The Major Adjustment That The Seattle Seahawks Must Make…

The Pass Protection has Regressed Geno Smith and the Offense

In order to help develop a strong run game and maintain a clean pocket, the Seahawks believed they had collected a youthful but dependable group of offensive lineman. The first-week home loss to the Los Angeles Rams exposed the offensive line’s shortcomings.

The fact that second-year right tackle Abraham Lucas missed several weeks due to a serious injury didn’t help, but the interior of the line performed patchily all season long. All four of the starting offensive line members in the interior received an overall grade of worse than 63, according to Pro Football Focus. Damian Lewis was the only one with a grade above 60 overall.

Ben Baldwin, a metrics aggregator, used the pass protection grades from PFF’s overall pass protection grade, SIS blown block %, and ESPN’s pass block victory rate. Just ahead of the New York Jets and the New York Giants, Seattle’s overall scores gave them the third-worst overall pass protection grade.

Seattle’s PFF pass protection grade was the seventh poorest. In the league, it also had the fourth-worst blown block %. The inside offensive line and the right tackle in the absence of Lucas had the weakest pass protection.For Lucas, Jake Curhan and Jason Peters, 41, weren’t the best choices. Waldron hasn’t matured and adjusted well, and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson hasn’t taught his line correctly.

Official Objective Pass Protection Ratings

Aw man Seahawks

(I think Dak's surroundings are a little overrated in an attempt to tear down his MVP candidacy. His OL has been decent but not great) pic.twitter.com/Bmn5NmC1XI

— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) December 6, 2023

Shane Waldron’s Problematic Playcalling

The surprising performance of veteran quarterback Geno Smith and a strong rookie class were major factors in Seattle’s offensive success with Shane Waldron in the previous season. They played with such efficiency that it made Waldron’s job much simpler. The playcalling this season has revealed the inside offensive line’s lack of confidence.

Despite the Seahawks’ superior run-blocking ability, the offense has relied on the passing game for almost 67% of their plays. The main issue with Waldron’s playcalling is how frequently he calls passes from third and short. The offensive did not show any improvement from the previous season to this one.

The absence of D.K. Metcalf from the gameplan has also caused problems. Metcalf has been targeted ninety-three times after Week 14, which is the same amount as Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks have not made use of Metcalf’s better physicality over Lockett, who is aging and has trouble with drops. The pass-catchers’ and Smith’s lack of communication has caused more problems. It has never been addressed and has been a persistent problem.

The Loss to San Francisco Is Another Example of Shane Waldron’s Problems for the Seahawks

The offense was restricted to fewer than 17 points for the sixth time this season in Sunday’s loss to San Francisco. In three of the previous four games, the Seahawks failed to score more than sixteen points.

Although Seattle gained 324 yards overall in the 28-16 loss to San Francisco, they were just 2-of-11 on third downs. Additionally, the Seahawks mishandled the ball twice. Lockett was the most productive receiver, hauling in all six of the intended throws for 89 yards. Metcalf only managed to gain 52 yards and a touchdown by catching two of his five targets. Jacksonville Smith-Njigba, a rookie wide receiver, only collected four of his seven targets for a total of 25 targets. The 49ers’ secondary appeared to have no game plan, making it the least successful unit.