RENTON — Oddly enough, the play that best describes the Seattle Seahawks’ current woes on offense was a 34-yard completion.
There were 11 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Monday’s 13-10 victory over the Detroit Lions, and the Seahawks were facing third-and-12 at their own 42-yard line. The moment the ball was snapped Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was in trouble. Detroit’s Jason Jones, lined up at right defensive tackle, made a brief hesitation move at the line and blew past flat-footed Seahawks left guard Justin Britt, who fell down as he ineffectually tried to push Jones off course.
Jones had a clear path at Wilson. But Wilson somehow spun away from Jones, eluded Ezekiel Ansah as he darted up the middle, then released a desperation pass just before he was leveled by Devin Taylor. The pass was caught by Jermaine Kearse along the left sideline as Wilson somehow turned a 12-yard sack into a 34-yard gain.
It may have worked out for the Seahawks that time, but how many more times can Seattle’s offense survive with its quarterback constantly under pressure?
“We have to be better,” Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable said. “That’s the bottom line, we have to be better.”
The play of the offensive line was the hot topic Wednesday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, as it’s come under fire for its performance through the first four games of the season. The starting five of center Drew Nowak, guards Britt and J.R. Sweezy, and tackles Russell Okung and Garry Gilliam was under the microscope following a game in which Wilson was sacked six times and took another 10 hits.
“Criticism? I don’t pay attention to that,” was Britt’s reaction. “I just know people and reporters will watch and not know what they’re looking for. They haven’t played football before. I laugh at them and don’t give them the time of day. I’m in here every day and know what’s going on.”
But it’s hard to ignore the numbers. Wilson has been sacked 18 times through four games this season, tying him with Kansas City’s Alex Smith for the most in the NFL. He’s on pace to be sacked 72 times, which is just four fewer than the NFL record of 76 the unfortunate David Carr suffered for Houston in 2002. Only one other quarterback has been sacked 70 times in a season, that being Philadelphia’s Randall Cunningham in 1986.
The offensive line has never been Seattle’s strength since Wilson took over as the starter in 2012, but this is getting ridiculous. The most times he was sacked in a previous season was 44, which at the current rate will be surpassed in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ 10th game.
The numbers from the running game don’t offer much solace. Seattle’s overall rushing totals — 512 yards, 4.4 yards per carry — are among the NFL leaders. However, a big chunk of those yards were gained by Wilson, largely on scrambles. The numbers for primary backs Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Rawls are much more pedestrian as through four games they’ve combined for 71.3 yards per game at 3.9 yards a pop.
Seattle has scored just five touchdowns on its 41 offensive possessions so far this season. That’s tied with San Francisco for the worst rate in the NFL. The Seahawks have received TDs from their defense, their kickoff return team and their punt return team, but have yet to get a rushing touchdown.
Most are pointing at the offensive line, which includes two brand-new starters (Nowak, Gilliam) and a player making a position switch (Britt), as the reason for those issues.
“We’re a little shaky at times, I think everybody can notice that,” Sweezy said.
“We can’t let the quarterback get hit as much as he’s getting hit,” Sweezy added. “That’s just obvious. In the run game it’s just being on the same page, and if we do that we’re pretty good. That’s the thing, though. If we’re not all on the same page, that’s when we get into trouble.”
There are those who place the responsibility of the sacks on Wilson for holding onto the ball too long. Wilson had two fourth-quarter fumbles Monday, the first of which ended a drive in Detroit territory, the second of which was scooped up and returned for a touchdown to get the Lions back in the game.
“We’re taking sacks at an alarming rate right now,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “We can improve it. It’s really in a lot of areas. You can’t really pin it on one group, one person. I know there’s a lot of concern with the offensive line, a lot of talk about that, but we can all do better. The quarterbacks in terms of getting the ball out at times, receivers getting open on time, the offensive line protecting him, myself helping in any way I can to give us better chances to do all three of those things. We’ll just continue to work that.”
Where does that work currently stand with regard to the offensive line? Cable said the communication on his inexperienced unit has improved as the season has progressed, and that it’s now a case of “winning your one-on-one battles.
“This has always been kind of a work in progress,” Cable added. “I said when they get it they’re going to be really good. That hasn’t changed.”
The starting unit apparently isn’t changing, either, as Cable said he was sticking with the same five for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati. But for Seattle’s offense to get back up to speed, the results from the offensive line will have to.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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