D.K. Metcalf not wrong about reason Seahawks offense struggled

The Seahawks offense was not good for most of the second half of 2020. Sure, Seattle finished in the top 10 of NFL offenses by the end of the season but this was only because the team started off so extraordinarily well. Russell Wilson was on pace to throw for the most touchdowns in NFL history at one point. And then all that offensive efficiency just stalled.

On the I Am Athlete podcast this week, Seahawks receiver D.K.Metcalf stated what he thought the issue was with the Seattle offense

"Teams just started to figure us out. We’ve been running deep pass, ever since (coach) Pete (Carroll) got there. Play-action. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, go deep. Teams just said, ‘We’re just not gonna let you all go deep.’"

This is completely correct. For a second-year receiver to figure this out so quickly is a clear indication that highly paid NFL defensive coordinators will know what Seattle wants to do, defend it and take advantage of it. And by taking advantage I mean put Seattle in a position where the offense turns the ball over.

Seattle turned the ball over 16 times in their last 12 games (including one playoff game). In five of their last 12 games, Seattle had a negative turnover margin. In all five of those games Seattle lost. This means every time Seattle had a negative turnover margin in 2020 they lost the game.

Seahawks couldn’t adjust

In none of their first five games did Seattle lose the turnover margin and they won all five games by scoring tons of points. But in week five, even though Seattle scored 27 second half points in a 27-26 win, cracks began to show in Seattle’s excellent offense. The Vikings played Cover 2 (two safeties high) and Seattle had trouble adjusting.

More teams began playing Cover 2 against Seattle as the season wore on and the Seahawks offense got worse and worse. Seattle played games closer to the vest so as not to turn the ball over but this only meant shorter passes (with an extremely unimaginative scheme for these kinds of plays) or running the ball without having any kind of creativity to how to run the ball.

This clearly confused Russell Wilson who continued to look deep for completions that weren’t there and did not adjust – nor did former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer – to throwing the ball underneath and taking the yards that were there.

D.K. Metcalf is totally correct. Seattle needs to stop run, run and run followed by deep pass. But will it change under Pete Carroll? And if it doesn’t, how soon do players like D.K. Metcalf tire of the offense and become free agents and move on to other teams? Maybe a new offensive coordinator will help change the offense, though more likely a head coaching change will be needed for that.