BROCK AND SALK

Macdonald: Seahawks ‘need to get run game going’

Oct 7, 2024, 12:15 PM | Updated: 12:20 pm

Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III...

Kenneth Walker III of the Seattle Seahawks runs with the ball during a 2024 game. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The Seattle Seahawks have looked one-dimensional on offense often this season.

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In most of the team’s first five games, the running game has been completely non-existent for at least a half – and sometimes the entire game.

The Seahawks’ lack of a run game was on full display in Sunday’s loss to the Giants. Seattle finished with 102 yards on the ground, but 72 of those were off scrambles from quarterback Geno Smith. Running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet combined for just 30 yards on a measly seven carries. That included just five carries for Walker, one of the NFL’s most explosive runners.

“You got to have more at-bats in the run game,” head coach Mike Macdonald said during his conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday morning. “We got to give the ball to K-9 (Walker) more, period – Zach as well. There’s no going around it. There’s definitely, going back at it, some more opportunities as drives start to get going where we can kind of get back to normal operation and make sure we’re giving Ken the ball. So again, those (decisions) are going to vary from game to game, but we can’t be just handing the ball off to him five times. That’s a disservice to him.”

Seattle has been the league’s most pass-heavy team so far under first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. According to TeamRankings.com, the Seahawks lead the league with a 67.39% pass play percentage. The next closest is Cleveland at 64.65%.

The team has been even more pass-heavy in recent weeks, dialing up the pass on 72.96% of plays the past three games and 81.03% plays against the Giants.

The Seahawks’ rushing attack has been especially absent in the first half of games. Seattle running backs have eclipsed 20 first-half rushing yards just twice through the first five games, and they’ve logged just six combined carries in the first half of the past two.

The lack of commitment to the run game isn’t completely on Grubb, according to Macdonald. He said he also has “a very big role” in the tempo in which team plays offensively.

“It’s not on a per-play basis, but it’s how we want to play games,” Macdonald said.

Through five games, Seattle ranks 22nd in the league with 105.4 rushing yards per contest. But some of that has been buoyed by some big scrambles from Smith. He’s seventh among NFL quarterbacks with 146 rushing yards and led the team with 72 yards in the loss to New York.

The Seahawks are also tied for the fewest rushing attempts (105) in the league with the Tennessee Titans, who have played just four games.

However, they have been effective when running the ball. They average 5.0 yards per carry, tied for seventh in the NFL.

Some of lack of commitment to the run can be attributed to game flow. The Seahawks were playing catch-up early and often last week against the Lions, and they ran just 17 total first-half plays against the Giants.

But that doesn’t change that finding a way to get Walker and Charbonnet more consistently involved will be paramount moving forward.

“We definitely need to get the run game going,” Macdonald said Sunday. “The way the game started, we were thinking about trying to get Geno going early. And I’m not sure how many plays we had in the first half, but it wasn’t many. So game started to get out of hand there and we had to get going. But … we need to get the run game going. We need to get Ken the ball more.”

‘A technique error’

The Seahawks had a chance to tie their game against Giants with a field goal in the final minutes for the fourth quarter, but Jason Myers’ 47-yard attempt was blocked by Isaiah Simmons and returned for a game-sealing touchdown by Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

Simmons hurdled through the gap between Seattle’s long snapper and right guard, who were both pushed down to the ground by New York players.

The play elicited some controversy with some players and many viewers wondering if the Giants should have been flagged on the play and why it wasn’t reviewed. However, NFL rules official Walt Anderson confirmed those calls were correct.

Macdonald saw it as a lack of execution from his players.

“Frankly, it’s just a technique error, and (the Giants) had a good scheme,” Macdonald said. “But if we execute our protection the way we should be, then you shouldn’t have a free jump through.”

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald joins Brock and Salk every morning after a Seahawks game at 9:30 a.m. Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story.

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Watch: Rayshawn Jenkins makes franchise history with fumble-return TD
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