Seahawks get off the mat early, end up losing a split decision

Seahawks lose to Carolina 31-24 in the NFL divisional playoffs, ending their 2015 season.

So in the end, in many ways, the Seahawks are who we thought they were.

Talented. Nearly championship-worthy, but ultimately fatally flawed.

Down 31-0 in the blink of an eye, the Seahawks staged one of their trademark epic comebacks, coming all the way to within a score. But poor execution on their final drive, coupled with the all-too-insurmountable hole they dug themselves early were too much to overcome. Carolina ends the Seahawks season with a 31-24 win.

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Problems that plagued them as far back as their 2-4 start, significant deficiencies that were masked during their second half playoff run by a resurgent offense turned loose due to an injury-depleted running back corps, reared their ugly head today early and often in Carolina. The end result was something we haven’t seen since 2013, a season that’s ending in January.

While the Arizona Cardinals didn’t look ready to back up their lofty seed and bye week advantage, barely surviving an OT thriller over Green Bay the night before, the Panthers looked primed for this opportunity. They came out loose, and played with a confidence and tenacity reminiscent of……..the last few Seahawk teams, actually. They had the better game plan, the better defense, the better quarterback (on this day at least) and more importantly they had better linemen. Carolina dominated Seattle up front today, on both sides of the ball.

Carolina clearly looked like the better team today, but the Seahawks looked unfocused, unprepared, and undermanned early on. That’s a bad combination. Once they cut the offense loose in the second half they were able to crawl back into the game, but it was too little, much too late.

They didn’t just look unable to cover Olsen, they seemed disinterested in doing so.

For all the attention paid to the return of Marshawn Lynch from injury, he was a non factor. Seattle tried forcing the ball to him on the first two scrimmage plays. The result? Lost yards on a rushing attempt, and a pick 6 as a pressured Russell Wilson tried forcing a pass to Lynch, but instead found Luke Kuechly. If there was any question about if the Seahawks should bring back Lynch again next year, at age 30, for an $11.5 million cap number……. that’s a question no longer. Seattle was more effective without Lynch, forced to diversify their offense, be more creative, and put the game in Wilson’s hands. Look for that to be the offensive focus moving forward.

That said, we were reminded today of the most pressing need facing the Hawks as they head into the off season earlier than they’ve been accustomed to the last 3 seasons. They have to focus significant draft capital and salary cap room to fixing the offensive line. Russell Okung and J.R. Sweezy are free agents, and hard decisions must be made about both. Are either of them worthy of big dollars? Could better players be found in the draft? And what about the other 3 spots? As badly as this line performed for much of the season, is anyone’s job safe?

Their other glaring issue, the inability to cover good tight ends, was again obvious. As Greg Olsen made a mockery of the “Legion Of Boom” (side note: time to retire that ridiculous moniker) we were reminded of all the other tight ends who imposed their will on the Hawks back seven. Olsen was the focus of the defensive game plan, we were told during the week. It sure didn’t look like it. They didn’t just look unable to cover Olsen, they seemed disinterested in doing so.

The good news? Seattle will be in much better position to address their roster weaknesses this year than they were in 2015. Faced with having to extend young stars Wilson and Bobby Wagner, cap dollars were hard to find last summer. Not so in 2016. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million in cap space can be created with the release (or trade) of Lynch, and by allowing free agents such as Okung, Sweezy and Bruce Irvin to walk. And there’s substantial draft capital to lean on. The Hawks will receive 4 compensation picks this year and should enter the draft with 11-12 selections available.

Not to mention, they’ll now be drafting in the mid 20’s. There will be no Super Bowl in 2016.

We will talk much more in the days and months to come about what went right for Seattle this year (and there was plenty of that), but right now the focus has to be on what didn’t. The offseason begins tomorrow for the Seahawks.