Bump: Seahawks need to ‘be stubborn’ with offensive game plan

Sep 13, 2025, 10:52 AM | Updated: 11:33 am

Seattle Sports

It was a rough debut last weekend for the Seattle Seahawks’ new-look offense, which mustered just 13 points and 230 total yards in a season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

It was also a curious one, as new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s game plan seemed to stray from some of the core elements of his scheme.

Where was the play-action in Seahawks’ opener?

For one, Kubiak’s system is known for a ground game that’s centered on outside zone runs. But against the 49ers, Seattle’s running backs got just six outside zone runs on their 22 carries, according to FTN Fantasy. And that wasn’t for a lack of success. Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker averaged a combined 4.5 yards per carry on those six outside zone runs, compared to just 2.5 yards per carry on their other 16 runs.

There also was a perplexing lack of play-action passing, which serves as a key complement to those outside zone runs. According to Pro Football Focus, the Seahawks used play-action on just two of Sam Darnold’s 26 dropbacks, which equated to a 7.7% play-action rate that was the lowest among all 33 NFL quarterbacks in Week 1.

On top of that, there was a head-scratching throwback screen pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba that resulted in an 8-yard loss, immediately derailing a pivotal possession early in the fourth quarter.

How can Kubiak and the Seahawks’ offense bounce back against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday’s Week 2 clash? Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus said the Hawks need to focus on the bread-and-butter components of their offensive scheme.

“It’s about just being stubborn,” Bumpus said during a Four Down Territory segment on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “You played against a 49ers team that was better in the box than anyone thought they were going to be. You couldn’t set the edge on your outside zone – that’s why I think they went into gap scheme and inside zone (runs). … But collectively, I don’t think this (Steelers) box is gonna be as good as the one that we saw with the 49ers.

“So how do you get back to it? You just get under center, you be stubborn and you do more play-action. Two times they used play-action (last week). I was so surprised when I looked at the film and saw that number, because I felt like this was gonna be a staple in their offense. So it just comes down to being stubborn, man. Be stubborn, run the football, use your play-action.”

Listen to the full Four Down Territory segment at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune into Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.