KIRKLAND – If the Seattle Seahawks are looking for ideas to cure their offensive woes on third downs this season, here’s one suggestion: punt.
Maybe not the most realistic option, but the results wouldn’t be much worse than what has happened so far this season.
After leading the NFL in third-down efficiency last season – converting third down into a first down 46.8 percent of the time – the Seahawks have fallen to 27th this year. They have converted just 31 percent of their third downs, continually stalling drives in the process.
“We’ve got to get that fixed,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said Monday without being able to offer an explanation for the team’s troubles.
Seattle’s offense might be able to find some legitimate tips within the team’s own headquarters. Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes has his unit putting a positive spin on third-down conversions this year, going from 30th in the NFL to 17th.
“We came into this year, and that was one of our key areas of emphasis,” said safety Terreal Bierria, whose unit has held opponents to 38 percent conversion – compared to 42.2 percent last season. “We don’t want to prolong a drive longer than it has to be, so third down is something that we really concentrate on.”
While the defense still has a ways to go to consider itself a third-down stalwart, it’s ahead of the offense at this point.
The Seahawks converted just 4 of 13 third downs in Sunday’s loss to Arizona and was 2-for-12 in a loss to St. Louis two weeks previous to that. Seattle has yet to hit 50 percent in a game this year, while the worst performance came during a 1-for-14 performance in a 10-6 win over Tampa Bay in Week 2.
“We’re not converting,” center Robbie Tobeck said when asked about the problems on third downs. “That’s the obvious answer, but then it’s a complicated answer. Why? I don’t think there’s one thing. We’ve been through ups and downs offensively before here, and we work our butts off until we get it.”
On Sunday, the problems ranged from overthrown balls to pass protection breakdowns to runs that were stuffed behind the line of scrimmage.
Two times the Seahawks needed 3 or fewer yards, and each yielded no first down. Hasselbeck misfired on one play, then got sacked on the other.
The defense had a tough time getting off the field as well, allowing Arizona to convert 8 of 19 times.
During the Seahawks’ 3-0 start, the defense held opposing teams to 21.4 percent (9-for-42) on third downs. Seattle has since fallen off in that department, including a key third-down conversion by New England 10 days ago that helped the Patriots clinch a 30-20 victory and Emmitt Smith’s late touchdown run in the Arizona game Sunday.
“We thought that if we improved in that area, that would translate into some wins for us,” cornerback Ken Lucas said. “We put a lot of emphasis on it from training camp to this point right here. We started off really good with it, and we’ve kind of declined these last few weeks. We’ve got to get it back on track.”
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