The numbers are against the Seattle Seahawks. According to USA Today’s For The Win blog, since the NFL has expanded to a 12-team playoff format in 1990 only 23 of 204 teams with an 0-2 start have made the postseason — that’s 11.2%.
Betting against the odds is never smart, but in this case a bit of patience is the way to go. The schedule makers did no favors for Seattle sending them to St. Louis to face the Rams to open the season and then following it up with a trip to Green Bay on “Sunday Night Football” to take on the Packers. Both of these games were winnable contests despite not being able to pull them out. There’s still plenty of time for the Seahawks to get out of this hole even though the start isn’t ideal.
Seattle finally gets to enjoy the confines of CenturyLink Field on Sunday when they host the Chicago Bears. The Seahawks haven’t lost more than one game at home since 2011 and are 30-2 there over the past four seasons. In Week 4 the Detroit Lions arrive in town giving them matchups with two 0-and-2 teams dead ahead.
This is the perfect opportunity for Seattle to get right and back to .500.
If they don’t the doubts slowly creeping into your head deserve more credence. The worries about Kam Chancellor’s holdout, Jimmy Graham’s happiness, the porous offensive line play and the defense’s 28th ranking by Football Outsiders DVOA metric are potentially real issues, but this team has proven itself too strong in recent memory to be counted out.
Graham needs to be featured more than the 10 targets he’s received in two games. It’s the second straight big name acquisition the Seahawks have struggled to incorporate after their failed trade with Percy Harvin. It also makes sense to get rookie wide receiver Tyler Lockett more involved than he’s been. The explosive playmaker has played in 62.9% of the offensive snaps, but only been targeted six times, catching all six. These two, plus Marshawn Lynch, are Seattle’s top weapons with the ability to make the game easier on quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wilson’s been asked to do more than he has in the past early in 2015. He’s attempted 71 pass attempts, the highest number for a two-game stretch in his career. The returns have been solid with Wilson completing 71% of his passes, but the explosiveness isn’t around with only a 6.44 yards per attempt. He’s also thrown two interceptions after having seven all of last season and nine in 2013. His QBR is 60.4 and QB rating comes in at 91.1, both extremely solid numbers.
The running game hasn’t lived up to its typical standards due to the struggles of the O-line. Lynch is only averaging 3.5 yards per carry on 33 attempts. Improvement in this area is needed to give Wilson some help.
Through six weeks in 2014 things weren’t looking bright for the Seahawks either. They were 3-3 before closing the season winning nine of 10 to earn another NFC West division crown. They once again have real competition in that department with the Arizona Cardinals — winning the division is nice, but getting to the playoffs is all that matters.
It would be shocking for two teams from the NFC East to get in, the NFC North besides the Packers aren’t scaring anyone and Seattle is still a more well-rounded team than anyone in the NFC South. The conference as a whole isn’t very good.
A little bit of patience is due for a Seahawks team that has gotten the job done before.
