Seahawks are currently a poorly coached team

Last Sunday’s home loss by the Seattle Seahawks to the Arizona Cardinals had a very familiar stench to it. The Seahawks started slow. They committed error after error. They gave up a fourth quarter lead to lose a very winnable game.

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From my seats in the 300 level, the frustration of what I was seeing was almost unbearable. 17 called penalties (14 accepted) were was just the beginning. Dropped passes, missed blocked, and dumb personnel groups (like removing Jimmy Graham on 3rd and 15) were the Seahawks repeatedly getting in their own way.

Ultimately, the Seahawks were unprepared and undisciplined. The entire coaching staff failed to do what was necessary for the Seahawks to win that game.

This is a poorly coached football team right now. They are poorly coached on many different levels. Until that changes, the Seattle won’t be playing in the playoffs again.

The Seahawks are poorly coached on an individual level.

It is most easily seen by looking at the offensive line. Every single one of the starting five has poor technique. Their hand placement is sloppy. Their pad level is inconsistent. Even their footwork is poor.

These are fundamentals. Forget being able to properly execute the zone blocking scheme. These guys cannot consistently block anyone at all. Being able to move defenders in the desired way to execute the running game correctly is an impossibility.

The “lack of talent” on the line is a poor excuse. If these guys were getting beat because they weren’t quick enough or strong enough that would be one thing. They’re getting beat because they aren’t being taught to play the position correctly.

The Seahawks are poorly coached on a team level.

The best example of this is Seattle’s tremendously talented but poorly-performing defense. The foundation of any defense is for players to do their job, and trust that their teammates will do the same.

That isn’t something that the Seahawks are doing. Too often Seattle defenders are freelancing, and the team is paying the price for it.

Perhaps the best example is Richard Sherman. The All-Pro cornerback, who is as talented of a player as you’ll ever see, is making mistake after mistake this season because he’s no longer being disciplined about doing his own job on defense.

For instance, Sherman gave up this touchdown last Sunday because he decided to leave Arizona’s Michael Floyd wide open in the end zone to help cover another player who already had multiple defenders around him.

The Seahawks are poorly coached on a schematic level.

Jimmy Graham being used as a pass blocker might be the worst use of a player’s talents since the Kansas City Chiefs asked Dontari Poe to 2-gap under Romeo Crennel. As frustrating as that has been, it isn’t the only example of the mistakes that Seattle’s coaches continually make.

The defensive side of the ball is actually worse. The Seahawks repeatedly pulled Kam Chancellor out of the box and used him as a deep safety on Sunday. This included instances when they had Earl Thomas up near the line of scrimmage.

Perhaps the worst example though was when defensive coordinator Kris Richard decided it would be a good idea to drop Michael Bennett into coverage. Bennett is one of the best pass rushers in the entire NFL. Dropping him back into coverage is a horrible waste of his talents.

The Seahawks are simply a poorly coached football team right now.

All of this falls on Pete Carroll. He’s not responsible for teaching the offensive linemen, but he is the guy who hired Tom Cable. Carroll doesn’t call the defensive plays, but he did choose Richard over Ken Norton Jr. and Rocky Seto to be the team’s new defensive coordinator.

Ultimately, Carroll is the one that must fix this. He needs to get Richard to stop overthinking the play calling, or give play-calling duties to someone who will.

Pete needs to insist to Cable that guys get benched if they cannot clean up the penalties or stop completely whiffing on blocks. There must be some accountability with that unit or they’ll continue to be horrible.

Pete Carroll must get this fixed. The problem won’t solve itself.