5 things Seattle Seahawks need to fix in the bye week

3rd down conversions offense

I realize it sounds like I am nit-picking on a very successful Seahawks offense so far in 2020 but there are still things Russell Wilson and company could do to be even better. (Plus, let’s be honest, it would be easy to make this entire article about how to fix the defense.) Third down conversions has oddly been an issue for Seattle offensively this year.

I say “oddly” because Seattle is scoring lots of points. In fact, they are second in the NFL in doing such with 33.8 points a game. But a lot of these points are generated on explosive plays on first and second down. So, far Seattle is converting just 32.6 percent of its third downs which is 31st in the NFL.

(I realize they still somehow beat the Vikings going 0 for 7 on third down but this should be expected as the norm.)

So what can Seattle do better to make third downs better? First is not be obvious. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has been more aggressive this season overall, just not on third downs. Maybe he is afraid of Seattle making a mistake and changing the game?

But then how to explain that in 2019 Seattle was 15th in the NFL in converting third downs at 40.2 percent? The problem isn’t the play-calling, it’s the execution. Thankfully, this might be an easy problem to fix and might work itself out as the season goes on. After all, Russell Wilson is the best quarterback in the league.