RENTON — Stop the theorizing. End the search for explanations.
Ryan Grubb has a definitive answer for lead running back Kenneth Walker not getting nearly enough carries in the Seahawks offense.
“I’ll own that. Got to get the ball to Ken more,” Seattle’s offensive coordinator and play caller said flatly on Tuesday.
Two days earlier, Grubb called 58 plays against the New York Giants. Fifty-one of them were pass calls. Walker, the team’s 1,000-yard rusher a couple seasons ago who Grubb has called one of the NFL’s best, more elusive runners and weapons, got just five carries. One week after a career-high 56 pass attempts at Detroit, NFL passing leader Geno Smith threw 40 times. New York sacked him seven times.
The previously 1-3 Giants beat the first-place Seahawks. Grubb’s offense scored one touchdown, which came in the final 2 minutes of the second loss in six days for Seattle (3-2).
Thirteen of Grubb’s first 15 play calls against New York were passes, even while the Seahawks had an early lead.
“I think we had plenty of run game in the plan. Didn’t have anything to do with not having enough calls for that. Just didn’t get called,” Grubb said. “For us, we leaned on the wrong thing. I think if we get Ken 10 more touches, 15 more touches, things are going to look different.
“That’s 100% on me.
“My job is to make sure we get all our guys in the best position possible to win the game. And I didn’t do that.”
Walker’s five carries were three fewer than the fewest Grubb ever called for a lead running back in his two seasons as the coordinator of the University of Washington’s high-flying offense, through this past January. They were two fewer than the fewest he gave lead backs in his three years as offensive coordinator at Fresno State, 2019-21.
For all those reasons and more, expect Grubb to lean heavily on running Walker on Thursday when the Seahawks play their NFC West-rival San Francisco 49ers (2-3) at Lumen Field (5:15 p.m., Channel 13 locally).
If for no other reason than to make the point to Walker, Smith, head coach Mike Macdonald and the entire team he is going to win or lose basing the offense far more on their lead running back.
It’s become a mandate for Seattle.
Grubb mentioned Tuesday how Smith leading the league in completions and yards and being fifth in completion rate (71.9%) has often allowed the offense to extend possessions. But that didn’t happen against the Giants. The Seahawks converted only three of 11 third downs last Sunday.
The play caller blamed himself for not pivoting when drives were ending quickly against New York. Seattle had just 17 plays on offense in the first half. The Giants had 39.
“When the (opposing) defense is on the field, you have to find ways to generate to hold the football. And we’ve done such a good job of that, up to this point,” Grubb said. “That was part of it. It was getting to that point that we were just out of rhythm. We weren’t out there for a long time. I couldn’t get them back into rhythm.
“The run game could have helped us. And I should have given it a better opportunity.”
His boss agrees.
Macdonald said Monday the Seahawks did Walker “a disservice” giving him only five carries despite him playing 67% of snaps against the Giants. It was his second game back from an oblique injury that caused him to miss 2-1/2 games.
The New York game was the most Walker has played with the fewest carries in his three-year NFL career. You have to go back to 2019, Walker’s freshman year at Wake Forest, to find a game in which he played and carried the ball fewer than five times.
“We all know we need to run the ball more. I mean, everybody knows that,” Macdonald said. “Our opponents know that. Our players in our locker room know that. Grubb knows that. Our coaches do.
“I do.”
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