There was a lot of talk about how the Seattle Seahawks were done before this year and that continued for the first few weeks. Now they are one of the hottest teams in the league and people do not want to face them right now.
The Seahawks just got a convincing win with less than 75 passing yards. How does that happen? Seattle has found ways to win games this year. It relies on its cornerstones, Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, who are great leaders and amazing football players to make plays for them. The rest of the team has raised its level of play to match these two, and Seattle is rolling right now.
The Seahawks are 8-5 after losing their first two games of the year. They are doing this with a three-headed monster at running back. Chris Carson gets the most carries and is the most physical, Mike Davis is much like Carson, but has a little less power, and Rashaad Penny is the smoothest athlete of the three. They all have more than 350 yards rushing this season, which is something no other team in the league is even close to.
These guys bringing it week after week has made Seattle’s offense much more consistent because they can always rely on at least one guy to have a good game. The Seahawks are averaging more than 150 rushing yards per game, the most any team in the league has averaged since 2016 when the Buffalo Bills did it. And before that no one averaged more rushing yards per game since the 2014 Seahawks team.
The offensive line deserves a ton of credit for the success of the run game. Even without their big mauler, DJ Fluker, in this last game, the Seahawks rushed for more than 200 yards. The two games that Jordan Simmons, Fluker’s backup, has started the Seahawks have rushed for more than 200 yards.
It makes you think that Seattle could be using seven offensive linemen at some point on the field; they already use six offensive linemen—double the amount any other team does.
Speaking of extra O-linemen, George Fant finally got a catch! He stumbled during the run and fell, prompting laugher from the commentators, but they were very excited Fant caught a ball—just like the rest of us.
The Seahawks are in a great position to make the playoffs right now. They have two games left against the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers, and they will be heavy favorites in those; that would get them to 10 wins and in the wild card (whether they beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the other game isn’t quite that important).
If it comes down to tiebreakers, Seattle has beaten the Dallas Cowboys (the number four seed), the Minnesota Vikings (the number 6 seed), the Carolina Panthers (in the hunt for a wild card) and the Green Bay Packers (will only make the playoffs if there is a miracle). This means that Seattle should make it to the postseason a year after missing the playoffs for the first time in years.
Quick Thoughts
- Bobby Wagner is still incredible! They changed the rules, so he could not leap the line on a field goal attempt if he got a running start. So, he jumped the line from a standstill and got the block to keep the Vikings scoreless in a close December game. Wagner can and does do everything for this team.
- The whole defense stepped up against the Vikings, they were flying around and hustling their butts off. This is a defense that can take away an opponent’s strength and will keep attacking until the game is over.
- Nobody wants to play Seattle in the playoffs. It is too hard to stop the running game and Russell Wilson for four quarters. He is deadly in December and January, and I don’t see him making game changing mistakes in this playoff run.
The Seahawks are 8-5, not 8-3
Thanks for the correction!