Rost: Seahawks’ 2-0 start isn’t without lingering concerns
Sep 15, 2024, 1:45 PM | Updated: 10:51 pm
Keion White of the New England Patriots sacks Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith. (Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
(Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
If Week 1 for the Seahawks was about what looked refreshingly different under a new head coach in Seattle, Week 2 was about what looked very much the same.
As it turns out, transforming a flawed team into a championship roster is an incredibly time-consuming process with months, even years, of ups and downs – go figure!
Seahawks win | Observations | Instant Reaction | Stats
The flawed team in question, your Seattle Seahawks, has struggled in past seasons to stop the run and establish dominance up front. Both things remained true Sunday against the New England Patriots.
At least for fans, patience is easier with a 2-0 start after Seattle came out of Sunday with a 23-20 victory. After all, who wants to complain after a road win in overtime on game day? But there were problems that persisted Sunday that kept the result in question until the Seahawks’ final drive.
No blame here for quarterback Geno Smith, whose receivers had several drops, nor on the defensive scheme overall, which brought hope a week ago and has received praise from around the league. Rather it was the age old and now boring tale of struggling offensive line play and a defensive front that was simply overmatched by a Patriots run game that did the same last week to the Bengals.
Last week, the Patriots rolled out 13 personnel an NFL-high 12 times, adding rookie lineman Caeden Wallace as an extra tight end to bolster the run. They also remained stubbornly committed to the run because, frankly, there were plenty of questions about their passing offense. The result? Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries to help New England win 16-10.
On Sunday against Seattle, Stevenson and fellow Patriots tailback Antonio Gibson gave the Seahawks’ defense fits in an even more balanced and effective attack. To make matters worse, New England’s passing game actually took off – or, at least Hunter Henry did. If you got tired of hearing his name called on first-down conversions, congratulations, so did Seattle’s coaching staff and players.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s task this week: figure how Seattle can tighten up that coverage and contain the edge. Another add: bring pressure home more consistently and earlier against bad offensive lines.
The Seahawks blitzed corners and saw young rushers like Boye Mafe active in the backfield, but they weren’t seeing that converted to sack totals in the first half.
Offensively, they’ll need to figure out how to bolster protection themselves, improve interior play, and establish the run, a task that could see improvement from the return of Kenneth Walker III, who was out Sunday with an abdomen injury.
Improvement isn’t always linear, and the most important thing overall is progress. To be fair, we have seen it. The Seahawks’ defense still limited the Pats to 294 net yards in regulation, well below last season’s average (unfortunately, the 185 rushing yards allowed will stick with fans afterwards). We also saw sharp play from Smith and a career high in receptions and yards from second-year pro Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Seattle sure doesn’t feel like a bad team through two weeks – after all, they’re still 2-0. But to actually improve, they’ll need to stop repeating bad habits.
Watch: Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf burns Patriots with long TD catch
