Here’s some scattershot thoughts about the Seahawks at the season’s midpoint:
– After a tumultuous first half of the season, the Seahawks put themselves in a tenable position by reaching 4-4 at the midpoint. Seattle has the most difficult part of its schedule behind it, and three straight home games to open the second half following the bye — including a crack at NFC West-leading Arizona — gives the Seahawks a great opportunity to put themselves right back in the mix in the NFL playoff race.
– Despite the bounceback to .500, which included back-to-back wins on the road heading into the bye, we still don’t really know if this Seattle team is up to the challenge. The combined record of the four teams the Seahawks beat (Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas)? It’s an ugly 7-23, and two of those teams didn’t have their starting quarterbacks. On the other hand, the combined record of the teams Seattle lost to (St. Louis, Green Bay, Cincinnati, Carolina) is 24-4. So there’s not really a bad loss there, though a couple of those feel like it because of the way the game was lost in the fourth quarter.
– The credit for Seattle’s recovery has to go to the defense. The Seahawks rank third in the NFL in points allowed per game (17.5) and rank second in yards allowed per game (284.9). Offensively the Seahawks aren’t there yet. They’re just tied for 25th in the league in points per game (20.9) and rank 13th in the league in yards per game (353.1). Seattle does have good numbers with regards to yards per rush (4.6, ranking fifth) and yards per pass (8.0, ranking fourth), so the signs are there of a potential breakout. But for that to happen the Seahawks have to be much better in the red zone as they’ve converted just 29.4 percent of their red-zone opportunities into touchdowns, which ranks dead last.
– The turnover thing with the Seahawks is eerie. Head coach Pete Carroll is constantly stressing the importance of keeping the ball and winning the turnover battle. But Seattle has been in bizarro world this season as the Seahawks are 0-3 in games in which they won the turnover battle, but 3-1 in the games they lost the turnover battle. Carroll continues to express his bafflement at that statistic, and there’s no way that trend continues the rest of the season.
– For all the angst expended on new tight end Jimmy Graham’s role in the offense, he currently has 38 catches for 450 yards, which both lead the team. His pace of 76 catches for 900 yards seems pretty much on target for what could have been expected when the season began, given Seattle’s offense isn’t nearly as pass happy as the one in New Orleans he played for previously. But those team red zone numbers? One can bet the Seahawks hope Graham, who has just two touchdowns, can play a role in improving those numbers.
– Cornerback Richard Sherman, incredibly, still doesn’t have an interception this season. This after leading the league in interceptions over the previous four seasons with 24. Of course, that doesn’t mean Sherman is playing poorly. It’s hard to intercept a ball when the opposing quarterback doesn’t throw the ball your direction.
– After a blistering start, it seems opponents have figured out how to negate rookie return man Tyler Lockett. Lockett had a punt return for a touchdown in Seattle’s first game, then had a kickoff return for a touchdown in Seattle’s third game. Since then his longest punt return is 14 yards and his longest kickoff return is 21 yards.
– Not sure this means anything, but I thought it was interesting. Marshawn Lynch: 375 rushing yards. Thomas Rawls: 376 rushing yards. Russell Wilson: 303 rushing yards. I guess that’s balance.
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