The Seahawks lost to the Broncos in the first game of 2018 for a lot of reasons. For my money, the biggest problem is they forgot to run the ball.
There are a lot of reasons the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Denver Broncos today. Russell Wilson getting sacked six times doesn’t help. Those sacks were in large part to Germain Ifedi acting more like a ticket taker at your local movie theater than a defender. My optimism over his recent improvement was obviously misplaced. Despite picking off Case Keenum three times, the Seattle defense still let Keenum complete 25 passes and only sacked him once. Doug Baldwin missed the second half, and Seabass missed two chances at a field goal in a game lost by three points.
Despite all that, the Seahawks lost because of coaching. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how they managed to blow this. Pete Carroll has been talking about getting back to running the ball for two years now. He brought in Brian Schottenhemier in no small part due to his experience as a run-oriented coordinator. Chris Carson came back from his season-ending injury looking better than ever. Even C.J. Prosise was healthy again. All signs point to the run game.
Then in the first half of today’s game, Seattle gave the ball to Carson just three times. He picked up 36 yards on those three attempts. This included his audition for the 2020 Olympics 110 meter high hurdles. I think he made the team. You know the play I’m talking about.
So how exactly does coaching staff that’s been talking up Carson for months only use him three times in the first half? If you listened to Pete Carroll, Carson was the genetic creation of the best of Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch. Carson wound up with seven carries, in a three point game.
I guess the Seahawks forgot they had running backs
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Let’s not forget the Seahawks drafted a running back in the first round this year. Rashaad Penny led the NCAA in rushing last year. Of course, it takes a few carries to do that. Penny had 289 attempts as a senior, or just over 22 per game. He got the rock three times in the first half, just like Carson. And like Carson, he finished with seven carries on the game.
The rejuvenated C.J. Prosise got no touches at all. Thanks for asking. So, I’m a bit confused. The Seahawks organization is supposedly committed to the run. They drafted a running back in the first round. They hired an offensive coordinator with a running game guru reputation. They hired an offensive line coach with run blocking expertise, in Mike Solari.
Despite the commitment to the run, they called just 14 running plays for their running backs in a three point game. The offensive line was a turnstile in pass-blocking, yet they called 39 pass plays. Six of those were sacks, as you remember.
No, Penny didn’t do much with his opportunities, as he only managed eight yards on his seven carries. He did chip in 35 yards on four catches, though. But Carson was exceptional. He did lose the ball once on a strip by Von Miller. Miller is a beast, but Carson certainly needs to work on ball security. Regardless, the second year back picked up 51 yards on those meager seven attempts. And he did this:
https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1038898442234253313
Six sacks is a lot to overcome, no doubt about it. Losing guard D.J. Fluker before the game certainly didn’t help the performance of the offensive line. The loss of Baldwin, one of the league’s best wide receivers, is a lot to get past, too. Missing two chances at a field goal is never a good thing. Phantom touchdown catches are hard to beat, too. Despite everything, this game was winnable. Next week, I hope the Seahawks remember to call number 32 more than seven times. This loss is on the game plan, more than anything else.