Seahawks will be better with L.J. Collier (and others) than with Frank Clark

Seahawks win when they stop the run

Except it does, especially for the Seahawks. The Rams and Chiefs average yardage is inflated as their defenses were worried far more about the pass in most games. You roll up over 500 points on offense, you’re going to see a lot of passes coming your way. You’re not too worried about a running back ripping off six yards a pop when the opponent needs three scores. When it comes to the Hawks, those opposing rushing yards are critical.

In their 16 games last year, Seattle gave up over 100 yards seven times. In those seven games, their record was 3-4. nine contests they held the opposition under 100 yards, the Seahawks were 7-2. The first of those losses was the awful game against the Bears when they forgot they had a guy named Chris Carson on the team. The second was the even more egregious overtime loss to the 49ers. That’s it. Eliminate dementia in play-calling and holding blocks without getting called for holding, and Seattle would have been 9-0 in those games.

As it is, it doesn’t take calculus to figure out that 7-2 is good, while 3-4 is bad. If Seattle had won the same percentage of games when allowing over 100 yards, they’d have gone 5-3. That’s a two-game improvement, at least. You probably remember the Rams rolled for 155 and 149 yards versus the Hawks, right? Shut them down once and make a loss a win. That new 12-4 record gets you a lot better start in the playoffs.