sustained momentum was non-existant.
All of these issues reared their ugly head in the postseason. But none of their deficiencies should have surprised Seahawks fans. Regardless, it was a fun ride while it lasted.
Our next article will examine how the Seattle Seahawks can build off their upstart 2022 season.