Dissecting a dire prediction the Seahawks will miss the playoffs

A national site has predicted the Seahawks will miss the playoffs this season. That may be so, but they seem to have given this almost zero thought.

I won’t keep you in suspense, dear 12s. The site is touchdownwire.com, one of USA Today’s myriad websites. Let me clarify the site itself didn’t predict the Seahawks would miss the playoffs this season. That would be weird, as websites aren’t people. However, Michael Colangelo did predict the Hawks would be one of six playoff teams from last year to miss this year. He could very well be right, but not for the reasons he gives. Read Mr. Colangelo’s reasoning yourself:

"The magic has to run out at some point. The Seahawks still have a young defense. Russell Wilson has an entirely new receiving corps. Chris Carson is good but is on the field one week and off the field the next. Wilson can only do so much to carry the team. Of course, we said the same thing last year and he carried the team to the playoffs so maybe I am wrong."

To the first point, the magic has to run out: well, it did in 2017. Sure, it could run out again, but Seattle already addressed many of the issues that kept them home after that season. They have continued to address those issues this offseason. The Hawks will have a better offensive line in 2019. The running game looks like the strongest since the heyday of Beastmode. So while the magic ran out in 2017, it came back in 2018 and certainly looks stronger in 2019.

The Hawks do have a young defense, that’s true. However, the young secondary players all have another year of experience. Players like Shaquill Griffin are taking big steps to improve their game. And let’s not forget K.J. Wright missed 11 games last year. He’s back at full strength, which gives the Seahawks the best linebacking corps in the game. Young, sure. But they were 11th-best at preventing the bad guys from scoring last year and should definitely improve on that ranking this year.

Seahawks have a lot left on the roster

More from 12th Man Rising

I’m not sure what roster the author was looking at, but Russell Wilson connected with 10 wide receivers and tight ends on passes last year. Two are gone. Yes, Doug Baldwin‘s retirement is a very big loss, there’s no escaping that. However, he caught 50 passes and scored five touchdowns in 2018. His contribution was far more than stats, but that is the production that must be replaced. The other receiver that’s no longer with the team is Brandon Marshall. Combined, the Seahawks have to replace 61 receptions and six touchdowns.

Perhaps the author was mesmerized by the addition of receivers DK Metcalf, Gary Jennings, John Ursua, and tight end Jacob Hollister. That is a lot of new faces, to be sure. But Seattle has eight receivers and tight ends coming back, with 147 catches to their credit. Tyler Lockett is coming off one of the best receiving performances ever. Losing Baldwin hurts, but that’s about as far from an “entirely new receiving corps” as you can get.

Chris Carson got hurt last year, that’s true. But if he was “on the field…and off…the next,” he would have played in eight games, not 14. He wouldn’t have run the ball 247 times or piled up 1151 yards. It’s fair to question if he can stay healthy, considering his brutal running style. It’s absolutely false to say he missed half of the team’s games. That’s what “on and off” clearly implies. That’s sloppy and careless.

I will give the author credit for the closing mea culpa. “…we said the same thing last year…so maybe I am wrong.” The Seahawks might very well miss the playoffs this season. But they do not have an entirely new receiving corps. Chris Carson did not miss every other game. In a few days, I’ll publish a list of real reasons the Hawks may miss the playoffs. The quoted article brushed against the truth, but painted a very poor picture. This is why 12s often say the media hates the Seahawks. I don’t think that’s true, but too often they don’t bother to know the Hawks.

Home/Seattle Seahawks News