DANNY ONEIL

Seahawks must figure out how much they can hurry up on offense

Sep 12, 2017, 7:04 AM | Updated: 8:32 am

seahawks...

Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have plenty to sort through after the season-opening loss. (AP)

(AP)

One week into the season, and the Seahawks are already in a hurry looking for answers.

A hurry-up more specifically as that was the only approach that seemed to help the offense on Sunday in Green Bay. How much will Seattle use that template going forward? That’s the first of three things we’re still trying to figure out about these Seahawks.

O’Neil: So much for progress from O-Line in Seahawks’ loss to Packers

Three things we’re still trying to figure out

1. How often will the Seahawks use their hurry-up offense?

When the Seahawks stopped huddling on offense against the Packers, they started moving. It was true at the end of the first half as a Seattle offense that had gained a total of 25 yards in its first five possessions was able to reel off 74 yards in the final 53 seconds to set up a field goal on the final play of the first half. Seattle went no-huddle in the second half, too, not because time was running out so much as the fact the Seahawks needed to get something going. Guess what? It worked. The two drives in which Seattle went no-huddle for even part of the possession were the two drives that resulted in field goals.

Why does it make such a difference?

“We’ve always moved really well when we’re going up-tempo,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “That has been something we’re trying to focus on all offseason and I think that’s something that’s advantageous to us.”

How often can the Seahawks use that approach, though, given Pete Carroll’s preference to a power run game? An up-tempo offense can put more pressure on a defense.

2. Has Eddie Lacy got more than this?

It’s not just that his five carries resulted in a total of 3 yards in Sunday’s season-opener. It’s that his five carries totaled 3 yards on the heels of a preseason in which he averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Seattle has plenty of experience when it comes to acquiring veteran backs who’ve passed their “Best By” date, and while it’s too soon to draw any sort of conclusions with regard to Lacy, he certainly didn’t look like Seattle’s best running back in Green Bay.

3. Is Seattle ever going to use Jimmy Graham properly?

Three seasons in, and the Seahawks appear adamant about using Graham as a conventional tight end, referred to as the ‘Y’ in Seattle’s system. That seems an awful lot like using a sports car to move furniture. Is it really the best use of a record-setting tight end, considering the records he set involved receptions? Still, blocking remains part of his job description in Seattle. “He’ll do better,” coach Pete Carroll said when asked about Graham’s run blocking in Week 1. Why is he doing it that much at all is a better question. Now, there was no one to blame but Graham when it came to the pass he dropped on the sideline in the fourth quarter, but using Graham in the blocking game and as an outlet receiver when Wilson gets in trouble doesn’t seem like the best use of his talent.

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Seahawks must figure out how much they can hurry up on offense