What’s the main reason the Seahawks have lost 4 of their last 5?

The Seahawks started the season 6-3 and looked like not just a playoff team, but they were the favorites to win the NFC West.

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Since that start, though, Seattle has dropped four of five and now are 7-7 on the year. Not only are the Seahawks no longer leading the NFC West, but they’re on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs.

So what’s happened? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard, who hosts Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports 710 AM, pointed to four things that answered that question, and he presented those options to Seahawks fans on Twitter earlier this week.

“I know there’s a multitude of reasons – it’s never just one reason. But when your football team is struggling and they’ve lost four or five, why?” Huard said Tuesday morning.

“(Option) No. 1 was the rookies hitting the wall, which I do think is a very real thing,” he added. “There are many rookies that are starting and playing and practicing all season long and their college season was long and over (by this time last year). These guys played three preseason games, they have now played 14 regular season games. Their bodies have never been through this.”

Second? Play-calling on both sides of the ball.

“Are they running the ball enough as we debated yesterday?” Huard said.

Third? Defensive talent as that side of the ball has struggled the last five games.

“Just straight up talent, just the dudes, the Jimmies and the Joes. Not the X’s and the O’s, but the Jimmies and the Joes,” Huard said.

And last but not least, the fact that the Seahawks did overturn their roster in a major way this past offseason.

“And then the last thing in pure Aaron Rodgers R-E-L-A-X mode was R-E-B-U-I-L-D. Just a rebuilt,” Huard said. “And this is what happens when you turn the roster over and you move on from (Russell Wilson) and you move on from Bobby (Wagner), and you go young and you do everything they’ve been doing from a rebuild standpoint.”

And the winner of that poll? Option No. 3: Defensive talent.

Looking for a little help from the 12’s. I know their is a multitude of reasons for the Seahawks four losses in 5 games, but if you could only point to one?

— Brock Huard (@BrockHuard) December 19, 2022

“The runaway winner … was defensive talent. Six out of 10 folks said, ‘Yep, I get it, the rookies have hit the wall. Yes, play-calling is part of it. Yes, it is a rebuild.’ But the overwhelming majority said, ‘I’m sorry, my eyes just see talent defensively that after 14 weeks isn’t good enough,'” Huard said.

For the Seahawks this year, they had a number of issues to start the season on defense before sorting things out and winning four straight. But since a Week 10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Germany, Seattle’s defense has struggled mightily to stop the run and get off the field, resulting in four losses and over 1,000 rushing yards allowed over those last five games.

“Once people find (something to exploit), they are going to feast on it, and they will not deviate from it,” Huard said. “It can be very much a copycat league in that way. ‘Oh, boy, they really struggle to stop the run, this front is wearing down, this is a group that we can get after if we would can just be consistent and pound the football, pound the football, pound the football.'”

And it doesn’t necessarily get easier for the Seahawks’ defense for a few reasons, Huard said.

“I mean, you’re gonna get that until you stop it. And right now an injury to (defensive tackle Bryan Mone) doesn’t help. An injury to (defensive tackle) Al Woods doesn’t help. Those are your beefiest, beefiest dudes in the middle of it to try to occupy some space,:” he said. “So yeah, get ready these next three weeks. Even though (running the ball) is not Kansas City’s DNA, they will absolutely attack you from the inside out. And unfortunately, like the social media audience, if I was voting, I would have voted the same way. There’s just not enough defensive talent right now to plug the holes that your defense is finding.”

Listen to the full second hour of Tuesday’s Brock and Salk at this link or in the player below.

Which Seahawks have the most on the line the rest of the season?

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