JIM MOORE

Jim Moore Predicts: Seahawks’ O-line still a problem for Super Bowl chances

Oct 13, 2017, 12:36 PM

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Seahawks QB Russell Wilson has been sacked 13 times so far this season. (AP)

(AP)

It’s a bye week, a time to reflect on where the Seahawks have been and where they’re going. Are you pessimistic, optimistic or realistic about their chances to win the NFC West and/or win the Super Bowl?

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I’d say I’m a combination of all three, though that’s a cop-out. I’m pessimistic if the offensive line stays the same, and I’ll be optimistic if they package Jeremy Lane with a draft choice to acquire Duane Brown, a left tackle from Houston who’s supposed to be very good; and even if he’s not elite, he’s bound to be better than Rees Odhiambo and the other left-tackle candidates currently in Seattle. Heck, even if they don’t get Brown and sign free-agent Branden Albert, I’ll take a retired and unretired guy over what you have at left tackle now.

As it is, they will play the Giants next Sunday minus left guard Luke Joeckel, who, truth be known, should have never been signed for $8 million anyway. At the time of his signing, I wondered why the Seahawks would want a Jacksonville reject coming off of major knee surgery. Now he’s having clean-up arthroscopic surgery after undergoing Regenokine treatment in August. Couldn’t you have stayed with Mark Glowinski at left guard and used that money for a healthier free agent along the offensive line?

So, after all of this talk about the importance of continuity on the offensive line, we’ve had changes with Oday Aboushi taking over for Glowinski at right guard and now with Joeckel expected to miss a game or two. In the Seahawks’ defense, this O-line would be better than it is with left tackle George Fant, who tore his ACL in the second preseason game and is out for the year.

I hate to keep harping on it, but it baffles me so I guess I’ll keep harping: it doesn’t really matter how good your tight ends and wide receivers are if Russell Wilson doesn’t get enough time to throw to them. And it doesn’t matter how good your running backs are if there’s no room to run. I’m also starting to wonder just how good those receivers are — players like Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson. If we’re going to — or, if I’m going to — continue to criticize the offensive line, shouldn’t Lockett and Richardson take some of the blame, too?

And the running backs, now that Chris Carson is out for the season with a broken ankle, you’re down to Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls, players who used to be good and for all we know still might be good if they were running behind a different offensive line. I tend to think that both have gone from productive to subpar for different reasons. With Lacy, I wonder if ankle surgery has reduced his explosiveness. With Rawls, good luck trying to figure that one out. Maybe injuries have slowed him, too. And from what Dave Wyman and others say, he lacks decisiveness. I don’t know how you can go from being Beast Mode Jr., like he was in his rookie season, to this guy we see now, who is hesitant and completely unproductive.

I have a possible solution, two of them in fact, but no one at the VMAC cares to listen to suggestions from a sports-talk show host, I guess. If I were Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell, I’d go with C.J. Prosise and J.D. McKissic as my top two backs. I know about Prosise’s problems with injuries — he’s missed 14 of 24 games since he arrived from Notre Dame. But I’d go with him ’til he tweaks his ankle again. And I’d go with McKissic, too. They’re more elusive than Lacy and Rawls, and that’s what they need: guys who can avoid tacklers instead of running into them and hoping to get yards after contact. I’ve got an idea! How about using guys who can get YARDS AFTER NO CONTACT. I’m going to coin a new acronym and let the guys from Pro Football Focus monitor it: YANC, or Yards After No Contact. As soon as you hand the ball off, you measure the yardage a player gains from that point forward. Lacy and Rawls don’t even come close to resembling Marshawn Lynch, so why not try running backs who can avoid would-be tacklers?

The second thing I’d do is use Wilson more frequently with the read option to help the sputtering running game. The down side of that, I know, I’ve heard it, you put your quarterback at risk. Hogwash. Wilson is getting hit when he drops back to pass anyway, so might as well have him get hit while gaining positive yardage. Or how about just use it occasionally to keep defenses on their toes with the threat that Wilson still might burn you with his feet if you’re not ready for him to keep the ball and go.

All of this stuff seems pretty simple, and I’m surprised that general manager John Schneider hasn’t called me to join his staff to help fix the offensive problems. It’s mystifying and crystal-clear at the same time; mystifying that the offensive line has not been the biggest priority for this team, and crystal-clear that they’re not going to win a Super Bowl without addressing it, no matter how good their defense continues to be.

COUGARS (-16) at CAL: I don’t know why I’m so nervous about this game. Cal has been pummeled by Oregon and Washington the last two weeks and has lost its top three receivers and best running back to injuries. Still, I remember Cal winning at North Carolina, beating Ole Miss at home, and giving USC all it could handle in Berkeley before losing by 10 points. It’s a road game in the Pac-12, and I’m going to show the Golden Bears some respect. I don’t think they’re going to win, but there will be some anxious moments in the fourth quarter before the Cougs pull it out and improve to 7-0. Cougs 31, Bears 28

HUSKIES (-17) at ARIZONA STATE: I’m not a Todd Graham fan, but then again, I’m not a Husky fan either. Football Gods willing, Sparky and the Sun Devils celebrate a huge upset Saturday night in Tempe. ASU showed it’s capable with a win over Oregon a few weeks ago when the Ducks still had starting quarterback Justin Herbert. Problem is, the Dawgs are a lot better than the Ducks. Huskies 41, Sun Devils 16

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Jim Moore Predicts: Seahawks’ O-line still a problem for Super Bowl chances