Rost: Seahawks left with a lot of same questions from last year
Jan 7, 2024, 5:23 PM | Updated: 5:55 pm
Arizona RB James Conner runs against the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 7, 2024. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Seattle Seahawks will miss the playoffs for the second time in three years, which is unfamiliar territory for a Pete Carroll team.
Unfortunately, poor defensive play, tough losses, and wins by the skin of their teeth are becoming more so.
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Seattle beat the Cardinals 21-20 on Sunday to post its second consecutive 9-8 season, but like last year the Seahawks needed help from an eliminated team to get into the postseason. And the Chicago Bears, unlike the 2022 Detroit Lions, just couldn’t deliver.
So, that’s a wrap. The Seahawks will watch the playoffs from home and spend an offseason trying to answer some tough questions.
Problem is they entered last season with a lot of the same questions.
The Seahawks finished last season 30th against the run. Improving there was a theme for the defense during the offseason. They underwent a complete facelift on the defensive line, moving on from Poona Ford and Al Woods and rolling out three new starters in 2023. That included the return of Jarran Reed, who along with Frank Clark was the last Seahawks defensive player to finish a season with double-digit sacks, as well as Dre Jones, the most expensive free agent ever signed under Carroll and general manager John Schneider. They brought back Bobby Wagner and had a healthier Jordyn Brooks and Jamal Adams. They made a midseason trade to acquire defensive lineman Leonard Williams from the Giants to bulk up the D-line.
It looked promising to start the year, but they ultimately finished the season in the same spot.
Figuring out how to become more stout against the run isn’t the only question Seattle will have to answer this offseason, but it highlights that the increasingly more obvious task for Carroll is two-fold: to first work on fixing the Seahawks’ issues, but also to convince fans that his fixes will work this time.
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