The 2014 Seattle Seahawks, Then and Now: Offense

The NFL season is now officially at its midway point. This is where the mediocre teams start to fade, and the real contenders come to play.

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For the Seattle Seahawks, 4-3 is not where they want to be, they have their work cut out for them just to get into the Wild Card spot, let alone the division title.

The Arizona Cardinals are sitting atop the NFC West at 6-1 (tied for the best record in the NFL with the Denver Broncos) and the 49ers are 4-3 as well, with the St. Louis Rams holding up the rear at 2-5.

If the Hawks want to repeat, they must find a better, more efficient rhythm to the offense. Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell must be more effective in his play calling, Russell Wilson has to make smarter decisions when throwing the ball and the O-line MUST reduce their number of stupid penalties.

Last week I compared the drastic differences in the defensive unit’s numbers from 2013 to this season, this time, I will examine the offensive numbers and make note of a few key areas the Hawks are continuing to do well in, and some areas that need work.

The Seattle offense clearly has not changed much from one year to the next, as every statistic is almost identical as the team’s touchdowns are on pace for exactly 41.

Aside from turnovers (which is more a result of the defense not forcing them instead of the offense giving them up), the offensive unit in eerily similar to last year’s offense. While these numbers are respectable (mostly), this team didn’t win a Super Bowl because of their offense, they won because of their historically good defense.

If they hope to get back to the Super Bowl, the offensive will need to improve immensely in order to counteract such uncharacteristically bad defense.

As many of you many know, I’m a huge fan of Pro Football Focus, so I’ve compiled a table showing where they rank the Seattle offense comparatively to the other 31 offenses, from 2013 and this season.

PFF has a completely different rating system than most statistical data sites like ESPN or NFL.com. PFF incorporates a lot of different factors; so while Russell Wilson is averaging just over 200 passing yards a game, he is very efficient in and out of the pocket, most likely the reason why the Hawks finished number five in the passing category in 2013.

Again, the numbers don’t lie; this year’s offense is shockingly (or not) similar to last year’s squad. The biggest need is to get Max Unger healthy once again along with James Carpenter, who has been in and out of action, in order to improve the offensive line’s numbers.