It took the Seahawks 10 games in 2014 to lose more times than they did in 19 games last season, that’s the reality the team is facing after Sunday’s 24-20 loss in Kansas City that dropped Seattle to 6-4. The Seahawks still have plenty to play for, but their path to the playoffs is more difficult than ever with a tough slate of games coming up, and as the latest loss showed, nothing will come easy for this team.
The depth certainly isn’t what it was a year ago—yes, that was a recently-signed fullback you saw playing on the defensive line, and that was a just-signed tight end catching a touchdown pass—and injuries are only compounding those issues, with the latest blow being a high-ankle sprain suffered by center Max Unger. But even if the Seahawks aren’t where they want to be, they can still be a playoff team, and possibly contend for the division, but not if they don’t clean up some of the issues that plagued them in their loss to the Chiefs.
Here are five takeaways from Seattle’s fourth down-to-the-wire loss of the season:
1. The red zone difference was the difference
How does a team out-gain its opponent by 74 yards, have five more first downs, dominate time of possession and have a plus-two turnover margin and still lose? By flubbing a bunch of red-zone chances while also failing to stop the other team in the red zone, that’s how.
No stat was more telling in Seattle’s loss than its 2 for 5 conversion rate in the red zone, which included two short field goals and most importantly, and empty trip into Chiefs territory late in the fourth quarter. Kansas City, meanwhile, ran the ball at will, especially when it mattered most, and had three touchdowns in four trips inside Seattle’s 20.
2. Brandon Mebane’s absence was felt
Now in his eighth season in Seattle, Brandon Mebane has quietly been one of the league’s better interior linemen for years now. Unfortunately for the Seahawks’ longest-tenured player, it may take him missing half of a season for people to really appreciate how important Mebane is to this defense.
It would of course be oversimplifying things to say the Chiefs rushed for 190 yards simply because Mebane was missing, the result of a season-ending hamstring injury suffered last week—there were missed tackles and missed assignments that contributed to Kansas City’s big day, and let’s face it, Jamaal Charles, who finished with 159 yards and two touchdowns, is really, really good—but Mebane was undoubtedly missed.
3. Russell Wilson took a step in the right direction
If you’re looking for a silver lining to take out of this loss, consider that Wilson, who has struggled in his last two games, looked considerably better while completing 20 of 32 passes for 178 yards, two touchdowns (three if Jermaine Kearse didn’t drop a ball in the end zone) and a 98.2 passer rating in adverse conditions against a very good Chiefs defense. Marshawn Lynch was a beast once again, gaining 124 yards on 24 carries, and Wilson was again dangerous as a runner with 71 yards on eight carries, but if the Seahawks are going to finish strong and make the playoffs, they’ll need a better passing game, which is why an improved outing by Wilson is encouraging.
4. Earl Thomas came up big, but…
It’s easy to marvel Thomas’ closing speed when tracking a defender in the open field, and NFL’s best safety had another big game in Kansas City, but it’s not necessarily a good thing when a free safety who plays as far from the line of scrimmage as Thomas leads the team with 11 tackles, 10 of them solo efforts. Thomas forced a big fumble that led to a Seattle score, and made a number of important stops, showing again one he’s one of Seattle’s best defensive players—though like everyone else in white and blue, he at times struggled with Charles in the open field—but it’s not a good sign for Seattle when Thomas has the chance to make so many plays in the running game.
5. Defensive-line depth is a concern
While their stats don’t show it, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril are still playing at a very high level this season—Bennett’s weekly offside penalties notwithstanding—but now more than ever with Mebane out, it’s clear they don’t have the quality around them that they did a season ago. Even though the Chiefs ran a lot and relied on short passes, it’s still discouraging that the Seahawks didn’t have a quarterback hit, let alone a sack. And this is no knock on Will Tukuafu, but it’s far from ideal when a player signed less than a month ago to play fullback is being forced into a defensive line rotation that also included Demarcus Dobbs, a player claimed off waivers less than two weeks ago. All-year long the Seahawks have asked more of their starters, Bennett and Avril especially, and now with the season winding down, that heavy workload could be a concern.
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