The Seattle Seahawks may have defeated the Buffalo Bills 31-25 Monday night to put themselves into second position in the NFL playoff race at 5-2-1. However, Monday’s victory also exposed some flaws.
Seattle’s running game was non-existent. The Seahawks ran just 12 times for 33 yards as Seattle was unable to get any traction on the ground.
Seattle’s defense spent too much time on the field as Buffalo won the time-of-possession battle 40 minutes, 17 seconds to 19:43. It was the third straight game the Seahawks found themselves on the short end of that stick by a large margin.
However, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll spent the day after downplaying the issues that continue to hound Seattle.
On offense the concern is with the running game. Seattle’s 33 rushing yards were the fewest by the Seahawks since 2011, when Seattle gained just 31 yards on 13 carries in a 24-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the third-lowest total in the 116 games — both regular season and playoffs — Carroll has coached since becoming Seattle’s coach in 2010.
That continued a worrying trend. Seattle is averaging 75.4 yards rushing per game this season, which ranks 30th in the NFL. That’s less than half the 153.1 yards per game the Seahawks averaged on the ground over the previous four seasons. Seattle’s ratio of 26 passes to 12 runs mirrored recent games (110 passes to 63 runs over the previous three contests), suggesting the Seahawks are becoming a pass-first team.
However, Carroll said Seattle’s lack of a running game against Buffalo had more to do with finding success in the passing game.
“Last night everything we were throwing was open, so we just kept doing it,” Carroll said Tuesday during his day-after-game radio show on 710 ESPN. “We don’t need to run it right now, let’s just keep throwing it, so we did. Unfortunately we don’t get the (running) numbers and we didn’t make much progress in this game towards the run. But we’re not backing off of that at all.”
”We have to keep this running game thing developing, it’s not where we want it to be at all, we’ll see what happens,” Carroll added. “Maybe it doesn’t come around, I don’t know. We’re going to shoot for it, I’m not leaving the thought of trying to balance this thing out. But we do know we don’t have to run the football to win football games. But we want to. It’s going to be important, so we’re going to keep battling and see if we can bring it around.”
Meanwhile, the defense continues to carry a heavy load. The Seahawks lost the time-of-possession battle 46:21-28:39 two weeks ago in their 6-6 tie with the Arizona Cardinals, then lost it 36:12-23:48 in last week’s 25-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The drain seemed to catch up to Seattle’s defense Monday, as the Seahawks allowed the Bills to gain 425 yards of total offense and convert 12 of their 17 third downs.
However, Carroll took the opposite tack Tuesday, praising the defense’s ability to stop the Bills in the red zone at the end of the game, and saying the extended time on the field has actually been a benefit.
“Our defensive guys have been through so much challenge the last month that they’re getting stronger,” Carroll said. “It’s not like you’re getting worn, they’re getting stronger, they’re getting in shape for the run and all that. The experiences that we’ve gained and the confidence that it takes to hold it together when it’s crazy, we’re getting better. So it’s a good experience for us. That game last night was a great game for us, we needed that one, and thankfully we came away with a win.”
Injury update
Carroll said he expects strong safety Kam Chancellor to play in next Sunday’s road game against the New England Patriots. Chancellor has missed the past four games because of a groin injury.
However, Carroll said he doesn’t expect running back Thomas Rawls to be ready to play the Patriots. Rawls, who is still recovering from a cracked fibula suffered the second week of the season, is expected to resume practicing this week.
Carroll said two other players who missed Monday’s game, tackle Bradley Sowell (knee) and tight end Luke Willson (knee), have a shot at making it back this week, while cornerback DeAndre Elliott (hamstring) is expected back.
Seattle came out of Monday’s game with no significant new injuries.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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